Idol Planet 300

KiKi seems to be here to stay. It’s unnerving how they move so quietly and will appear at random, sometimes out of vents or through small cracks that they shouldn’t be able to fit through. Either way, they’ve made themselves at home and the coaches seem powerless to stop them now. 

But maybe somethings nice will take your mind off of it. You find a small treat made just for you sitting somewhere you’d obviously see it. Maybe it was left in your dorm’s fridge or on the shared table. Of course you’re suspicious but it comes with a note attached to it. It’s from someone you’re close to that’s also stuck in the same situation alongside you, including the coaches who had tried before to save you. Either way it’s, oddly enough, your favorite snack. You eventually eat it without any problem. 

You go about your day and eventually see a message sent to the group chat.

KIKI: WE HOPED YOU LIKED OUR GIFT! KIKI: DON’T WORRY! IT WILL BRING US ALL TOGETHER!! KIKI: FOR THE SAKE OF THE SHOW!!

It’s then you realized the mistake you had made. But it’s too late now.

KIKI: LOBBY!! NOW!!!

And once again you’re filing in, itching to find out just what you had consumed.

KiKi stand there, moving between giggles and sobs as it looks at you. 

“We have given you all a special treat! This treat will bring everyone closer together and lead to glorious betrayal!!”

They clap for themselves before bursting out into tears.

“You see... people cannot be close when they are lying. So we have given you a very potent serum! One that is super special and will provide for you a great chance to get to know one another better!!”

The crying stops and they smile once more.

“It will be difficult for you to lie... Let your true selves shine! Ah, but be warned that this potentially a permanent change. We do have the antidote as we believe little white lies are necessary for comradery. If someone kills, we will provide all with the antidote. If not, well... We get to test our serum!”

At the behest of the mysterious group chat messages, Nanashi arrives at the gate by the music shop, and they just watch -- watch as the Shimizu twins go at it with their weapons. No words. Just a straight face and some silent observation, eyes bobbing up and down as they watch them swing back and forth. They don't say anything because Nanashi isn't expecting repercussions. There haven't ever been repercussions around here. They kicked the concrete wall with Yua once, and what came of that? Nothing. Besides, the coaches killed the mascots. There's no one to enforce any would-be rules.

Nanashi hums, taking one step closer.

"You just have to make the excitement that you want to see sometimes. Mmmm, too many people don't have the right initiative."

Those words ring in their mind. Ah... wait, wasn't that something Kazuko said? And as if on cue, dread pits in their stomach, and Nanashi stops to turn their gaze skyward. That's when they see the monstrosity known as Kiki standing at the top of the gate. They think: Oh, the beast is back.

The feeling of dread is still there, but they don't expect it to be any more than that. Because it's never been any more than that. Kira and Doki were just pathetic little toys. They think these two won't be defeated so easily -- they came here to see dead bodies, so why would they die now? When there's only been one or two? That'd be silly.

Nanashi blinks and almost misses it.

There's a screech, a bright light, and when they finally open their eyes, there's nothing left resembling Kazuko or Kazumi in front of that gate.

"..."

So, uh, so much for not being defeated so easily.

Nanashi's eyes turn downward, and don't leave the piles of ash in front of the gate. They don't listen to anything in the background right now, especially from Kiki. Their gaze is focused on the ground.

This is the excitement Kazuko and Kazumi wanted to see, huh? To see themselves reduced to a pile of ash?

It's kind of funny. It's kind of sad. It's irony, but it's really, really bad irony. Should Nanashi laugh or cry? They're torn. So torn.

What is there to cry for? Hm... well, were the twins' parents watching? The parents they spoke of so fondly to Nanashi? The family that was so important? Kiki runs away, and they silently wonder... how does it feel to have someone rooting for you on the other side of the television screen, anyway? And how does it feel for them right now? To see their loved ones killed so brutally, so... easily...?

It must feel bad.

On the other hand, what is there to laugh about? The irony, mostly. Or maybe it's just one of those laughs you let out when you've experienced a horrible thing and don't know what else to do?

It's not very funny.

"..."

They take another step closer, and squat down by the matching bracelets amidst the piles of ash -- the piles of ash that barely resemble humans anymore. Maybe after that last trial, some people here didn't even see those two as human to begin with, but... Kazuko, at least... she was a friend. A friend... a friend... they look at the pile that was once Kazuko... and then quickly turn their gaze away.

Nanashi stands up, and it's much like when they were watching the twins attack the gate; there's not much of an expression on their face.

Well, should they laugh or cry? It's a hard decision, but let's go with a third option: neither. All Nanashi can do right now is sigh. Because... they're still on TV. Because they're tired. Because they have to get up and do this tomorrow. This is still a competition, whether they like it or not.

This sucks. It feels bad. It feels and sucks so bad.

"...Too bad... about Die Hard, Kazuichi. I would've liked to watch it together."

It's probably impossible to come back from this one, but they're half-expecting the two of them to come back like that one guy at the end of Die Hard and get another shot in.

It’s been a few days since the opening of the next area. Everyone has been doing their best to figure out what other ways to escape might be available to them. As peaceful as it is, you know it can’t go on forever. Something will have to eventually fold. Hopefully it’s an escape and not… Well, you don’t want to let your mind drift that far. Though as you have that thought, you get a disturbing text sent to the group chat.

UNKNOWN: Report to the left gate by the Music Shop. UNKNOWN: Don’t be late. ;)

It’s unnerving but you know better than to ignore messages like these. Maybe it’s fine! After all, the mascots were dead and everyone seemed to be working towards a common goal now. It’ll be fine! You just gotta believe in that.

Arriving at your destination, you find the coaches standing in horror as they keep everyone else back. At the gates are KAZUKO and KAZUMI SHIMIZU with their large weapons in hand, attacking the gate. They keep their backs towards the crowd and no amount of shouting will cause them to look your way, both are focused on their own task.

They don’t even notice the monstrous creature standing at the very top of the gate, almost reaching in the sky. None of you notice it until it hurls itself downward and stands between the twins and the gate. It’s small and a horrible mismash of the previous mascots. There are cracks in its helmet and its body is half Doki and half Kira, held together by seams. There are wires, bullet wounds, and other concerning things just hanging off of its body.

When it laughs, the sound that comes out is terrible and robotic with a slight screech at the end as if it was glitching out. The twins raise their weapons to attack, but before they can swing downwards, bright light shoots from the eyes of the tiny robot and engulf the twins. It takes no time at all as the two are reduced to ash in front of you, on a pair of matching bracelets survive.

The creature smiles at the pile of dust before turning to the rest of the group.

“HEWWO! DID YOU MISS US? WE MISSED YOU!” It begins before tearing up. “AND NOW THAT WE’RE BACK! WE’RE GONNA… GONNA SHOW YOU HOW MUCH WE WUV YOU!”

“WE WILL MAKE! THE GAME EXTRA FUN!!! FOR EVERYONE!!”

They make a big show to clap for themselves before holding their little arms up.

“WE ARE KIKI!! AND WE CANNOT BE DESTROYED!!”

It’s a busy morning for some. While others move around to investigate what has been left for you, a few are doing their best with their own talents to lend some help. Jiaoyue, Yua, and Ayumu can be found in the lobby, taking over the receptionist’s desk as they furiously search for something on the computer. Jiaoyue ad Yua are at the computer while Ayumu does his best to stay awake as he lends his support.

Over in the CITY LIGHTS area, Hiraku, Wakako, and Seo-Jun crowd around the gate. There are various tools and notes around the three of them as they’re all hard at work trying their best to lend a hand to each other. There’s a bit of bickering and laughter, but that’s to be expected with any stressful work. 

Maybe it’s a funny miracle or a crazy coincidence, but both teams let out a cheer in unison. On the screen that Jiaoyue, Yua, and Ayumu can see the words: FOURTH FLOOR OPEN appear to them. At the CITY LIGHTS area, the other three can hear the click of a lock and the gate opens for them.

New areas have been unlocked for you all thanks to the power of friendship and computer skills. 

Albiero, Seo-Jun, and Yua walk into a bar and... discover something not meant for them. There's no alert outside of a quick message from one of the three to the rest of the contestants. A place meant for merriment, cheer, and more than a few drinks was now tainted

You don't remember the last time you had peaceful rest. The sounds, the visions, the feeling of something creeping up on you has made it difficult to exist. As much as you know it is only illusions caused by the gasses Doki and Kira keep pumping into the air, there's a part of you that feels it's all real.

But then you wake up.

It's a hazy, heavy feeling of relief as you blink to awake. Maybe you're actually in your bed or maybe you find yourself somewhere you're surprised by. Who knows when you fell asleep but now you wake up and you can feel yourself breathe pure, untainted air. There's no sound, no monster in the shadows, no unnerving feeling to be felt. 

You're fully awake and fully alive.

That's right. 

You're alive. 

The arrival of another coach means that everything is set in its place. Which could only mean one thing…

EVEWY1 2 DA WOBBY PWEEEEEEEEEEASE :DDDDDDD

Kira's message makes it safely to the groupchat. Once again you're all filing in and standing around. As soon as the last person to arrive is in, the door locks into place. Every door leading out of the lobby is blocked and it's now that the coaches step out of the elevators, each wearing a gas mask over their faces. 

Before any questions can even form in your head, a gas fills the room and shortly fills your lungs. It's sickly sweet but… not the worst scent. You don't feel any burn or sting. Physically? You feel fine. 

But-- Wait-- What was that?!

You can see something out of the corner of your eye but as soon as you move to look, it's gone. Maybe you hear a strange scratching sound above you but there's nothing you can see. Your head turns every which way to follow whatever you think you saw or heard but there's nothing there. Even still, a feeling of dread builds in you and… Oh no.

Kira takes this chance to laugh loudly, causing most of you to look forward. Doki steps closer to you all. 

"Yew just inhawed a speciaw gas we worked extwa hawd to make just fow yew! It wiww make you weak in da knees, maybwe even give yew sweaty hands, ow make it hawd to bweathe - It's a feaw gas!"

"And yew’ll get mowe and mowe and mowe and moooooooowe of it until swomeone dies!!!!" 

Your phones beep with a new notification. Checking your phone forces a video to take up your entire screen. Those in the lobby of the main building would see the same video played on the TV. 

“Good afternoon everyone…” 

A man with long pink hair slowly open his eyes to gaze intensely into the camera. He stands in front of a white backdrop dressed with fake pink roses, white wisterias, and green hanging ivy. His costume is a fractal pattern of shades of pink on his over-vest which sits on top of a dark pink undervest,  a white blouse, a pink cravat with a rose pin. The shot is from the hips up, but you can see he’s wearing solid pink dress pants. Little details of the outfit are hard to catch at a first glance, but a closer look reveals delicate lace trimmings, custom ornate buttons, and shimmer within the fabric. 

 “Our rendezvous is finally upon us. Take my hand and I shall lead you home.” He extends his arm with a flourish before bringing it in toward his waist and bowing. As the man stands back up, his expression softens and he waves to the camera. “My name is Raysel, your digital prince from Recife, Brazil. I am twenty-eight years old, my blood type is AB, and my star sign is Virgo. I am a lead vocalist. My special talent is that I design and sew all of my own costumes.

I hope to sweep every one of you off of your feet.

Thank you all for following me on—” 

The video cuts out. 

A text pops up.

If you're lucky, you're one of the ones away from the dorms, just enjoying your day in the hellscape created for you. If you're super lucky, you find yourself outside of the dorms watching as Mar and Darling stand alert. Waiting for something to happen. You watch, knowing better to approach, especially because Darling has her weapon drawn. 

The wait doesn't last much longer as a panicked Shiba comes running from the direction of the main building. She has tears in her eyes as she picks up the speed. Right on her heels is Jii, looking particularly angry with knives in hand. His focus is on Shiba who is doing her best to avoid getting hit. With all his attention on her, Jii fails to notice the other coaches or even those of you that have now gathered by the doors or windows to watch. Even the ones away from the scene are treated to a special feature as your phones light up to play the hunt from the best angles possible. 

Shiba eventually runs past Darling and Mar to the dorms. Darling takes her chance to shoot. 

Bullseye. 

A perfect shot that catches Jii off guard and his body unceremoniously comes to a stop, falling forward. If you were to check, there would be no pulse. 

Jii is dead. 

Darling quickly puts her weapon away, looking towards the mascots who come waddling over. Kira gives Jii's body a little pathetic kick and Doki stares at the rest of the coaches still alive. 

"Uuuu… this is twoublesome… We went thwough too much wepwacing the wast one… umuuuu…."

Doki sighs and shakes its head. "You did this on puwpose… and in fwont of evewybody… uuu…"

Darling shrugs in response but Mar steps forward. She takes off the Elegant button and places it in Doki's hands. 

"I resign from my position as the Elegant leader."

Mar moves to Jii's body, moving him just enough to gain access to his button.

"... And I humbly accept the role of the Cool team's coach."

They step back to their position besides Darling. 

"There ya' have it. Find yourself a new Elegant coach. I'll take whatever BS punishment you wanna give. Won't bring back Luci but sure as fuck made me feel a lot better." 

Kira cackles loudly, falling over as it kicks its little feet and continues to laugh. 

"Okie dokie!!!! We will get a new coach!!!!! Just for Ewegant!!!!! It'll be a weally weally good one too!!!!!"

The day after the disaster of a trial, you all awake to a message on your phone. 

CONGWATS ON WINNING!!!!!! YOU SUWVIVED!!!!! :DDD COME TO DA GATE AT THE VEEEEEEEEEEEEEWY END OF DA GWEAT OUTDOOWS!!!!! :DDDDDDDDDDDD

Once again you’re being summoned by this time to a gateway that has been locked off. As everyone arrives, there’s no Kira or Doki to be seen. Even the coaches aren’t in attendance. Instead, before you stands the receptionist in front of the large gates. She smiles to you all.

“Thank you for joining me today. I am here to open this gate for you so that you all may enjoy another area. Please use these resources to your best abilities. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.”

She turns around and inputs a code on the gate’s screen. The large doors creak as they slide open to reveal the new area for you all.

The receptionist turns around, still smiling.

“Enjoy~”

The lights all go out and movement can be heard. It's quick feet against the ground and the unmistakable sound of metal crashing into skin. A loud thud follows as does the sound of a new voice, gently crying and sniffling. 

When the lights come back up, Jii's body is sprawled on the floor, knife uselessly still held in his hand. Standing above him, holding a plain baseball bat is a very short but easily recognizable person. Their face was plastered over billboards and they constantly held their ground on the music charts. 

Their name, at least publicly, is… 

All of the votes come pooling in, and Jii can only watch. His expression reads irritation, anger and hesitation. But why bother holding back when it was clear as day?

Nothing enraged Jii more than the apologies. Not the threats, or the criticism — he was used to both. Came with being an idol, after all. But the apologies were the worst. They — these helpless contestants — apologizing to him for catching him in a murder. How…

“Took you long enough.”

Pathetic.

He stands up, hands on his hips. Not a hint of remorse on his face. If they wanted a real confession, everyone in this room was going to get it. Whether they liked it or not.

“What? Did you seriously think I’m gonna get punished for that? I killed him. Big deal. You wanna know what that was for? He. Pissed. Me. Off.”

His gaze, now full of fire, turns to Darling.

“This is your fault too! And you know it! If you hadn’t stopped fucking with me, we could’ve all hung out just fine! But noooo, we kept fighting and fighting and Mar had to take you out of the damn building. You think I wanted Luci dead? I should’ve just stabbed you then and there and be done with it!”

Jii takes a sharp breath, directing his attention to the rest of the room. There is pure fury in his eyes. Within seconds, his hands are occupied with… You guessed it. Another switchblade.

“And you wanna know why I don’t care about what happens now? Because nothing WILL happen to me. You know all who I am. Outside of this building, everyone either wants me or looks up to me. No one here can ever get rid of me.”

He flicks the blade, unsheathing the blade and pointing it towards the other coaches.

“Not even you! I could finish you both here if I fucking wanted to! No one can touch me. NO ONE.”

Darling and Mar seem to reach to something on their sides but before anything can be done. The mascots speak up.

“EHEHEHEHE!!!” Kira cackles loudly in their seat, watching him scream like a madman.

“Uuuu……. Oh nooooooo…. He’s…. He’s right uuuuuu…” Doki sobs from their corner.

The sobs only continue for a second more before they're quickly replaced with uncharacteristic snickering from Doki.

Jeyong feels his phone buzz in the pocket of his jacket, but he doesn’t need to pull it out to know what’s just happened. Despite all his questions, he’s been pretty sure it was Jii. Maybe he’d argued – a little late – that the quirks of this case may have been a frame job, but there was the clear likelihood that Jii just did a bad job at covering his tracks. More than a likelihood, really.

  He still has one elbow leaned on the table, fingers pressed against his jaw, waiting to see what would happen next. The biggest thing gnawing at him is why. Why anyone would cave for such a weak attempt at pushing them to murder. Why one of the coaches would break instead of one of the actual targets of this thing. Why that coach would break, from their position above the rest of them. Not only does it not make sense, but it all seems kind of…

  What a farce.

  Yeah. It’s all pretty dumb.

  You were a little slow on the draw there.

  He was, and he knows that. He’ll think of it more as a test run. Besides, Jii did actually kill someone, apparently.

  Maybe we should get used to that.

  Maybe he should.

Ah, so it’s over, and they were right. That’s nice, Ayumu supposes, though he does feel a bit like… he’s about to drift off. He nods sleepily at Kira - that sounds about right too, he thinks. She has some really good ideas.

“Oh, yeah, that makes sense… thank you, Kira. I hope we get something tasty too... or maybe something comfy.”

Does it make sense, though? Either way, he yawns and rubs at an eye, smearing a bit of his stage makeup. The eyebags return.

“I’m glad we did it, everyone… um, let’s do… a good job next time, too…”

 Well this has certainly been exciting, hasn’t it? Sure, how they got here isn’t the best. Coach is dead, and one of the other coaches killed him. But look at all the twists and turns they’ve gone on! It’s like a show! A movie! Or, even better, something straight up on a stage!

Oh...wait...they are on a stage. It’s perfect!

And they got it all right! Maybe they are smart, after all! Kira is pretty sure she isn’t, but it’d be nice to think she is!

She clasps her hands together, smile on her face as she giggles.

“Yaaaaaaaay, good job all of us! That’s the power of teamwork, hehe. I wonder what the surprise is...I hope it’s something tasty!”

Her head tilts.

“Jii-san!! Since you don’t have to confess anymore, are you gonna tell us why? I’m sure there was, like, a reaaaaaaally good reason!”

After all, everyone has their reasons for what they do, even the hurtful things. Hands still clasped, a finger taps on her chin.

The vibration of his phone is drowned out by the static buzzing in his head as he stands there, watching the proceedings. A victory is announced and he hardly notices, even as the mascots cry about the results and threaten the group with some sort of fun surprise for getting it right. Some victory it was, unable to ring clearly enough to be felt.

They’d gotten it right. So what. What did that matter. Lucifer was still dead, and nothing they could do now would change that. And not just dead, his corpse had been messed with by Kazuko. For fun. Because she thought it’d make things more interesting. A man that, as a fan of the show, Seo-jun once admired killed by another man he’d admired for the same reasons, with the corpse played around with like a doll by a woman that up until this moment he’d looked up to as an ideal for her outlook on idol activity and general demeanor. All of that a lie.

They say not to meet your heroes, but there’s no way this kind of situation would ever cross the mind of anyone proclaiming that adage. What a triple whammy of a fucked up disaster. And judging by the atmosphere, and what the mascots had said, it wasn’t the end either.

Something else was going to happen. And it was not going to be good. This was unlike any trial he’d ever had to study, any court case he’d heard about in his uncle’s office, spending countless hours after class helping sort documents and fetch coffee. It was a sham, just like the show itself and that meant anything could happen. And because of that, somehow it was still preferable to being trapped in that unchanging office, even with the layer of mounting dread for what may come next.

He looks up towards the audience, towards the cameras, towards Jii.

A comically little fanfare and screen tells the conclusion they've drawn is right. Who would've thought, really? A set of amateurs in a whirlwind of chaos, and at the end of the day, they manage to get the verdict right.

They manage to get the verdict right and nothing feels any better.

It's supposed to be justice, right? Lucifer is dead and they found the guy who did it and so everything should be okay now because of that. But the tension, cut it with a knife style tension, is still hanging in the air like a chandelier waiting to drop. Tired faces, sneering faces, confused faces, giddy squeals, all of them feel like a blunt hit to the back of the head, and there's still that pit digging feeling of dread. Something's gonna happen, that's what his gut is screaming at him, and then he thinks of the gunshots on the screens, and then he tries to remember what it sounded like in his shoulder, and then he looks at Jii and his throat goes dry. No way is his first instinct, but he was wrong about nobody killing, and he was wrong about the twins, so maybe, at this point, he's just wrong about everything.

Wrong about everything and everything is wrong. They caught Jii and nothing's changed. Lucifer's still dead as shit, the twins are still weird as shit, and who knows what kind of shit's about to go on with this trial business. What's gotten better? What's changed? What's he going to say to him, to his family, to everybody, to make it all okay? Can he make it all okay? There's a grimness about them, like it's standing right by Katsurou's back. The only thing he can think to say is:

". . ."

Ahem. The only thing he can say is. . .

". . . sorry, dude. Shit's fucked."