Chapter One
"It Gets Worse"
Sometime before the events at Mylar's...
It was a day like any other at the Amaguni Law Firm. Hitoya was in his office, drinking his usual brand of coffee with beans he ground himself...and he was stuck in a room with two idiots who just didn't know when to shut up. Not even noon and already he had a goddamn headache courtesy of these brats. And even so, it still counted as a regular day, as seeing these two had become the norm since he joined up with them to form the Nagoya Division. Whether that was a good decision or not was still up in the air, though.
"Okay, that's enough!" Hitoya snapped in an attempt to get the two teenagers to settle down.
"Now listen up. There's two things I hate. First, getting a mouthful of coffee grounds in my cup. And second, when more than one person tries to talk at the same time." He set his coffee mug down and sat back in his chair, crossing his arms and giving the two a steely look reserved for witnesses in the courtroom.
“Here's what's going to happen. The two of you are going to speak one at a time, and you're going to explain to me what this 'emergency' of yours is. Which one of you is going first?"
“Hitoya-San, please!” Jyushi threw himself down upon the Lawyer’s desk. He buried his face in a stack of important-looking papers. It was an unintentional ultimatum-- either Hitoya gave him some of his time, or he’d stain the stack of contracts grey with his tears. “Please!” He mumbled, his words muffled by his sleeves. “The last lawyer-man we spoke to
laughed at us! Whatever you’re going to say, we’ve heard it before! Please show us ‘Mr.Nice-Hitoya’! We’ve earned it! It’s the least you could do for you sworn friends and allies!”
"........" As Jyushi gave his plea, Hitoya watched in...well, not disbelief. Sadly it would be out of the ordinary if these kids
didn't pull dumb shit like this. No, the look on the lawyer's face was pure exhaustion. As much as he'd been hoping to savor his coffee this morning, Hitoya picked up his mug and just downed the entire damn thing. Lord knows he was gonna need it.
"Just let it out, Jyushi," he said, tugging whatever papers he could from under the musician.
"But if you're gonna start crying, watch the papers. I have important legal documents here."
“It all started w-with… w-with Amanda!” Jyushi whimpered, placing his hands in his pockets. “I know what you’re going to say! You’re going to say it's ‘silly’ and ‘childish’ and ‘unbecoming’, but I care not! I will not hear an ill word against my precious pig!” Jyushi huffed, puffed and stomped like a spoiled child. He stuck out his lip until he resembled the push-pig in question. “I… I… I… what was I saying?"
"...the pig?"
“What else would it be?” Kuko shrugged exaggeratedly, used to Jyushi’s whiny demeanor. He plopped down in the chair on the other side of Hitoya’s desk, putting his feet up.
“The Laywer said it was a stupid idea…” Jyushi sniffed. “He said that I didn’t ‘own’ Amanda! Can you imagine that? Can you imagine the nerve?! Amanda is mine! I don’t care who ‘designed’ her! She’s mine!
Mine! Mine! Mine! She’s been at my side ever since---”
"Jyushi. Please." Hitoya was massaging his temples at this point.
"What does your stuffed animal have to do with you both storming into my office and keeping me from my actual job?"
“He fucking started it!” Kuko groaned, of course they couldn’t make more ‘
Amandas’ it’s a pre-existing design. He let out a sigh, patting Jyushi’s head.
“Oh… yeah…we wanted to make more Amandas! You know! For the fans! But he said that… that....” Jyushi swallowed the lump in his throat. “Kuko… Kuko you tell him....”
“That it’s copyrighted-”
“Copyrighted! What an odious woman she was!” Jyushi pouted. “Telling us that we didn’t ‘own her image rights’... whatever that means…”
"Hold on. This is about...copyright?" Hitoya was trying to make sense of whatever the hell these two wanted in between all of Jyushi's theatrics. Moving his desk chair back to the bookshelf behind him, the lawyer plucked a book out, eager to do what he could just to get these two out of here.
"Let me see here…This isn't my specialty, but there's nothing I can't tackle." Hitoya licked his thumb in order to flip through the pages.
"The H Era copyright law says that--"
“I don’t care what the ‘law’ says!” Jyushi screwed his face up into a tight, wrinkly, wailing ball. “You’re not just a lawyer, Hitoya! You’re the… the… the guy who runs all of Bad-Ass-Temple’s legal-business-money stuff! It’s your job… no… your duty to make this right! You’re the smartest person I know! It’s up to you… you’re the only one who can do this for us, Hitoya…
“That’s why we,
“Your best and dearest and only friends…
“Are asking you….
“To change the law in Bad Ass Temple’s Favour!!!!"
For a few moments, Hitoya was silent, staring blankly at the two. And then, finally…
"Kuko. Jyushi." The book in his hand shut loudly, as if to cut any noise in the room down in one fell swoop.
"There are two things I can't stand. First, having my time wasted. And second, being bothered at work. And at the moment..." He slid the book back into his shelf and stood up, fixing the two with a disapproving glare.
"The two of you are doing both these things. Listen up. When I'm not at the office, or not dealing with a case? That's your time to deal with me all you want...within reason." The last bit was tacked on as he realized that could be taken advantage of by these two.
"But when I'm at the office, I'm working. With clients. Who pay me for my time and energy. Every minute I listen to the two of you go on and on about this or that is a minute I could be dealing with something serious. You want me to look into getting Amanda trademarked under the Bad Ass Temple name? Talk to me after work or when we're training for the next Division Battle. But right now?"
He walked to his office door and held it open.
"Let me do my goddamn job."
Kuko narrowed his eyes at Jyushi, then Hitoya. Before crossing his arms and huffing.
“Hitoy-” Kuko started but was cut off swiftly.
"I don't wanna hear it! Here..." Hitoya rolled his eyes, pulling his wallet out of his pocket and taking out a few bills, which he held out to the two teenagers.
"Take this and go fuck off somewhere until five. The mall, the movie theater, the arcade...I don't know what kids these days do, just get out of here and leave me alone."
Kuko quickly snatched the money, a grin now on his face.
“Works for me! Let’s go Jyushi!”
When they were finally gone, Hitoya closed the door behind them and sighed.
"Damn it…" Had he been too harsh? He didn't know. He knew both his teammates had been through some shit growing up-hell, he defended them both in court before they were sixteen! But they had to learn that just because they were a team, that didn't mean Hitoya could be bothered at his own job.
Either way... he thought to himself, turning back to his office.
At least I won't have any more interruptions for the rest of the day.
Except, of course, for the bony green hand that was opening his fifth-floor office window from the outside.
---
“So...how does this judging of yours work?”
Having left the stage after his announcement, Mylar walked up to the manager, who was leaning against the wall.
“I don’t remember you bringing along any judges, and you certainly don’t look like you’re judging anything…”
“It’s all being taken care of, mate.” The manager gave a nonchalant wave of his hand.
“Got the computers doin’ that for me. Oh speakin’ of I need to go pick it up from the office…”
“My office, you mean.” Mylar frowned.
“I’ll be coming with you to make sure you clean up--”
“No!” The manager's sudden outburst surprised Mylar, a reaction that seemed to make the manager collect himself, running a hand over his hair.
"Ahem! The, er, young lady that was disqualified, see, she attacked me, and in self-defense I had no choice but to knock her out and restrain her in that office. No tellin' what she'll do to any unlucky sod that just waltzes in."
"Certainly can't say I think you're entirely the victim, pal...I haven't even known you a whole day and I can tell you're probably on a hit list as long as the list of ingredients in those disgusting energy drinks!"
The manager chuckled, getting up off the wall to start for the office.
"That's how you know you've made it big, my friend: when half the world wants you dead."
"And the other half?"
The manager stopped in the doorway, looking back with a grin.
"The other half, Mylar...wants to kill you themselves." He laughed at that, walking away...only to stop the second the office was in sight.
The office with an open door.
The office with a missing occupant.
The office with an open trunk surrounded by ripped-up tape.
"Oh, shit."
---
It couldn't have been three minutes after leaving the backstage that the manager barrelled out onstage, clumsily grabbing the microphone as he did so.
"Uh...attention! Folks, please! May I have...your attention!" Gone was the pompous and arrogant man a small portion of the group had met in the office. He was sweating now, tugging at the collar of his shirt. Nervous...but over what?
"Ahem! Everyone, settle down, settle down!" The manager barked into the microphone, seeming to be telling himself that more than anybody else.
"We officially have our OBLIVION Intergalactic Talent Search winners!" He looked offstage.
"MYLAR! Mylar, get the prizes up here, now!"
"I'm...grgh...trying...!" The poor mouse was left to pull a large trunk onto the stage himself. Once it was there he leaned against it, catching his breath.
The manager was a bit too preoccupied to care. He held up the paper in his hand, quickly reading it out loud.
"In third place, with that peppy little pop tune of hers, give it up for Maria Cadence..." He trailed off, narrowing his eyes at the paper.
"Uh...Candenz...Cadenza...oh, bloody hell, the pink one!" He pointed at the bar, and a spotlight fell on
Maria Cadenzavna Eve. "You! Come on up and claim your prize!"
"E-Eh? Me? Oh, goodness!" Maria gasped out in surprise. An involuntary smile crept upon her features, prompting her to step away from the others she had been in conversation with.
"E-Excuse me for just a moment! I'll be right back!" She exclaimed excitedly, before hopping to the front to claim her prize.
"Here you...go..." Mylar forced himself to open the trunk, barely taking out the prize.
"One...one..."
With a hop in her step, elated at having made the cut, Maria navigated her way to the front, claiming her prize eagerly. With a genuine smile, she took the mic and began speaking.
"Dear me, I really didn't expect to have gotten this far! I was happy to just be able to participate, but to know that my song was able to reach the audience, that's the true prize of all, and I'm proud to bear this trophy as a testament to the power of music! Thank you all once again!"
Those were her true feelings. She had bared her true feelings toward everyone as she sang, and she had never expected that her song had reached enough people like this. That was the true reward in of itself. With all that said, she hopped off the stage with her prize in hand, in time for the next winner to be announced.
"Aw, sweet. Real sweet. Hope you enjoy the prize, luv: a years supply of OBLIVION Energy Drinks!" It would be at this time that Maria might realize her "trophy" was an OBLIVION can coated in cheap gold paint.
"Movin' on! In second place, with that spitfire punk-rock performance...Cassidy Embers!" A spotlight fell on
Cassidy Embers, and the manager frantically motioned for her to join him.
"Hurry up and get your prize, come on!"
Cassidy was clapping, but her mouth fell open slightly as she was announced as the runner up- a happy surprise. As she walked up the stage she was beaming, giving the crowd a bright smile and bowing. She hugged the manager quickly.
"Guh--!" He was not very thrilled about that, and made sure to step back a bit from the musician, tapping his wrist as if to say speed it along.
"Thank you, thank you!" She cheered, before speaking again.
"I couldn't have done it without thinking of my band, this is for them," she smiled before turning to the manager again, gently punching his arm.
"Thanks, grandpa," she winked.
"Yeah, yeah, adorable kid, bleedin' adorable." The man dusted off his sleeve where she touched him then turned to the mouse man.
"Mylar! The prize!"
Mylar, now back to his usual self, opened the second place trunk and peered in.
"What the...no way! Nuh-uh!" He looked up at the manager, dumbfounded.
"What is this?! What's wrong with you?!? I'm not gonna give that to somebody!"
"Then I will, you little rat! Outta my way!" The manager punted the lounge owner offstage, where a distant crash could be heard, then pulled the prize out himself.
"Now, ain't THIS somethin' to write home about?!"
What was in his hands was a chainsaw, modified to include a cassette player and telephone.
"Good thing you signed that liability waiver before comin' in, eh?" The manager said, handing off the weapon to Cassidy.
"Huh?"
Her mouth was agape looking at the pink chainsaw that was being presented to her. Cassidy cocked her head to the side in confusion. She could only blink at the green man as he placed the chainsaw in her hand, still shocked at him kicking the mouse off stage.
"H-hey? Wha-"
"Thank you! Thank you, thanks, get goin' now, off the stage with you!" Practically shoving the second place winner off the stage, the manager cleared his throat.
"Okay, okay! Onto the finale. Let's get this over with before...uh, before we run out of those OBLIVION energy drinks! Now. Without a doubt, there's one act that stole the show. Heart-stoppin', nail-bitin', pure heavy metal! Our winner is the one, the only...LORD RAPTOR!!!"
From where he'd landed, a spotlight fell atop the undead musician.
"Come on up, mate, get your prize, fast!"
"Sorry, mates, were you sayin' something about my metal? Somethin' about... vulgar? Cuz, I couldn' hear you over the sound of me winning. He HE HAAAA HAHAHAHAHAH! AAAAALRIGHT!"
Raptor twisted his head in Tsubasa's direction, barely mustering any semblance of a reaction beyond a tirade of hysterical laughter and shrill, electrifying riffs across his guitar as he shreds the strings. His bony frame washed in spotlights, the rock-star bounded atop the stage with a running leap, twirling around on his clawed feet and flashing a wild-eyed grin to the lights.
He produced a microphone from seemingly nowhere, shoving it up to his jaws and practically screaming into the mic. The feedback sound was particularly unpleasant.
"I GOT NO ONE TO THANK BUT MYSELF, BABY! HEAR THAT METAL IN YOUR SOOOOUUUL AND SWEAR YOUR LOYALTY TO DA RAPTOOOOOOR, HAAAAAAA HAHAHAHAH!"
He glanced around the auditorium for a moment, then leaned back into the mic again.
"AND FUCK COPS!"
The undead musician cackled again, whipping his hand back like an elastic string before hurling the microphone into the stage and contorting his body around towards the 'manager'.
"Now gimme that prize, cucumber!"
The manager actually clapped at Raptor's speech, lowering his voice to whisper.
"Y'know, maybe we could do a collab at some point, mate...I'll have my people get in touch with yours an' all that..." But then he turned to the box of prizes before him, taking out a velvet blue box. Inside said box was a solid gold medallion with a skull on it.
The item itself had a certain energy to it, humming within it low but strong. To Raptor in particular, however, it was...familiar, in a way, yet unfamiliar at the same time. Either way, just what that energy could be was indecipherable for the time being.
"You can ogle your goods offstage, mate. Gotta get this show on the road."
Raptor didn't seem to react to the manager's murmuring one way or the other, still high on his own ego as far as anyone else was concerned. Though, the undead rocker's grinning jaws seemed to falter slightly. He snatched the medallion out from the manager's grimy little green mitts, danging the skull-inscribed prize before his dim red eyes.
"... A shiny one, isn't she," he muttered to himself as if he was in a trance.
The rock star's brow furrowed, his teeth grinding against the other for a moment, but he seemed to be knocked out of his funk once the manager started ushering him off the stage. Raptor only responded with a sloppy salute, the undead lunging off the stage with a flexible flip before landing atop his usual seat.
"Heh, alright alright ALRIIIIGHT! GET THAT HYPE CRAWLING OUTTA THE GRAAAAAVE, MATES! WHOSE NEXT?!"
"I'm next! Got one last suprise for you lot..." Once Raptor was offstage, the manager grinned.
"Awright, thank you all for comin' in tonight, listenin' to the acts, buyin' OBLIVION products, blah blah blah..." He kneeled down in front of the trunk, undoing a latch that let a second compartment open up. Anyone close enough would see gas canisters peeking up over the top of the trunk, while the manager placed a mask over his head.
"Now then..." He turned to the audience, and the type of mask was revealed: a gas mask.
"Heh heh heh...Time for the grand finale."
"You got that right, you musty old fucker!"
Margaret's voice echoed out around the lounge, causing the manger to look around wildly.
"Wha-no, w-w-wait! I just need one more minute!" He scrambled to the tanks, trying to turn one of them open.
"Murdoc Niccals..."
"That ain't my name! Never heard of a Murdoc in me life!"
"For the crime of kidnapping over a dozen innocent people..."
"Wait a minute! WAIT!!"
"The Reaper hereby sentences you..."
"Come on, come on, open! Why won't this bleedin' piece of shit open?!?!?"
"...to death."
And with that, the power went out, and everything went black. There was a moment of shock and murmuring coming from the audience, before everything cut out when a voice started singing.
"Reaper, Reaper, that's what people call me..."
It was Margaret's own voice, but this time hearing it made your blood freeze in your veins. Frozen, you could only sit or stand in shock, all while the noises of a struggle broke out onstage. The manager, a name named Murdoc apparently, could be heard crying out and swearing, while Margaret could be heard struggling, as well. A third voice joined in, one nobody recognized, and then there was the sound of footsteps running offstage. And just like that, the lights were on, and you suddenly felt yourself able to move again.
Mylar rushed back onstage.
"Which one of you turned off the lights?! When you shut off the power that gives people supernatural abilities back and...huh? Who are you?!"
Murdoc and Margaret were nowhere to be seen, and instead stood a man in a leather jacket that hadn't been there before.
"The guy who's gonna make you rich," he said.
"That goes for the rest of you, too. I'm suing that guy for everything he's got!"
"What is going on here?!"
"There'll be time to explain once we catch that son of a bitch," the man said.
"Margaret couldn't have gotten far. Come on!" He motioned for you to follow him backstage. Whether you did or not, of course, was entirely up to you. As it so happened, as the lights came on, so did the house music system, playing a song that seemed to fit the sudden chaos a bit too well.
Cast List
@Gummi Bunnies as
Calliope Mori [Hololive] and
Neko Asakura [Cytus II]
@MaxIrvaron as
Camille Ignacia Irvaron [Original Character]
@Space_Candy as
Cassidy Embers [Original Character] and
Kuko Harai [Hypnosis Mic]
@Lucky as
Cooper Reid [Original Character] and
Evan Hansen [Dear Evan Hansen]
@Sark as
Dante [Devil May Cry] and
Jyushi Aimono [Hypnosis Mic]
@Takumi as
Gris [GRIS] and
Meiji Gahata [Vocaloid]
@Yun Lee as
Hitoya Amaguni [Hypnosis Mic] and
Margaret Moonlight [No More Heroes]
@Crow as
Inugami Korone [Hololive] and
Uruha Rushia [Hololive]
@Crunch as
Lord Raptor [Darkstalkers]
@Ver as
Maria Cadenzavna Eve [Symphogear] and
Tsubasa Kazanari [Symphogear]
@Override as
Miku Hatsune [Vocaloid]
@Farewell as
Mima Kirigoe [Perfect Blue] and
Rin Kagamine [Vocaloid]
@mintyy as
Nyubara Reona [BanG Dream!] and
Oliver [Vocaloid]
@Minerva as
Rise Kujikawa [Persona 4]
@Atomic Knight as
Sarah Lynn [Bojack Horseman]
@Capri as
Snufkin [Moomin] and
Sweet Ann [Vocaloid]
@Jeremi as
The Doctor [Doctor Who]
