Kokomi: “♪ I wanna chase your dreams with you, Yeah!”
Mugi & Miu: “♪ I love your smile!”
Ion & Nana: “♪ In our wonderland, be brave, let’s make them come true!”
Audience: “Yeah! Hey! Yeah! Hey! Yeah! Hey!”
Audience: “L-O-V-E! The lovely Kokomi!”
Audience: “Totally adorable! It’s I-O-N!”
Audience: “Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!”
ONI: “Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!”
ONI was jumping up and down, swaying from side to side next to Hiraga.
Miu: “Wh- Grandpa...”
The sight of her grandfather among a
load of idol fans bewildered Miu, but she was happy he was there. She
felt a giddiness at the fact that all the people in the room were here
to watch her and her group. It might not be so bad being an idol after
all, she thought.
??: “Urk...”
Just before Bit Vivid’s second song started, a man collapsed near the main hall.
Haruki called out to him, not missing a beat.
Haruki: “Are you all right?”
It was a man in his late thirties. He was a big, pasty-faced guy who looked kind of like a potato at first glance.
Man: “My girl’s amazing... She’s mine, I’m dating her, you know...”
And then he fainted.
Maybe he was on drugs, maybe he was a creep, or maybe...
Miu and the rest of Bit Vivid were in
the small room that was being used as their dressing room. The songs
were still going round in their heads even after the show had finished.
They were tired, but at the same time felt a sense of accomplishment at
giving it their all.
Miu’s smartphone vibrated. Haruki had called her to come out, so she went around the back of the venue.
Haruki: “I’m surprised. You looked pretty much like a real idol.”
Miu: “Well, I worked really hard at it. Anyway, what’s up? Did you find something?”
Haruki: “Actually, there was a fan
who collapsed during the show, so I was tending to him. But when I took
my eye off him for a second, he disappeared. Sorry...”
Miu: “Do you know his name?”
Haruki: “Takehiro Shōno.”
Miu: “I’m going to bring him up on my phone’s GPS.”
Haruki: “You can actually do that? That’s cool.”
Miu: “I’m just narrowing it down
using the location info for this area so it’s not too hard... Got him,
this building. Three minutes from here.”
Haruki: “I hope it’s nothing, but I’m going to head over.”
Miu: “I’ll go too. I’ll send a message to Mr. Hiraga and Grandpa, as well.”
It was an old building full of small stores, tall and square, almost like a milk carton.
You could take the elevator as far as the 7th floor, but you had to use the stairs to get any higher.
At the top of the stairs was a room covered by “for rent” posters.
Haruki: “Spiderwebs again. He’s definitely here. I’m going to open the door, okay?”
Miu: “Time to meet the culprit.”
With a nod, Haruki opened the door. In the empty room, lying on the floor, was the man…
And a monster.
The man was likely dead.
??: “Looks like you caught me.”
The monster looked right at them as if to say, “I’ve been expecting you.”
??: “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t interrupt my meal. That would be rude.”
Every hair on Miu’s body stood on
end, and she felt as though her blood was running cold. The “person” in
front of her was one of her fellow Bit Vivid members: Mugi Mutsu! No, it
was something grotesque in the shape of Mugi.
Miu: “Mugi, is that you?”
Mugi: “It’s me. You see me every day, don’t you?”
That monster was definitely Mugi, except she had spider legs sprouting out of her at the waist.
Miu: “That guy... Did you kill him?”
Mugi: “Yup, I did.”
She said it in a flat voice.
Miu: “Then that makes you my enemy. You look like that boss from Dark Souls, so I guess I know how to beat you already…”
She had sarcasm in her voice as she mimicked Mugi’s flat tone.
Haruki: “You’re the criminal behind
all of the disappearances! You pretended to be interested in Shōno to
lure him here, didn’t you?”
Mugi: “Right again. I just can’t turn off my appetite. The fans all looked so delicious.”
Her voice was just as cheerful as ever, which only served to add to the chill Miu felt.
Miu: "There's just one thing I don't get—why were you taking idol lessons with us?"
Mugi: “I really did want to become an
idol. They get to be all shiny, eat delicious things... Being an idol
would be wonderful...”
She smiled brightly and made a peace sign in her usual manner.
Mugi: “Unfortunately, Miu, I still want to become an idol.”
She took a step toward Miu with her spidery legs.
Mugi: “Which means someone knowing my true form would be terrible. So...die, okay?”
Her huge arachnid legs moved as her
voice sharpened and the space between them shrunk in an instant. She
waved a leg the size of a tree trunk towards Miu. Miu prepared herself
for a massive blow.
But nothing happened—the spider’s leg had gone still. The arm of a red machine had stopped it.
ONI: “Just you try and lay a single finger on my granddaughter.”
There stood the superhero ONI. Her ever-dependable grandfather.
Miu: “Thanks. ...Grandpa, you even bought a T-shirt?!”
ONI was wearing a Bit Vivid T-shirt.
ONI: “Yea-Never mind that, Miu, run.”
Haruki opened fire and Miu took the
opportunity to run from the room. She spun her way down the spiral
staircase as fast as she could, the sounds of concrete smashing and
Haruki's gunfire echoing behind her.
Miu: “I can’t just run away. There has to be something I can do to help...”
Miu ran as fast as she could.
Miu: “That’s it! If I can get it up and running...”
She barreled out of the building and
headed for Hiraga’s lab, when suddenly, a huge shadow fell in front of
Miu. The monstrous spider crashed through the concrete wall and scuttled
out.
Mugi: “You’re not getting away, hehehe.”
A very poisonous arachnid leg bore down on the bewildered Miu…
At the same moment, the huge spider beast started shooting sparks in all directions.
ElecArmor.
Hiraga: “What the hell is that; Spiderwoman?!”
ElecArmor appeared, with 4 drones in a
shield formation around him. The drones dispersed, each going to
redirect civilians or control traffic. ONI jumped down a moment later.
Hiraga: “Looks like quite the adversary.”
ONI: “Hm.”
Miu called out to Hiraga in a determined voice:
Miu: “Mr. Hiraga! Let me use Trackball!”
Hiraga: “Bad idea Miu, it’s still not finished. All you managed last trial was a short walk, remember?”
Miu: “I put a cheat code in for situations like this! It can fight!”
Miu looked completely confident.
Hiraga: “...All right. Try your thing.”
She rushed across the road, now
completely empty of cars, and ran as hard as she could straight for the
lab. After the show, she thought she’d have no energy left to move, but
her legs were carrying her without conscious thought now.
Miu: “If I can fight, I have to. I’m the one that can fight her best right now.”
Shaking her arms and legs to psyche
herself up, she swiped her key card at the lab entrance, grabbed her
notebook pc from the desk and booted up the prototype.
Miu: “You make your own...miracles!”
She said as she folded herself inside the prototype and stuck the USB stick in.
AI: “ENGAGING MIRACLE PROTOCOL.
SECURITY AUTHENTICATION, AUTHORIZED.
BATTLE CRY COMMAND: BATTERY 200%.
FURY COMMAND: OIL PRESSURE INCREASED.
GRIT COMMAND: ALL ANOMALIES FIXED.
ACCELERATION COMMAND: ENGINES BOOSTED.
BULLSEYE COMMAND: ALL OPTICS READY.
FLASH COMMAND: AUTO-DODGE ENGAGED.
GOOD LUCK ON YOUR MISSION.”
Hiraga: “Hey, what did you stick in there… And what kind of naming system is that?
Miu laughed a little at his words and pulled a lever.
Miu: “Ready to go! Move, Trackball!”
Prototype 001—”Trackball”—belched out a load of smoke and took off down the road.