You've seen the disclamer in past chapters so I won't place it here.
New Characters appearing - Boldo, Tracy, U1 and Guy and Valencia as cameos.
Notes moved to the bottom.
Chapter 5 – The Becamite Preliminaries
It was morning on October 27, two weeks since the incident involving Mimi and I, and I knew that today was the day. Tonight, about a million ravers, dancers, party goers, and professional artists from all across the Asian subcontinent are going to converge, for today was the date of the Becamite Preliminaries. Already this is what I know: Alice is already scheduled to perform in the finals in New York, so she already has a bye; Rage, Emi, Izam and Ni-Na have already got moves set, so there is going to be a conflict there; and Spike, to my knowledge, is no where to be found, so the fear of another riot is out of the picture.
I do not mean to shortchange everyone and ignore some of the details of what happened during the last two weeks, but I think that if give a brief explanation of the events leading up to today, you will be properly refreshed and up to date in the story. Izam, who was the one that was very close to the scarecrow that blew up, suffered post traumatic stress syndrome. How did I know, you ask? He found my store a week later and he was in a mess; his hair was wild, dirty, and uncombed, and his clothes were atrocious, not to mention that he has lost the interest in competing. Probably wanting to reconcile about getting me involved with the fight near Ni-Na's florist shop, we talked about how sorry he was to get me involved. I said it was all right, and I think I've got his completive spirit up again. I can say that I could not blame him for being exposed to such a big risk; standing so close to dying would have shocked anyone.
As for Ni-Na, well, to be very blunt, the whole thing happened right in front of her store for crying out loud! After the investigation and the cops left the scene, the area within a two block radius of her business suffered. I know it was only two weeks, but if you try to calculate the amount of potential money lost for lack of business, it can add up to a considerable sum. She came over to me for more apologetic advice, even though with her, things were much easier.
Not much has happened to Rage and Emi since that day. However, the shock of having Rage be beaten up by Mimi really made the two appreciate each other more. Either that or they were much better in the relaxation department. I couldn't decide on the two since A) I've only seen them about twice throughout the week and B) Yuriko gave me two different viewpoints that, once again, confused me. I also realized that she does that a lot to me.
Yuni got the really short end of the straw here. As a result of the incident, and the fact that I am getting this information from Emi, who has been our only contact with her for the last two weeks, her father refused to let her go out of the mansion at all. For the sake of keeping her secure, she didn't want to put her in any more danger than she has already been exposed to. I wonder if there was some secret that her father had about her, or maybe she just has overprotective parents.
As for the girls, Inoue has been feeling somewhat better. I cannot say that it was a complete success, because she still has lingering feelings and it has only been two weeks, but I can say that I think that she has finally moved on. With Suzue, I think she needs a little more time before she can finally leave the events of the past behind her
And as for me, I don't think that things have been anymore harder, or confusing for that matter. Although witnesses have said that there were two different people fighting on the streets, not one was able to describe the flight ability of Mimi, nor explain how I was able to stop her in midair. In an effort to discover what was fueling this power within me, I went to multiple sources: psychologists, therapists, herbal remedies, new age meditation, Taoist and Shinto priests, (although that was kind of hard to figure out, since I only tried the techniques on books.) and although I have found some ideas, none of them seem to form a clear solution, and that has me kind of worried. If I cannot figure out what caused me to block the assault from Mimi, then quite possibly I could very well still be in danger. It could be very possible, since I completely embarrassed her through no fault of my own, that she would want revenge for defeating her. She probably knows that I am the only one who could defeat her, and judging by the way she was so adamant about destroying me before, she could come back .
On that morning, I received a phone called that confirmed my worst fears.
Remi, Inoue and Suzue were walking around the shop feeling bored out of their minds. Business was suppose to be plentiful with all the rush from the last minute entrants, but surprising, no one showed up.
"So bored… I feel so sleepy." Remi said sitting on a chair.
"Remi, shut up. I feel more bored than you." Suzue said lying on the carpet.
"You two are so lazy, do you realize that?" Inoue said, reading a Manga comic on the counter.
"What are you reading, anyway?" Remi said.
Inoue shows the two the Excel Saga graphic novel.
"Wait, isn't that the hopeless guy who is in charge of an all girls dormitory as the result of multiple actions, including a crush that he made to a girl when he was five?" Remi added.
"Uh… no. That's Love Hina. This is the one involving parodies, an inept leader, a girl that's on the verge of dying, and has absolutely no clear plot at all."
"Let me take a look."
The phone rang. "I'll get that." I got the phone from the receiver. The person on the other end sounded suspicious, and his voice was altered. "Is this Zukin Emily?"
"Yes, who is this?" I said to him, feeling scared.
"Walk outside, and leave the other three behind. Do as we say, and they won't get hurt." I stood in alarm at the sound of this. The Oni Revolution has finally found out where I worked. I could not hide from them at this place, and I quickly realized that I have no other choice but to follow.
"All right." I hanged up the phone and told the girls I needed some air. Danger was circling around me, as I walked outside. I did not know how they found out I worked here or how Mimi found my phone number, but it didn't matter. I was at the mercy of their command.
Outside, there were a couple of people walking along the streets. The cool wind only caused my worry to increase as it created a chill on my body. Turning to my right, I saw a familiar tuxedo dressed bodyguard that replaced some of that worry with security and safety. "Good thing you are here, Akira." I told him. "I got this creepy phone call telling me to come out and someone was going to harm the other girls."
"That was me."
I was shocked. "Akira, why did you do that?"
"This is very urgent. Something is going to happen in the competition tonight and we need your help."
"Me? Why?"
A gray van circled around the block and stopped in front of us. "I can't explain here. Get in the van and I'll tell you everything."
Without a moment to think, the van opened and a couple of men dressed in "abduction" style outfits took me into the van along with Akira. The door was quickly closed.
When I regained control of myself, I saw myself inside what appears to be a mobile control center. Except for the two drivers in front, the whole van contained numerous electronic equipment and surveillance monitors monitoring the entire vicinity around my store. On another side were multiple firearms on the gun racks, which I assumed were armed and loaded. For a van of its size, it was considerably cramped.
"What is the meaning of this, Akira?" I addressed to him.
He made a quick response. "I am aware that the girls would start to wonder if you are away for a long time, so this conversation will be short. There is someone that I would like for you to me."
A woman stood up from the other end of the van, dressed up in a red-black plaid shirt, black pants and matching shoes. Her bleach blond hair placed a contrast to interesting blue glasses as she went up to me with revered respect. "Who is this person?" I told Akira.
"Our head commander. Zukin Emily, I would like to meet Tomonaga Ume, or as she is known in the force, U1."
Her speech was slow but coherent and contained a hint of concern. "I know that we do not really want to intrude in your personal life, Zukin-Chan, but I've heard interesting things about you, and we seriously need your help"
"Why did you want to see me?" I said, feeling very peeved and demanding of her.
"I apologize for "abducting" you in the middle of the street, but as it stands, you seem to be very important to us recently, not because of the involvement with the Oni Revolution, but also of past incidents, including the one that happened two weeks ago."
Wonderful! Here is another person trying to deprive more and more into my personal life. I just did not want to deal with her at all, so I tired getting out of it. "I am aware, but can you please stop bothering me with that? I have had enough problems to deal without having that conflict bother me. I'm just lucky the media has not figured out who the two women were."
U1 sat down in her seat. "I would, if we did not want to have something bigger than what happened two weeks ago."
I stopped my refusal attempt right there. "What do you mean?"
"We have received word that The Oni Revolution is going to strike during the Becamite Prelims."
"How did you get this source?" I demanded
"We have agents within the Oni organization that know about their plans, and we know that a familiar person is going to be there. Tell me, do you recall a girl with a Jack-o-Lantern on top of her head?"
"Mimi." I said quietly.
"You know about her, don't you? I can't imagine. Judging by the information we got from Akira, I am sure that she could cause some chaos during the prelims.
"What does this have to do with me?" I told U1.
"You are perhaps the only person that has had a shot against Mimi. Akira told us everything, including your inner power, and for some reason, we believe this inner power is the solution to defeating the Oni Revolution."
"If you think I am going to join, forget it! I am not willing to sacrifice my life over some rumor that could very well be false."
"Do you doubt us?" U1 questioned.
"I don't doubt what you are saying. All that I am saying is that I cannot, and I will not join, just because right now, that incident has forced me to virtually rethink everything that I have though about life, and right now I am not sure I would be willing to risk my life once again. I'm getting out of here." I went for the door, but Akira stopped me from advancing. "Emily, think about this for a minute." He said. "Think about all the young people that are going to be competing tonight. Do you want to risk it all if something should happen?"
"Well, I cannot imagine the chaos, but I don't know what this power is. What if it comes alive and, instead of helping us, it ends up destroying everything? I don't know what could happen if I start to destroy everything and end up causing more problems than you could ever imagine."
This was the honest truth. I cannot imagine what could possibly happen if the power comes alive, for I never did figure out how to awaken it, nor was I able to release it again. U1 and Akira understood me from that perspective. "All right then. We can't force it upon you to join us. Realizing that we are dealing with an unpredictable force in our hands, we cannot risk having two potentially destructive forces intersecting with each other at the same time, but if you do change your mind, contact Akira."
They dropped me back on the store, still alive and intact. Inoue went outside and asked me what happened. "What was that for?" Inoue said.
"You don't want to know.'
Throughout the entire day, I did a lot of thinking about what U1 told me. Right now, as I stood in the counter with business at a standstill, a lot of things were coming at me very quickly. The primary issue was the risk of having to deal with another catastrophe at the club, not to mention create so much chaos in the process. The other issue that bothers me was the inner power within. If I did decide to join up with U1 and Akira, and the power comes out without my knowledge or control, then it would just be like I never showed up; a winless situation.
Stuck with this problem, I spoke to the only person I could talk about this, Yuriko, and this is what she said…
"Emily, let me tell you something. If you cannot deal with what is inside you, then so be it. I will tell you this however. By hiding from what is inside you, you would automatically declare that you cannot handle what destiny has given you. Sometimes you have to take that risk, no matter what the cost; otherwise you will never be able to forget it at all."
…this got me confused again. However, she made sense in that I cannot hide from the truth.
I also though about the future lives of everyone else; if something did happen because of Mimi, and I could have done something, I don't know if I could ever forgive myself.
Realizing all of this, I came to a conclusion. I made a phone call.
"Hi, is Akira there?"
It was nighttime, and the sun has set in the city of Tokyo. Immense traffic jams were converging on multiple spots in the city. Club Exocito is one of them. I can definitely change the name of that place, but this is one of the many Becamite Prelim areas in Tokyo, and where Emi, Rage, Izam and Ni-Na are competing, not to mention it is the club's opening day I might add. Rage, Emi, Izam, and Ni-Na were there earlier to pass through registration.
I came with the girls, all decked out with raving clothes: Remi still had her blue hair, which was completely bundled up into a single braid running on her back. Added to that was a "modified" version of her fairy costume she wore about a month ago, only it was less conforming on her body so she could dance, and had jeans so that it was not that revealing. The lollipop red necklace was replaced with a midnight blue necklace. Inoue was rushed for time and, in a very last second, ended up wearing an enigmatic amusing, white shirt with gold shimmering around the sleeves. Although her pants were simple kakis, I doubt if it really made her look any better. Suzue kept her hair down and stuck with her violet ensemble. The shirt was violet, her pants were maroon, but her shoes stuck out the most; Did she swipe Dorothy's red slippers from The Wizard of Oz and spray painted them gray, because that is exactly what they looked like.
As for me, I kept going with what I wore before, because I came here under important business.
As we walked down to the club, I kept a close eye on Akira. He said that he was suppose to meet up with me as we got near the club, but so far, I have not seen him around. "You said that your friend was going to show up here, Emily. Now where is he?"
"Suzue, be patient, he'll be here."
"Oh, you mean that handsome guy that is behind you?" Remi told me as Akira walked behind me without knowing.
"Hello." He said
"Uh, girls, I have something to talk with him for a sec. You can go on ahead and I'll catch up."
"Are you sure?" Inoue said. "I don't know if there is a limit to how many people can enter."
"Trust me. Your names are on the VIP list."
Not one of the girls understood me, but I did make that request to U1 if I was going to go, that all of my friends are granted free access to the club, which they did.
The girls left us as I placed my attention on Akira again. "Ok, Akira, lead the way."
Akira followed me all the way to the back of the building, where we saw about thirty different officers in tactical uniforms, and the familiar van that I saw this morning. U1 was outside waiting for us and appearing to be in a rush. When I approached her, I made it specifically clear that I was going to do this for only tonight, and after that, I will no longer be involved with her. She understood me and the two of us went inside the van.
"Here is what we know so far from out agent inside the organization." U1 displayed on one the screens a map of the entire country of Japan. "As far as we know, the Oni Revolution is planning to strike somewhere in Japan. The problem we had was locating where they were going to strike. With numerous participating clubs and areas all around the major cities in Japan, they could strike anywhere. From the recent information that we have gotten from our agent, 2MB, we have pinpointed the location to be this club, so it is likely that Mimi will strike here. Right now, the club owner only knows that your three companions are VIP's by special request, but he would like to meet up with us to understand what is really happening."
A knock is heard from the van. Akira opened the door, which stood an undercover cop in party clothes. "U1, the owners are ready to meet with you." Said the cop.
"All right. Emily, would you come with me?"
I agreed.
I went through the back door and into the dance floor. So far, there was no one on it yet because the speaker system was being set up. Going through this area, I went past a bouncer guarding the VIP room and through a hidden door all the way in the back. (We had to knock first to tell us that we are here.) The door opened which had a set of stairs that lead up to a hidden balcony overlooking the dance floor and the entire club. We went up those stairs and got to the top. Sitting down in this area were a small group of people. Among them were the two owners of the club. One owner, a male, had a really purple afro on top of his head and a purple suit to match him and his glasses. The other, a female, was somewhat exotic, adding to her ensemble a leopard skin suit with fishnet stockings. Both of them were wearing platform shoes, and by the look of things, they were both disco fans and gajins, or foreigners.
They addressed us in a really casual and cool manner. "Ume," Said the woman. "You said you needed to speak to us. Do you have everyone?"
U1 nodded. The woman sent all the guests away and there was only me, U1, and Akira. "I'll address to the other two that have arrived who we are." The man said. "Name's John Bordeaux, but you can call me Boldo. Over there is my associate, Tracy Rise. We have ownership in clubs in virtually every place on the planet, from New York to Sydney. We have spent a lot of money into developing this club, not to mention the hosting rights to make it an official Becamite prelim area, and also the right to hold the final in New York. You said this was an urgent matter involving the security in today's competition, correct?"
"Right." U1 said. "We are not sure, but right now, we think someone is going to crash the party tonight, and we mean literally."
"What are you saying?" Tracy replied
"You've heard all those reports about the incident two weeks ago?"
"You mean the chaos involving two women and an explosion?"
"Yes." U1 said. "They are part of an underground organization called the Oni Revolution. Right now, we have only received reports that they are going to attack a club in Tokyo. We assume that they are going for this one."
"What is their motive?"
U1 could not reveal the secret information about Oni to the public eye, so she had to lie. "We are unsure at the moment. It could be just to cause random trouble, or possibly even something worse."
"Then why don't we handle this problem ourselves? Tracy and I can take care of some simple party crashers." Boldo said with reassurance.
"You don't understand. Look, maybe if I can show you something." U1 hands Boldo a folder with Mimi's picture on it. "This is Seilost Mimi, or Mimi Seilost as you put it. She is not your normal human being. From what we have gathered, she has the ability to bend virtually everything at her will."
"What do you mean?" Boldo added, looking over at the dossier carefully.
"She was one of the women involved, and she is the one who witnesses said she was in flight. I know she looks weird, but we have been tracing this person for quite a while and her motive is to cause complete destruction.
"So what you are trying to say is that this is a super villain that is desperate in taking over the world."
"…If you put it that way… yes."
Boldo and Tracy began to laugh spontaneously at what they thought was completely ridiculous. "Do you expect us to drop everything and believe that story? I am afraid not. We have spent a lot of money on this, and we even booked Logic Nightmare, the world's most exclusive DJ group, to perform today, and in the New Year's finale." Tracy points at the two members of Logic Nightmare on the DJ booth, even though there were three members of Logic Nightmare.
"Then how come Emerson Guy and Troymount Valencia are the only one's there?" I told the two.
"Jason Komero had some business with the record company, but that is beside the point. If you really want to stick around and join in the festivities, fine, but right now, we are the ones in charge and I think that you should stick your paranoid fantasies to someone else. Right now, I believe that Tracy and I have to attend the opening, so if you don't mind, we would like for you to leave, now." The three of us were escorted out of the room and back to the VIP area, where the girls were there waiting for me
"So now what do we do, U1?" I told her.
"We hold out the fort until they do arrive." She said.
"But what if she doesn't? Could it just be that it's all a fluke?"
"She will show up. My contact has not been wrong yet, but if anything does happen though, my team will be ready to strike quickly and effectively. Akira will also be your backup in case you need him."
"I'll be positioned in the back where my team will be ready. You'll also need this." She gave me a tiny microphone and ear piece out of her pocket, kind of the ones used by government officials. "Use this so that we can be in contact all the time." U1 handed me the unit, which I quickly attached to my ear and made sure it was working.
"Thank you."
I have failed to mention from the beginning how The Becamite Tournament works. Seeing as this is the proper time, I will explain it to you. The preliminaries work in a format that makes the selection process more streamlined, because if you try to evaluate every single competitor in an entire continent, you end up with millions and millions of dancers to look over and no progress at all. Participating clubs each send a satellite feed of their performers to the regional headquarters. From this information, the Becamite regional judges can look over each performer and make their decision as to who will qualify for the finals. The problem with this system is that it costs a lot of money to set up and actually record. However, due to the substantial wealth accumulated through the Becamite's business in the music industry, which includes the manufacture of audio and visual equipment, the cost is written off as an act of business.
There is also a secondary effect in which the competitors do not know the results until a few days after the competition. I think this effect was used to compensate for the time the judges have to look over every tape and for added suspense.
While the girls and I were sitting and watching the competitors dance, I felt a tap on my shoulder. Turing to my back, I saw a familiar girl wearing her black sailor fuku outfit in front of me. "Yuni, what are you doing here?"
"Doing the same thing you are doing." She said. "That and Emi invited me. "
I introduced the girls to Yuni and how we met two weeks ago. The thing that I did not understand is that I cannot help wonder how she was able to get out of her house and that her father was willing to let her go out tonight. I guess since things have quieted down, so did her father.
"Emily, don't tell Akira, but I actually have a surprise for him tonight." Yuni said to me. I asked her what it would be but all she said was to watch.
The DJ took the floor once Izam and Ni-Na were done, attempting a completely different rendition of "PPK's Resurrection." It would have been an average performance, had it not have been for Izam pushing Ni-Na, making her fall almost to the ground, but recovered by Izam just inches before touching. "All right, I am ready for the next competitor." said Emerson Guy, the black DJ wearing his signature gray vest with yellow sleeves and flames all around his vest. The booth had a built in translator which was developed by Becamite to input the information from his English into broken Japanese. It was understandable, but just grammatically wrong. To avoid confusion, I fixed the grammar for the purpose of storytelling. "Would Itoh Reiji and Emi Toshiba enter the floor? You are up next."
Rage and Emi went up to the floor. It's been a few days since I've see the two, but it looks like they appear not only well rested, but I think Rage is growing a goatee. "Select your song." said Troymount Valencia, Guy's companion who had the same outfit as Guy, only she has an aqua color where Guy has it yellow, she has on a beanie that was similar to Izam, but had on a stripped pattern, and the blue flames to boot.
The two had the song already planned as they announced it to Valencia. "Burnin' The Floor." said Emi.
Immediately, the two began to start grooving on the floor, when I received a response from the handset. It was U1. "Emily, are you there?"
"Yes. I'm here."
"Reports have come in from our agent that something is going to happen, but it is very vague. All I hear is that they are going to 'drop the bomb.' I have no idea what that means, but that is what he said."
"Thanks."
I didn't miss any moment of Rage and Emi's dance. Halfway through the song, Emi, through an unexpected turn, did a handstand in front of everyone, walked on the floor, and landed on her back, propelling herself back on her feet. Rage did something similar, only his was a tumble and a spring back instead of a handstand.
Izam only sneered at him, thinking that he was a complete phony. Can those two ever get along for once?
It was 23:00 (11 pm) and since the time we started at 18:00 (6 pm) till now, nothing happened. After about two breaks, and 150 plus dancers, I thought that the attack at the club was a complete hoax… or so I thought.
"Everyone," said Guy. "We're all glad you came here tonight. This Friday, we will give everyone the results, now everyone; it's time to go home."
"Aww, I never got the chance to give Akira his surprise." Yuni said in disappointment.
"What was it anyway?"
"However, we have one final entry. Would Berth Yuni and Kongouji Akira enter the stage?"
"You got Akira to go with you?" I said to her. "Does he even know about this?"
"Nope." She said, making an innocent smile.
A loud scream was heard from my handset, and the one screaming was Akira. "What is Yuni trying to do? Doesn't she know I can't dance for…"
"You talk to her!" I quickly gave the handset to Yuni moments before I noticed a hoard of fans coming up to a familiar, patriotic British person entering the front door. "Hey, over there." said Guy. "It's Spike, the runner-up of the last Becamite Tournament."
I don't know how Spike got in. It probably is because no one noticed him during the chaos at the concert, and his rep was somewhat noted throughout the tournament, but either way I confronted him as he crossed into VIP room. "Spike, mind asking me why have you shown your face again?"
His approach to me was not only of concern, but also desperation. "I can't explain, but we have to get out of here now." This was different. First he was after Alice and now he's trying to save my ass? "Spike, what is going on here? What about Alice?"
"Alice is not important now. Mimi is coming."
"What? How do you know?"
I did not have to know. The glass roof standing above the dance floor smashed with a loud bang as familiar woman dropped down from the sky. Half the crowd started running for the door as she showed her face to everyone. Is this Déjà vu? Yes.
"Hey, what's with the cosplaying gajin doing here?" A random contestant said. "Aren't you in the wrong country?"
"Mimi, don't you ever take a vacation?" I added.
"Don't you think I would like to? With all the corruption in this world, I can't stop for nothing." He noticed Spike with Emily. "Hello, this is a most unpleasant surprise."
"Cut the chitchat, Mimi." said Spike, who also noticed that Robbi was no where in sight. "Where's that scarecrow you are always with?" Spike said
"He came under an unfortunate accident."
"It blew up because she didn't retrieve it." I told Spike.
"It doesn't matter. I'm not here to fight. I came for a different matter." She went up to the DJ booth. "The DJ group known as Logic Nightmare; I've always been a fan of your works. John 'Boldo' Bordeaux and Tracy Rise, world renowned business owners of…"
"Shut up already!" I screamed out to her. You have to admit, her dialogue speeches get tiring after a while. "What do you want?"
"What do I want? What else, to join? I want to participate in this contest. I think I had my name signed up on that list, did I not?"
Valencia checks the list to find Mimi Seliost's name, but it is not there. Valencia shakes her head.
"Sad. I didn't register. Well, then, I guess since it is in your call." She pointed to the booth where Boldo and Tracy were. "You decide. You two own the place, so you make the call."
"Forget you!" Boldo said. "Security, get her out!"
Two of the guards came out and tried to get Mimi out. She yawned and placed her hand out in front, emitting an energy force that causes the two oncoming people to be pushed to the back wall. If that did not make Boldo and Tracy believe in what we were trying to say, then those two need help.
Already I can see that she is terrorizing everyone, including Rage, Emi, Izam, Ni-Na, Yuni and the three girls, and right now I can see that Mimi is playing around with her prey, but the longer she stalls, the less of a chance we have to strike. Quickly, I tore the head set from Yuni and communicated to U1. "U1, this is Emily. We need to strike now."
"I'm already ahead of you. We have already figured out the riddle. There is a song called "Drop the Bomb" by Scotty Dolph which was originally not suppose to be released due to the controversy that surrounded it and the record companies even thought everyone keeps misunderstand the point of the song.[1] The DJ's obviously must have a copy of it in their possession. Listen, Zukin. Under no circumstances can that song play."
"Why? Is there an actual bomb somewhere?"
"We believe so. We're searching it as we speak."
Mimi started laughing hysterically, annoying everyone in the club. "This is just too good. I'll tell you what, if you let me dance with someone, I'll let you all go." Mimi then looked at me with an interesting eye. "Emily, would you care to dance with me?"
Mimi requests a dance off. This was very different of her, but I might as well. It was either this or something worse.
"All right. I'll agree on it."
"Zukin, are you crazy?" U1 screamed again from the speakers."
"It is the only way that I can distract her from playing the song."
"Fine. Do it. I'll have the strike team on standby."
The DJ's, without any act of courage, decided to follow along with Mimi, who now has the entire club under her control. As I stepped on the dance floor, the words of U1 kept repeating into my mind, "Whatever you do, do not let her play…"
"I choose 'Drop the Bomb.' Mimi yelled out to the DJ.
"She chose 'Drop the Bomb', didn't she?" U1 spoke in the headset.
"Yes, Why?"
"Every heard of taking things too literally?"
At that moment, I thought that in the history of my life, I would never say the following word. "…baka."
The audience thought differently. Because the song was never officially released anywhere, everyone began to laugh… or at least everyone who was still there. I joined in to try and confuse her. "Come on, Mimi. That song has not been released yet… some of the lyrics still need to be…"
"Shut up! I know that. But you have ever heard of the public release that was in the 2nd Naoki CD?"
Damn! I forgot about that. When Naoki released her second CD, he worked with Scotty Dolph in making the song "Drop the Bomb" in as a bonus track. The whole controversy started because of that CD! [2]
Mimi quickly dropped down from the DJ booth while leaving a CD on the table. "You know exactly what to do."
"Guy, Valencia, Don't do it. You don't know…" I could not stop her. With Mimi in complete control, she had to play the song.
It felt like I was stuck in a moment that I cannot get out of, and not to be quoting a U2 title, (double pun not intended.) but that is how it felt. Everyone that did not left was scared of leaving and those that did were scared of getting the people inside out… and I could not decide what to do either… I felt helpless and alone as the time to the end slowly ticked away…
Notes:
[1]The reference to "Drop the Bomb" is only used as a plot device. The song itself does not condone the use of violence. Rather, it involves a revolution in which replaces outdated methods toward new ones without using violence.
If you read the lyrics, it clearly explains this:
"Explosives are not what it takes, You know the terrorists always make these mistakes"
Although storywise, I do not know if it really makes sense.
[2]The second Naoki CD is really DDR 3rd Mix. In this story, the existance of the DDR game is nonexistant... for now at least.
New Characters appearing - Boldo, Tracy, U1 and Guy and Valencia as cameos.
Notes moved to the bottom.
Chapter 5 – The Becamite Preliminaries
It was morning on October 27, two weeks since the incident involving Mimi and I, and I knew that today was the day. Tonight, about a million ravers, dancers, party goers, and professional artists from all across the Asian subcontinent are going to converge, for today was the date of the Becamite Preliminaries. Already this is what I know: Alice is already scheduled to perform in the finals in New York, so she already has a bye; Rage, Emi, Izam and Ni-Na have already got moves set, so there is going to be a conflict there; and Spike, to my knowledge, is no where to be found, so the fear of another riot is out of the picture.
I do not mean to shortchange everyone and ignore some of the details of what happened during the last two weeks, but I think that if give a brief explanation of the events leading up to today, you will be properly refreshed and up to date in the story. Izam, who was the one that was very close to the scarecrow that blew up, suffered post traumatic stress syndrome. How did I know, you ask? He found my store a week later and he was in a mess; his hair was wild, dirty, and uncombed, and his clothes were atrocious, not to mention that he has lost the interest in competing. Probably wanting to reconcile about getting me involved with the fight near Ni-Na's florist shop, we talked about how sorry he was to get me involved. I said it was all right, and I think I've got his completive spirit up again. I can say that I could not blame him for being exposed to such a big risk; standing so close to dying would have shocked anyone.
As for Ni-Na, well, to be very blunt, the whole thing happened right in front of her store for crying out loud! After the investigation and the cops left the scene, the area within a two block radius of her business suffered. I know it was only two weeks, but if you try to calculate the amount of potential money lost for lack of business, it can add up to a considerable sum. She came over to me for more apologetic advice, even though with her, things were much easier.
Not much has happened to Rage and Emi since that day. However, the shock of having Rage be beaten up by Mimi really made the two appreciate each other more. Either that or they were much better in the relaxation department. I couldn't decide on the two since A) I've only seen them about twice throughout the week and B) Yuriko gave me two different viewpoints that, once again, confused me. I also realized that she does that a lot to me.
Yuni got the really short end of the straw here. As a result of the incident, and the fact that I am getting this information from Emi, who has been our only contact with her for the last two weeks, her father refused to let her go out of the mansion at all. For the sake of keeping her secure, she didn't want to put her in any more danger than she has already been exposed to. I wonder if there was some secret that her father had about her, or maybe she just has overprotective parents.
As for the girls, Inoue has been feeling somewhat better. I cannot say that it was a complete success, because she still has lingering feelings and it has only been two weeks, but I can say that I think that she has finally moved on. With Suzue, I think she needs a little more time before she can finally leave the events of the past behind her
And as for me, I don't think that things have been anymore harder, or confusing for that matter. Although witnesses have said that there were two different people fighting on the streets, not one was able to describe the flight ability of Mimi, nor explain how I was able to stop her in midair. In an effort to discover what was fueling this power within me, I went to multiple sources: psychologists, therapists, herbal remedies, new age meditation, Taoist and Shinto priests, (although that was kind of hard to figure out, since I only tried the techniques on books.) and although I have found some ideas, none of them seem to form a clear solution, and that has me kind of worried. If I cannot figure out what caused me to block the assault from Mimi, then quite possibly I could very well still be in danger. It could be very possible, since I completely embarrassed her through no fault of my own, that she would want revenge for defeating her. She probably knows that I am the only one who could defeat her, and judging by the way she was so adamant about destroying me before, she could come back .
On that morning, I received a phone called that confirmed my worst fears.
Remi, Inoue and Suzue were walking around the shop feeling bored out of their minds. Business was suppose to be plentiful with all the rush from the last minute entrants, but surprising, no one showed up.
"So bored… I feel so sleepy." Remi said sitting on a chair.
"Remi, shut up. I feel more bored than you." Suzue said lying on the carpet.
"You two are so lazy, do you realize that?" Inoue said, reading a Manga comic on the counter.
"What are you reading, anyway?" Remi said.
Inoue shows the two the Excel Saga graphic novel.
"Wait, isn't that the hopeless guy who is in charge of an all girls dormitory as the result of multiple actions, including a crush that he made to a girl when he was five?" Remi added.
"Uh… no. That's Love Hina. This is the one involving parodies, an inept leader, a girl that's on the verge of dying, and has absolutely no clear plot at all."
"Let me take a look."
The phone rang. "I'll get that." I got the phone from the receiver. The person on the other end sounded suspicious, and his voice was altered. "Is this Zukin Emily?"
"Yes, who is this?" I said to him, feeling scared.
"Walk outside, and leave the other three behind. Do as we say, and they won't get hurt." I stood in alarm at the sound of this. The Oni Revolution has finally found out where I worked. I could not hide from them at this place, and I quickly realized that I have no other choice but to follow.
"All right." I hanged up the phone and told the girls I needed some air. Danger was circling around me, as I walked outside. I did not know how they found out I worked here or how Mimi found my phone number, but it didn't matter. I was at the mercy of their command.
Outside, there were a couple of people walking along the streets. The cool wind only caused my worry to increase as it created a chill on my body. Turning to my right, I saw a familiar tuxedo dressed bodyguard that replaced some of that worry with security and safety. "Good thing you are here, Akira." I told him. "I got this creepy phone call telling me to come out and someone was going to harm the other girls."
"That was me."
I was shocked. "Akira, why did you do that?"
"This is very urgent. Something is going to happen in the competition tonight and we need your help."
"Me? Why?"
A gray van circled around the block and stopped in front of us. "I can't explain here. Get in the van and I'll tell you everything."
Without a moment to think, the van opened and a couple of men dressed in "abduction" style outfits took me into the van along with Akira. The door was quickly closed.
When I regained control of myself, I saw myself inside what appears to be a mobile control center. Except for the two drivers in front, the whole van contained numerous electronic equipment and surveillance monitors monitoring the entire vicinity around my store. On another side were multiple firearms on the gun racks, which I assumed were armed and loaded. For a van of its size, it was considerably cramped.
"What is the meaning of this, Akira?" I addressed to him.
He made a quick response. "I am aware that the girls would start to wonder if you are away for a long time, so this conversation will be short. There is someone that I would like for you to me."
A woman stood up from the other end of the van, dressed up in a red-black plaid shirt, black pants and matching shoes. Her bleach blond hair placed a contrast to interesting blue glasses as she went up to me with revered respect. "Who is this person?" I told Akira.
"Our head commander. Zukin Emily, I would like to meet Tomonaga Ume, or as she is known in the force, U1."
Her speech was slow but coherent and contained a hint of concern. "I know that we do not really want to intrude in your personal life, Zukin-Chan, but I've heard interesting things about you, and we seriously need your help"
"Why did you want to see me?" I said, feeling very peeved and demanding of her.
"I apologize for "abducting" you in the middle of the street, but as it stands, you seem to be very important to us recently, not because of the involvement with the Oni Revolution, but also of past incidents, including the one that happened two weeks ago."
Wonderful! Here is another person trying to deprive more and more into my personal life. I just did not want to deal with her at all, so I tired getting out of it. "I am aware, but can you please stop bothering me with that? I have had enough problems to deal without having that conflict bother me. I'm just lucky the media has not figured out who the two women were."
U1 sat down in her seat. "I would, if we did not want to have something bigger than what happened two weeks ago."
I stopped my refusal attempt right there. "What do you mean?"
"We have received word that The Oni Revolution is going to strike during the Becamite Prelims."
"How did you get this source?" I demanded
"We have agents within the Oni organization that know about their plans, and we know that a familiar person is going to be there. Tell me, do you recall a girl with a Jack-o-Lantern on top of her head?"
"Mimi." I said quietly.
"You know about her, don't you? I can't imagine. Judging by the information we got from Akira, I am sure that she could cause some chaos during the prelims.
"What does this have to do with me?" I told U1.
"You are perhaps the only person that has had a shot against Mimi. Akira told us everything, including your inner power, and for some reason, we believe this inner power is the solution to defeating the Oni Revolution."
"If you think I am going to join, forget it! I am not willing to sacrifice my life over some rumor that could very well be false."
"Do you doubt us?" U1 questioned.
"I don't doubt what you are saying. All that I am saying is that I cannot, and I will not join, just because right now, that incident has forced me to virtually rethink everything that I have though about life, and right now I am not sure I would be willing to risk my life once again. I'm getting out of here." I went for the door, but Akira stopped me from advancing. "Emily, think about this for a minute." He said. "Think about all the young people that are going to be competing tonight. Do you want to risk it all if something should happen?"
"Well, I cannot imagine the chaos, but I don't know what this power is. What if it comes alive and, instead of helping us, it ends up destroying everything? I don't know what could happen if I start to destroy everything and end up causing more problems than you could ever imagine."
This was the honest truth. I cannot imagine what could possibly happen if the power comes alive, for I never did figure out how to awaken it, nor was I able to release it again. U1 and Akira understood me from that perspective. "All right then. We can't force it upon you to join us. Realizing that we are dealing with an unpredictable force in our hands, we cannot risk having two potentially destructive forces intersecting with each other at the same time, but if you do change your mind, contact Akira."
They dropped me back on the store, still alive and intact. Inoue went outside and asked me what happened. "What was that for?" Inoue said.
"You don't want to know.'
Throughout the entire day, I did a lot of thinking about what U1 told me. Right now, as I stood in the counter with business at a standstill, a lot of things were coming at me very quickly. The primary issue was the risk of having to deal with another catastrophe at the club, not to mention create so much chaos in the process. The other issue that bothers me was the inner power within. If I did decide to join up with U1 and Akira, and the power comes out without my knowledge or control, then it would just be like I never showed up; a winless situation.
Stuck with this problem, I spoke to the only person I could talk about this, Yuriko, and this is what she said…
"Emily, let me tell you something. If you cannot deal with what is inside you, then so be it. I will tell you this however. By hiding from what is inside you, you would automatically declare that you cannot handle what destiny has given you. Sometimes you have to take that risk, no matter what the cost; otherwise you will never be able to forget it at all."
…this got me confused again. However, she made sense in that I cannot hide from the truth.
I also though about the future lives of everyone else; if something did happen because of Mimi, and I could have done something, I don't know if I could ever forgive myself.
Realizing all of this, I came to a conclusion. I made a phone call.
"Hi, is Akira there?"
It was nighttime, and the sun has set in the city of Tokyo. Immense traffic jams were converging on multiple spots in the city. Club Exocito is one of them. I can definitely change the name of that place, but this is one of the many Becamite Prelim areas in Tokyo, and where Emi, Rage, Izam and Ni-Na are competing, not to mention it is the club's opening day I might add. Rage, Emi, Izam, and Ni-Na were there earlier to pass through registration.
I came with the girls, all decked out with raving clothes: Remi still had her blue hair, which was completely bundled up into a single braid running on her back. Added to that was a "modified" version of her fairy costume she wore about a month ago, only it was less conforming on her body so she could dance, and had jeans so that it was not that revealing. The lollipop red necklace was replaced with a midnight blue necklace. Inoue was rushed for time and, in a very last second, ended up wearing an enigmatic amusing, white shirt with gold shimmering around the sleeves. Although her pants were simple kakis, I doubt if it really made her look any better. Suzue kept her hair down and stuck with her violet ensemble. The shirt was violet, her pants were maroon, but her shoes stuck out the most; Did she swipe Dorothy's red slippers from The Wizard of Oz and spray painted them gray, because that is exactly what they looked like.
As for me, I kept going with what I wore before, because I came here under important business.
As we walked down to the club, I kept a close eye on Akira. He said that he was suppose to meet up with me as we got near the club, but so far, I have not seen him around. "You said that your friend was going to show up here, Emily. Now where is he?"
"Suzue, be patient, he'll be here."
"Oh, you mean that handsome guy that is behind you?" Remi told me as Akira walked behind me without knowing.
"Hello." He said
"Uh, girls, I have something to talk with him for a sec. You can go on ahead and I'll catch up."
"Are you sure?" Inoue said. "I don't know if there is a limit to how many people can enter."
"Trust me. Your names are on the VIP list."
Not one of the girls understood me, but I did make that request to U1 if I was going to go, that all of my friends are granted free access to the club, which they did.
The girls left us as I placed my attention on Akira again. "Ok, Akira, lead the way."
Akira followed me all the way to the back of the building, where we saw about thirty different officers in tactical uniforms, and the familiar van that I saw this morning. U1 was outside waiting for us and appearing to be in a rush. When I approached her, I made it specifically clear that I was going to do this for only tonight, and after that, I will no longer be involved with her. She understood me and the two of us went inside the van.
"Here is what we know so far from out agent inside the organization." U1 displayed on one the screens a map of the entire country of Japan. "As far as we know, the Oni Revolution is planning to strike somewhere in Japan. The problem we had was locating where they were going to strike. With numerous participating clubs and areas all around the major cities in Japan, they could strike anywhere. From the recent information that we have gotten from our agent, 2MB, we have pinpointed the location to be this club, so it is likely that Mimi will strike here. Right now, the club owner only knows that your three companions are VIP's by special request, but he would like to meet up with us to understand what is really happening."
A knock is heard from the van. Akira opened the door, which stood an undercover cop in party clothes. "U1, the owners are ready to meet with you." Said the cop.
"All right. Emily, would you come with me?"
I agreed.
I went through the back door and into the dance floor. So far, there was no one on it yet because the speaker system was being set up. Going through this area, I went past a bouncer guarding the VIP room and through a hidden door all the way in the back. (We had to knock first to tell us that we are here.) The door opened which had a set of stairs that lead up to a hidden balcony overlooking the dance floor and the entire club. We went up those stairs and got to the top. Sitting down in this area were a small group of people. Among them were the two owners of the club. One owner, a male, had a really purple afro on top of his head and a purple suit to match him and his glasses. The other, a female, was somewhat exotic, adding to her ensemble a leopard skin suit with fishnet stockings. Both of them were wearing platform shoes, and by the look of things, they were both disco fans and gajins, or foreigners.
They addressed us in a really casual and cool manner. "Ume," Said the woman. "You said you needed to speak to us. Do you have everyone?"
U1 nodded. The woman sent all the guests away and there was only me, U1, and Akira. "I'll address to the other two that have arrived who we are." The man said. "Name's John Bordeaux, but you can call me Boldo. Over there is my associate, Tracy Rise. We have ownership in clubs in virtually every place on the planet, from New York to Sydney. We have spent a lot of money into developing this club, not to mention the hosting rights to make it an official Becamite prelim area, and also the right to hold the final in New York. You said this was an urgent matter involving the security in today's competition, correct?"
"Right." U1 said. "We are not sure, but right now, we think someone is going to crash the party tonight, and we mean literally."
"What are you saying?" Tracy replied
"You've heard all those reports about the incident two weeks ago?"
"You mean the chaos involving two women and an explosion?"
"Yes." U1 said. "They are part of an underground organization called the Oni Revolution. Right now, we have only received reports that they are going to attack a club in Tokyo. We assume that they are going for this one."
"What is their motive?"
U1 could not reveal the secret information about Oni to the public eye, so she had to lie. "We are unsure at the moment. It could be just to cause random trouble, or possibly even something worse."
"Then why don't we handle this problem ourselves? Tracy and I can take care of some simple party crashers." Boldo said with reassurance.
"You don't understand. Look, maybe if I can show you something." U1 hands Boldo a folder with Mimi's picture on it. "This is Seilost Mimi, or Mimi Seilost as you put it. She is not your normal human being. From what we have gathered, she has the ability to bend virtually everything at her will."
"What do you mean?" Boldo added, looking over at the dossier carefully.
"She was one of the women involved, and she is the one who witnesses said she was in flight. I know she looks weird, but we have been tracing this person for quite a while and her motive is to cause complete destruction.
"So what you are trying to say is that this is a super villain that is desperate in taking over the world."
"…If you put it that way… yes."
Boldo and Tracy began to laugh spontaneously at what they thought was completely ridiculous. "Do you expect us to drop everything and believe that story? I am afraid not. We have spent a lot of money on this, and we even booked Logic Nightmare, the world's most exclusive DJ group, to perform today, and in the New Year's finale." Tracy points at the two members of Logic Nightmare on the DJ booth, even though there were three members of Logic Nightmare.
"Then how come Emerson Guy and Troymount Valencia are the only one's there?" I told the two.
"Jason Komero had some business with the record company, but that is beside the point. If you really want to stick around and join in the festivities, fine, but right now, we are the ones in charge and I think that you should stick your paranoid fantasies to someone else. Right now, I believe that Tracy and I have to attend the opening, so if you don't mind, we would like for you to leave, now." The three of us were escorted out of the room and back to the VIP area, where the girls were there waiting for me
"So now what do we do, U1?" I told her.
"We hold out the fort until they do arrive." She said.
"But what if she doesn't? Could it just be that it's all a fluke?"
"She will show up. My contact has not been wrong yet, but if anything does happen though, my team will be ready to strike quickly and effectively. Akira will also be your backup in case you need him."
"I'll be positioned in the back where my team will be ready. You'll also need this." She gave me a tiny microphone and ear piece out of her pocket, kind of the ones used by government officials. "Use this so that we can be in contact all the time." U1 handed me the unit, which I quickly attached to my ear and made sure it was working.
"Thank you."
I have failed to mention from the beginning how The Becamite Tournament works. Seeing as this is the proper time, I will explain it to you. The preliminaries work in a format that makes the selection process more streamlined, because if you try to evaluate every single competitor in an entire continent, you end up with millions and millions of dancers to look over and no progress at all. Participating clubs each send a satellite feed of their performers to the regional headquarters. From this information, the Becamite regional judges can look over each performer and make their decision as to who will qualify for the finals. The problem with this system is that it costs a lot of money to set up and actually record. However, due to the substantial wealth accumulated through the Becamite's business in the music industry, which includes the manufacture of audio and visual equipment, the cost is written off as an act of business.
There is also a secondary effect in which the competitors do not know the results until a few days after the competition. I think this effect was used to compensate for the time the judges have to look over every tape and for added suspense.
While the girls and I were sitting and watching the competitors dance, I felt a tap on my shoulder. Turing to my back, I saw a familiar girl wearing her black sailor fuku outfit in front of me. "Yuni, what are you doing here?"
"Doing the same thing you are doing." She said. "That and Emi invited me. "
I introduced the girls to Yuni and how we met two weeks ago. The thing that I did not understand is that I cannot help wonder how she was able to get out of her house and that her father was willing to let her go out tonight. I guess since things have quieted down, so did her father.
"Emily, don't tell Akira, but I actually have a surprise for him tonight." Yuni said to me. I asked her what it would be but all she said was to watch.
The DJ took the floor once Izam and Ni-Na were done, attempting a completely different rendition of "PPK's Resurrection." It would have been an average performance, had it not have been for Izam pushing Ni-Na, making her fall almost to the ground, but recovered by Izam just inches before touching. "All right, I am ready for the next competitor." said Emerson Guy, the black DJ wearing his signature gray vest with yellow sleeves and flames all around his vest. The booth had a built in translator which was developed by Becamite to input the information from his English into broken Japanese. It was understandable, but just grammatically wrong. To avoid confusion, I fixed the grammar for the purpose of storytelling. "Would Itoh Reiji and Emi Toshiba enter the floor? You are up next."
Rage and Emi went up to the floor. It's been a few days since I've see the two, but it looks like they appear not only well rested, but I think Rage is growing a goatee. "Select your song." said Troymount Valencia, Guy's companion who had the same outfit as Guy, only she has an aqua color where Guy has it yellow, she has on a beanie that was similar to Izam, but had on a stripped pattern, and the blue flames to boot.
The two had the song already planned as they announced it to Valencia. "Burnin' The Floor." said Emi.
Immediately, the two began to start grooving on the floor, when I received a response from the handset. It was U1. "Emily, are you there?"
"Yes. I'm here."
"Reports have come in from our agent that something is going to happen, but it is very vague. All I hear is that they are going to 'drop the bomb.' I have no idea what that means, but that is what he said."
"Thanks."
I didn't miss any moment of Rage and Emi's dance. Halfway through the song, Emi, through an unexpected turn, did a handstand in front of everyone, walked on the floor, and landed on her back, propelling herself back on her feet. Rage did something similar, only his was a tumble and a spring back instead of a handstand.
Izam only sneered at him, thinking that he was a complete phony. Can those two ever get along for once?
It was 23:00 (11 pm) and since the time we started at 18:00 (6 pm) till now, nothing happened. After about two breaks, and 150 plus dancers, I thought that the attack at the club was a complete hoax… or so I thought.
"Everyone," said Guy. "We're all glad you came here tonight. This Friday, we will give everyone the results, now everyone; it's time to go home."
"Aww, I never got the chance to give Akira his surprise." Yuni said in disappointment.
"What was it anyway?"
"However, we have one final entry. Would Berth Yuni and Kongouji Akira enter the stage?"
"You got Akira to go with you?" I said to her. "Does he even know about this?"
"Nope." She said, making an innocent smile.
A loud scream was heard from my handset, and the one screaming was Akira. "What is Yuni trying to do? Doesn't she know I can't dance for…"
"You talk to her!" I quickly gave the handset to Yuni moments before I noticed a hoard of fans coming up to a familiar, patriotic British person entering the front door. "Hey, over there." said Guy. "It's Spike, the runner-up of the last Becamite Tournament."
I don't know how Spike got in. It probably is because no one noticed him during the chaos at the concert, and his rep was somewhat noted throughout the tournament, but either way I confronted him as he crossed into VIP room. "Spike, mind asking me why have you shown your face again?"
His approach to me was not only of concern, but also desperation. "I can't explain, but we have to get out of here now." This was different. First he was after Alice and now he's trying to save my ass? "Spike, what is going on here? What about Alice?"
"Alice is not important now. Mimi is coming."
"What? How do you know?"
I did not have to know. The glass roof standing above the dance floor smashed with a loud bang as familiar woman dropped down from the sky. Half the crowd started running for the door as she showed her face to everyone. Is this Déjà vu? Yes.
"Hey, what's with the cosplaying gajin doing here?" A random contestant said. "Aren't you in the wrong country?"
"Mimi, don't you ever take a vacation?" I added.
"Don't you think I would like to? With all the corruption in this world, I can't stop for nothing." He noticed Spike with Emily. "Hello, this is a most unpleasant surprise."
"Cut the chitchat, Mimi." said Spike, who also noticed that Robbi was no where in sight. "Where's that scarecrow you are always with?" Spike said
"He came under an unfortunate accident."
"It blew up because she didn't retrieve it." I told Spike.
"It doesn't matter. I'm not here to fight. I came for a different matter." She went up to the DJ booth. "The DJ group known as Logic Nightmare; I've always been a fan of your works. John 'Boldo' Bordeaux and Tracy Rise, world renowned business owners of…"
"Shut up already!" I screamed out to her. You have to admit, her dialogue speeches get tiring after a while. "What do you want?"
"What do I want? What else, to join? I want to participate in this contest. I think I had my name signed up on that list, did I not?"
Valencia checks the list to find Mimi Seliost's name, but it is not there. Valencia shakes her head.
"Sad. I didn't register. Well, then, I guess since it is in your call." She pointed to the booth where Boldo and Tracy were. "You decide. You two own the place, so you make the call."
"Forget you!" Boldo said. "Security, get her out!"
Two of the guards came out and tried to get Mimi out. She yawned and placed her hand out in front, emitting an energy force that causes the two oncoming people to be pushed to the back wall. If that did not make Boldo and Tracy believe in what we were trying to say, then those two need help.
Already I can see that she is terrorizing everyone, including Rage, Emi, Izam, Ni-Na, Yuni and the three girls, and right now I can see that Mimi is playing around with her prey, but the longer she stalls, the less of a chance we have to strike. Quickly, I tore the head set from Yuni and communicated to U1. "U1, this is Emily. We need to strike now."
"I'm already ahead of you. We have already figured out the riddle. There is a song called "Drop the Bomb" by Scotty Dolph which was originally not suppose to be released due to the controversy that surrounded it and the record companies even thought everyone keeps misunderstand the point of the song.[1] The DJ's obviously must have a copy of it in their possession. Listen, Zukin. Under no circumstances can that song play."
"Why? Is there an actual bomb somewhere?"
"We believe so. We're searching it as we speak."
Mimi started laughing hysterically, annoying everyone in the club. "This is just too good. I'll tell you what, if you let me dance with someone, I'll let you all go." Mimi then looked at me with an interesting eye. "Emily, would you care to dance with me?"
Mimi requests a dance off. This was very different of her, but I might as well. It was either this or something worse.
"All right. I'll agree on it."
"Zukin, are you crazy?" U1 screamed again from the speakers."
"It is the only way that I can distract her from playing the song."
"Fine. Do it. I'll have the strike team on standby."
The DJ's, without any act of courage, decided to follow along with Mimi, who now has the entire club under her control. As I stepped on the dance floor, the words of U1 kept repeating into my mind, "Whatever you do, do not let her play…"
"I choose 'Drop the Bomb.' Mimi yelled out to the DJ.
"She chose 'Drop the Bomb', didn't she?" U1 spoke in the headset.
"Yes, Why?"
"Every heard of taking things too literally?"
At that moment, I thought that in the history of my life, I would never say the following word. "…baka."
The audience thought differently. Because the song was never officially released anywhere, everyone began to laugh… or at least everyone who was still there. I joined in to try and confuse her. "Come on, Mimi. That song has not been released yet… some of the lyrics still need to be…"
"Shut up! I know that. But you have ever heard of the public release that was in the 2nd Naoki CD?"
Damn! I forgot about that. When Naoki released her second CD, he worked with Scotty Dolph in making the song "Drop the Bomb" in as a bonus track. The whole controversy started because of that CD! [2]
Mimi quickly dropped down from the DJ booth while leaving a CD on the table. "You know exactly what to do."
"Guy, Valencia, Don't do it. You don't know…" I could not stop her. With Mimi in complete control, she had to play the song.
It felt like I was stuck in a moment that I cannot get out of, and not to be quoting a U2 title, (double pun not intended.) but that is how it felt. Everyone that did not left was scared of leaving and those that did were scared of getting the people inside out… and I could not decide what to do either… I felt helpless and alone as the time to the end slowly ticked away…
Notes:
[1]The reference to "Drop the Bomb" is only used as a plot device. The song itself does not condone the use of violence. Rather, it involves a revolution in which replaces outdated methods toward new ones without using violence.
If you read the lyrics, it clearly explains this:
"Explosives are not what it takes, You know the terrorists always make these mistakes"
Although storywise, I do not know if it really makes sense.
[2]The second Naoki CD is really DDR 3rd Mix. In this story, the existance of the DDR game is nonexistant... for now at least.
