I decided to write chapter 7 as the equivalent chapter to episode 25, since I'm not sure what to write for episode 24, when Chieri isn't part of this story^^;
Enjoy^^
DISCLAIMER: I do not own AKB0048 nor it's characters
Chapter 7: The Path to the Theatre
"Now that we're away from Funghistar, and it's less likely that DES will find us again quickly, we can move forward with Operation: Take back Akibastar." Tsubasa stated. "Thanks to the Dualium-crystal the Funghi gave to Orine, we'll be able to do a more daring Kirara Drive jump. The plan is that we'll jump past all DES's defences straight into the underground city of Akibastar. But for the plan to even being close to success, every member, including the understudies, must achieve maximum resonance with dualium. To do that, each and everyone of you needs to reach a Centre Nova-level radiance."
The members gasped. Centre Nova-level radiance?
"Tsubasa-san." Kanata said. "How so? I mean there are some of us who are close, but the rest of us? Some of us have had years of lessons, but still aren't close at all, how do you expect us to do that in a matter of hours?" Tsubasa frowned.
"As we always do. Practice, practice, and more practice." She answered. The idols exchanged glances. That answer wasn't unexpected.
A few minutes later, the girls had changed into their practice uniforms, and had entered the backstage area of the Flying Get. The understudies had been assigned to stretch, while the successors danced to River, and it sonded out of the speakers. Ushiyama was silent, whlie Tsubasa was yelling out orders like a general in war.
"Loosen up! Be bolder!" She yelled. "The kirara's are barely glowing! You won't get a dualium reaction at this rate!"
Only seconds later, Tsubasa threw her fists down like a spoilt child. "That's wrong!" She yelled, and started unbuttoning her blazer. Ushiyama put a hand on her shoulder, but she just moved away. She threw the blazer on the floor, and her scarf followed quickly behind.
"You can do better than this!" She yelled, and started dancing along to the music. The idols stopped dancing, and could just stare in awe at Tsubasa.
"Stronger! Faster! Pay attention to your movements from head to toe! More like..." Tsubasa she paused, trying to find a good word. "...this!"
"Tsubasa-san..." Yukirin said, even if Tsubasa had graduated long ago, she still knew the dance so well by heart.
"See!" Tsubasa yelled. "Now try for yourselves."
"Tsubasa, perhaps you should jus-..." Ushiyama began, but stopped because of the shining creatures which gathered around Tsubasa, but as Tsubasa herself saw them, she lost her oncentration, and fell to her knees. Nagisa ran over to her, attempting to help her rise up.
"I guess I … can't do this anymore… " Tsubasa sighed, and turned first to Nagisa, and then the rest of the idols. "Please. You girls are the only ones who can. Save Akibastar! Save the people's smiles!" She looked back down, defeated.
Miichan grinned, and stepped forward, standing infront of Nagisa and Tsubasa. "See that? Tsubasa who graduated long ago still made the kirara's glow radiantly! That's because her passion is more powerful than mere hopes and wishes!"
"Her passion..?" Orine asked.
"You are all still in your prime years!" Ushiyama stated. "Get it together! You saw what that old, washed-out Tsubasa could do!"
"Old?" Tsubasa flew to her feet. "Washed-out?"
"You can do it, girls!" Miichan grinned. "Don't let yourselves get upstaged by that old grandma!"
"Grandma?!" Tsubasa exclaimed, dismayed. "You too, Miichan?!"
"All right, everyone, back to practice!" Takamina yelled, and Ushiyama smiled slightly, putting a hand on Tsubasa's sholder.
"Way to go, Tsubasa. Your burning passion lit a flame in them as well."
The successors re-did River once, and then changed places with the understudies.
"All right, Kibou ni Tsuite!" Ushiyama called, and the understudies went into position. "Nagisa, you're lone centre."
"Right!" Nagisa nodded, although was a bit hesistant. Every other time she had preformed centre, Chieri or someone else would be at her side, but now she was alone, and she was determined to make it work flawlessly. As Kibou ni Tsuite started to play, they started. The Kiraras quickly formed around the understudies and started to glow. By the end of the song, Miichan, Tsubasa and Ushiyama had to cover their eyes, and wait until the light faded. They heard several 'thump's, and when they looked, every idol in the room had passed out.
"Where..." Takamina asked. "..are we?" The idols looked around. They sat in some kind of train-seats, and they could feel the train moving. Outside of the train, was just a blur of rainbow light and sparkles.
"We were practicing, weren't we?" Yukirin asked, and the others nodded.
"Beautiful." Mayuyu added, as she looked out.
"What happened?" Makoto asked, rising up, and almost freaking out. She fell forward, saved from getting a table to the head only by Suzuko pulling her back into the seat just in time, when the train stopped.
"What now?" Mariko asked.
"I suppose we're supposed to get off here, since it stopped..." Yuka replied. "But I can be wrong, I mean we were somehow transported here from the Flying Get without any of us remembering how."
"It's worth a shot." Sayaka stated simply. "I mean, we'll probably be able to look outside before leaving the train."
The idols nodded, and rose up, Takamina and Kanata being the first.
"Takamina-san?" Kanata asked, trying to push Sonata away from clinging to her waist. "Do you think we're supposed to do any-..."
"It's opening." Came the shorter's answer.
The door of the train opened up, and the idols could only stare in awe before running outside in extreme joy. They saw Akibastar. Whole, and shining in the colours of the rainbow.
Back at the Flying Get, the idols started to stir. They slowly rose up to sitting position.
"We saw it..." Takamina finally got out.
Sayaka continued."We saw the home of our dreams."
"We saw Akibastar!" Orine exclaimed.
"It was all bright, and whole, and colourful!" Sonata added. "Like it was before!"
"Does this mean..?" Ushiyama asked Tsubasa and Miichan.
"Did the Kirara react? Did the Dualium react?" Tsubasa asked.
Miichan nodded. "It seems that way to me."
"Tsubasa-san!" Their little talk was interrupted by Kanata. "Nagisa hasn't woken up yet!"
Everyone in the room flinched, and hurried over to them. Indeed, Nagisa was still laying on the floor with the only life sign was her breathing.
Ever since waking up in the train, Nagisa had found herself to be alone. None of the doors leading to other carriages would open, so the only thing she could do was to sit in one of the seats, wonder where she was, and wait. She could feel the train slowing down and stopping once, before starting again at the same high speed.
When she had been sitting there looking out through the window for another two minutes, the rainbow light and sparkles turned into a deep black colour, and she saw… Stair pieces. Like the ones she had seen in her dream where the 13th Acchan had talked to her. It didn't take long for her to notice a figure laying on a patch of stairs either.
As the train also stopped, she realized she must've been taken there to see something, or namely, the figure lying on the stairs. The door opened, and she did almost take a step right out into thin air, but a stair-step put itself together under her foot, and flew over to the closest set of stairs, which happened to be the one leading almost all the way up to the figure. She didn't hesitate, and started running up the steps. As she got closer, she recognized the girl laying down.
"Yuko-san!" Nagisa exclaimed. She didn't get an answer, and continued running up as far as she could.
"I can't… go any further..." Yuko said. She reached out an arm towards something. When Nagisa followed the direction of her hand, she saw a stage. With the past Centre Novae singing and dancing. Nagisa quickly recognized the girl in front, Maeda Atsuko the 13th.
"I can see her, but I can't reach her!" Yuko said again, despair trailing her voice. When Nagisa looked at her eyes, she saw that something was off.
"Yuko-san!" Nagisa repeated, with no more success this time.
"Acchan is right in front of me…" Yuko sounded absolutely desparate. "...but I can't reach her..."
A gust almost made Nagisa lose her balance, and she shut her eyes closed.
Nagisa's eyes shot open. She was back at the Flying Get.
"Nagisa!" Yuka exclaimed as she dived down, giving Nagisa a hug.
"You scared us!" Orine added.
"You weren't on the train with us." Suzuko stated.
Nagisa got up into sitting position with the help of Yuka and Orine. She took a deep breath. "I was on a train too. I saw Yuko-san." She said.
"Yuko?" Takamina asked. "What about Yuko?"
"Nagisa, what happened?" Ushiyama asked, more calmly than he was.
"She was… stuck, I think..." Nagisa replied. "The train stopped twice. It wouldn't let me off the first time. The second time, I left the train. It was like this huge area filled with nothing but air and spiral stair-cases going up. A lot of them were broken. Yuko was on one, high up, and the staircase was broken both above and below her. She was talking about reaching Acchan, and I saw them. All the past Centre Novae. Acchan the 13th. Yuihan the 6th. Yuko the 7th, Takamina the 4th, Yukirin the 4th, Mayuyu the 2nd, and Sayaka the 8th. I saw them all. They were singing and dancing on a stage, but not the 00 stage, it was… older-looking."
At first Nagisa didn't get an answer, as her words sunk in, but then Tsubasa spoke, pulling up an image on the big screen. It showed an entrance to something. The most prominent features were the numbers and letters forming the term 'AKB48'.
"You must've seen the AKB48 theatre in Akihabara, Japan. Before Earth eas laid to waste, that was where AKB48, and in turn, AKB0048 was born. The girls who gathered there to preform every day, was the original members. What I suspect is that after Earth was laid to waste, is that in a place beyond time and space, the powerful feelings of the original members gathered, which formed this theatre, because it's not a physical location, I can tell you. Not in this world, at least. If it was, then it would have already been found."
"But if it's a place where powerful emotions gather, then Yuko should have been able to make it to the theatre. She's the most strongwilled girl I know. She was a Centre Nova as well." Takamina said, and seveal of the other girls nodded.
"My guess is that Yuko hasn't completed her 'Centre Nova journey'.'" It was Miichan's turn to answer, and before anyone could object her first statement, she continued. "Yuko met all the conditions of becoming a Centre Nova. Not all the conditions of disappearing as one. Trust me, I've researched."
"The conditions of disappearing as a Centre Nova?" Nagisa asked.
"Yes. The first condition for a Centre Nova to disappear is a frighteningly powerful sense of unity with everything. It needs to exceed time and space."
"Exceed time and space?" Tsubasa asked. This was clearly the first time she heard this as well.
"The members, the staff, the audience, the stage… Those aren't enough… It must include plantlife, animal-life, technology, everything, both in past, present and future… There is also something more which is undescribable with words. A Centre Nova must get a sense of being one with everything to be able to disappear. She must feel like she's everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Once she is over come by that euphoria which approaches terror, and attains the ultimate radiance, she disappears. That was not at all what happened with Yuko… The way she disappeared… It wasn't like she became one with everything. It was like she was fleeing from everything, by seeking refuge in what's called 'isolation...' The only times she'll have to get back to complete her Centre Nova journey is when another Centre Nova is initiated. Every other time, that gate to that world is closed." Miichan stopped talking, and for a few moments, all was silent, until Tsubasa stepped forward.
"There is no time! Now that you girls have caused a Dualium reaction, we must take this one chance of taking back Akibastar! I'll alert Kojiharu, Tomochin, WOTA and the others on Akibastar."
"Right!" The members of 00 replied.
"Everyone, we'll do a Hyperspace jump. The live starts as soon as we arrive on Akibastar." Tsubasa's voice sounded through the speakers of the Flying Get. "The D.G.T.O., which is occupying Akibastar, will call for reinforcements. We need the concert to reach it's climax before they arrive."
Nagisa sat by one of the mirrors, brushing her hair, before tying her ribbon into it. She went on with applying make-up, using as little as she could. She looked herself in the eyes.
So this is what it all comes down to. Us making sure that we have taken back Akibastar before the reinforcements arrive… Chieri, I hope you'll be there and watch over us… Yuko-san… I'll definitely bring you back, so that you can climb the rest of those stairs… All the past Centre Novae, please watch over us, and help in whatever way you can… For 00's sake!
Nagisa sighed, and rose up, straightening her uniform. She did first feel a surge of increased speed, and then two rumbles resonating through the Flying Get.
"Successors, time to go! First up is River!" Tsubasa called in the speakers. "Kojiharu and Tomochin are on stand by, and will join as soon as they see you, but they can't wait forever. Hurry up."
"Right!" The successor replied, ran onstage, and up on the flying boards, and switched on their earpiece mics.
"AKB0048!" Takamina's voice sounded in all of Akibastar. The Flying Get's lamps shone in green and blue, and the successors flew over to the crowd which had gathered, dancing and singing all the while. The kirara's were already shining brightly. On the way, Tomochin and Kojiharu joined in.
It didn't matter that the music was so loud, or that the successors voices strenthened it even further, the sucessors could still hear the shouts of the audience.
And they weren't happy or even welcoming.
"Leave!"
"You dare to show your faces NOW?!"
"Go away!"
"You traitors!"
The understudies were watching the live on the big screen in the backstage area of the Flying Get. They couldn't speak at the sight, they had pictured a whole different image than the one they were seeing. They could practically see the successors shrinking.
"Why?" Nagisa asked. "The people of Akibastar used to be so kind."
Mariko almost lost her balance and fell off the flying board when a fiery bomb wizzed right past her, if it wasn't for Takamina who reacted fast and steadied her.
Inside the Flying Get, Kanata reached out towards the screen, even though she knew she couldn't do anything.
"Takamina-san! Mariko!" she exclaimed.
As the successors made their way back to the understudies, Sonata fell to her knees.
"I hate this!" She whined. "I don't want any of this! The people of Akibastar was so super nice to us."
Kanata went over to her, and gave her a hug, whom Sonata greatly appreciated, even if she still felt hopeless. Suzuko joined in on the hug, trying to find some words that would cheer Sonata up.
"Now they're super-scary.." Sonata's tears finally spilt over and she started crying.
"I can't stand this..." Nagisa said, mostly to herself, but both Makoto and Yuka heard her.
"Same here." Yuka agreed.
"Me too." Makoto added.
Nagisa looked up from the floor and turned to them. "...So if I can, I'm going to do everything I can to change it."
On the train ride, I found it hard to believe that if Nagisa was with the others (as she was in the original anime), that she wouldn't follow the others out. First and foremost, she shares the same dream as the others, thus would she be equally happy to join the others, and see that scene. Second, she does not want to be left behind, which is clearly shown in episode 1 when she decides to go after Yuka and Orine (granted, it was partly her dream which drove her as well, but also, when she fell asleep, she dreamed of Yuka and Orine on the 00-stage, and she says 'Without me'). This is why I decided to separate her from the others already from the start of the train scene^^
Also, next chapter may not be the last. I have some things I want to be done either as an epilouge, or something else, I'm not sure. Tell me what you think about it^^
And in case you haven't already noticed, I have a poll on my profile, to see who you guys think should become Centre Nova^^ It won't affect the story, I've already decided (it's been clear ever since I started writing this fanfic^^), I'm just a bit curious of what you guys think^^