Inside the auditorium…
Okuda pushed through the frozen crowd, who all appeared motionless, smiling as they pumped their fists repeatedly to the music. "What's wrong with them…?"
He accidentally bumped into Marachii, Mihina, Yamato, and the others, who were all in the same trance. Okuda shook Mihina violently. "Hey! Mihina! Snap out of it!"
She almost seemed dazed, like she couldn't hear him. "Mihina?"
He shifted over to Marachii. "Nerd? Hello? Oh, come on!"
He flicked Yamato's head. "Damn it! You too?"
His eyes darted to the stage, where he saw Uta in confrontation with Dachii and the others, and he also saw Toru and the remaining soldiers locked in the cage. "I knew it! It WAS a trap!"
He observed his surroundings. "Nothing I can do for now. I've gotta hang back and watch."
BOOM.
A massive soundwave shook the entire room, and on stage, Dachii opened his eyes, noticing Noriko pointing a gun at Uta's head.
"Noriko?"
"What a shame. Seems I didn't quite get him," she remarked.
Dachii, Saori, and Reika got up. Noriko looked back at them, a look of annoyance and dismissal on her face. Saori gasped. "Miss Noriko, is that you?"
"Does something look different?" she scoffed. "Don't tell me I've put on weight."
She knelt in front of Dachii. "And look at you. What a baby face you've got. How adorable!"
She started pinching Dachii's face. "Ow."
"About time, Noriko!" Reika exclaimed. "We could have used your help days ago!"
Noriko slapped all three of them.
"Ow!" Saori cried.
"What was that for?" Reika demanded.
"Being useless as hell!"
Uta sized Noriko up, a perplexed look on his face. "Who are you?"
Noriko sighed and turned around. "Vice-General Noriko Takahashi. Now hurry up and die. I want to go home."
Before Uta realized it, Noriko was behind him, attempting to kick him in the head. He evaded the attack and jumped back, landing on the soles of his feet. "You've gotten faster! How?"
She fired her gun, forcing him to evade the bullets. "That's right, coward. Run."
One bullet hit his guitar, breaking it. "No! My baby!"
He stood up, enraged. "That's it! Enough of Uta! It's Melodar time! I tried to be nice, and give you a fair competition! Instead, let's have a DANCE OF DEATH!"
Melodar formed another guitar in his hands, his skin turning black. He strummed a powerful tune that shot toward the group, but Noriko stabbed her heels into the ground, staying anchored.
"So noisy," she complained. "Just die."
"That move should have blown her off her feet, even with those heels," Melodar thought. "My body doesn't feel as it should. Is this her magic? Does it work like Nobukazu's power?"
"I need a weapon," Noriko stated. "Saori, get on my back."
"Okay!" Saori replied.
Saori jumped onto her back, and Noriko got into a fighting stance. "When I say fire, you attack him with every rainbow you've got."
"Alright!"
Melodar narrowed his eyes. "What kind of trick is this?"
Noriko used a burst of speed to close the gap. "Fire!"
"Rainbow Beam!"
Saori fired a powerful beam of rainbows at Melodar, but he deflected it with a strum of his tune. From above, Toru watched curiously. "Ahh, there she is. The Twilight Assassin herself."
Noriko dodged another attack from Melodar and tried to kick his chin with her heel, but he bent backward, punching her into the ceiling. To his shock, she stabbed her heels into the ceiling, hanging off of it with Saori still on her back.
"What kind of freak are you?" Melodar questioned.
"The kind that likes killing," Noriko replied. "You're looking very kill-worthy right now."
"Bold words coming from you," Melodar taunted. "Weren't you just scared to dance a few moments ago?"
Noriko glanced back at Saori. "Saori, do you have one last song?"
Saori nodded. "The one we worked on!"
"Perfect."
Noriko threw her heels at the DJ booth, causing the music to start. "You stop that music and I'll kill you."
The shocked DJ nodded and complied while Noriko dropped to the ground, picking up a fallen mic and tossing it to Saori. "Let's dance."
"This one's called Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Saori announced. "I hope you all enjoy it!"
The crowd, still in a trance, cheered. As the two rushed him, Saori began to sing.
"♪ I said, whoa, whoa, whoa, I said whoa, whoa, whoa, I said whoa, whoa, whoa, yeah, I said whoa, whoa, whoa, I said whoa whoa, whoa, I said whoa, whoa, whoa! ♪"
While Saori sang, Noriko rapidly attacked Melodar, who countered but got caught up by Saori's singing.
"♪ Every day I walk outside I see rainbows on the floor, I got my friends by my side, we can take on any war, I was lonely, now I'm not, I'm not lonely anymore, when we go outside we always find a new place to explore, I love my friends, I love my city, I love it all to my core, you can dance but you can't sing, so you should hit the door, you've done some things, bad things, things I cannot ignore! Yeah! I said whoa, whoa, whoa! ♪"
Noriko attacked Melodar even faster while Saori fired her rainbow attacks at him, continuing to sing.
"♪ You can't move how I move! You want to dance but you don't know how to dance! You want fans but you don't have any fans! And now you're trying to take away all my friends! You can't sing! And you can't win! Because I'll make sure I'll do everything! No matter what it costs I'll do anything! We're gonna beat you so watch how we sing! ♪"
Saori fired a rainbow blast that Melodar blocked, nearly hitting the DJ. "Hey!"
"Sorry, Tetsu!"
"♪ I said, whoa, whoa, whoa, I said whoa, whoa, whoa, I said whoa, whoa, whoa, yeah, I said whoa, whoa, whoa, I said whoa whoa, whoa, I said whoa, whoa, whoa! ♪"
Reika clapped as the two did a tango of battle with Melodar. "Nice moves, girls!"
" ♪ Yeah, Whoaaaa! Whoa, whoa, whoa! WHOAAAA! Whoa, whoa, whoa! WHOAAAA!Yeah, I said whoa, whoa, whoa! ♪"
Saori fired another blast at Melodar, and Noriko began to sing in her place.
"♪ I said whoa, whoa, whoa, I just wanna murder so let's go, yeah, kill you fast or no I don't know! This is way too easy you're too slow! ♪"
Melodar ducked her kick.
"♪ I got 500 bodies on display, I got so many weapons in my safe, you want to dance well, okay, don't you worry you all better just wait, I got so many people on my case, you talk a big game so I'll put you in you in your place, put down that stick, I say buddy let's play! ♪"
"It's not a stick!" Melodar clarified.
Saori resumed singing.
"♪ I said, whoa, whoa, whoa, I said whoa, whoa, whoa, I said whoa, whoa, whoa, yeah, I said whoa, whoa, whoa, I said whoa whoa, whoa, I said whoa, whoa, whoa! ♪"
"♪ Every day I walk outside I see rainbows on the floor, I got my friends by my side, we can take on any war, I was lonely, now I'm not, I'm not lonely anymore, when we go outside we always find a new place to explore, I love my friends, I love my city, I love it all to my core, you can dance but you can't sing, so you should hit the door, you've done some things, bad things, things I cannot ignore! Yeah! I said whoa, whoa, whoa! ♪"
The crowd cheered as she finished, but Melodar sent both her and Noriko flying back with a powerful sonic wave.
"I'm surprised. I thought that would work," Noriko remarked. "Good thing I always have Plan B."
"Which is?" Melodar inquired.
"This."
She picked up the gun and fired a bullet at the cage containing the others, and the lock broke. Melodar turned around. "You think you can save them? It won't work! My music keeps their bodies in a relaxed state!"
"Most of them, yeah," Noriko stated. "But there's one man that never relaxes."
Melodar quickly side-stepped and got out of the way as a lance nearly pierced his chest. Toru sized up Noriko, who gave him an equally piercing gaze. "Kaneko."
"Noriko."
"Can I go home now?" she asked.
Toru smacked her across the head. "No."
"Ugh!"
"That show of dance was impressive," he commended. "But it won't be enough for an Elite such as him. He may be eccentric, but he's powerful."
"Should YOU be judging people?" Melodar scoffed.
"The others are out of commission," Toru said, disappointed. "I'll deal with them all later. For now, our objective is clear."
Toru gripped his lance tighter. "Do not let him get that armor."
"Too late," Melodar laughed. "Marachii! I'll be taking that armor from you!"
Marachii didn't respond, still in his trance. As Melodar made a move toward him, Toru threw his lance at him, stabbing near his foot. "I don't think so."
He tossed Noriko a blade, and she smiled. "No wonder you're my favorite General."
"Go do what you do best, you murder princess."
They both moved faster than the eye can see, slashing at Melodar at the same time, but he ducked their attacks and repelled them with sonic blasts. "Please! You haven't even seen my good tunes yet! Let a man loosen up, will you?"
They both prepared to attack again, and he sighed. "Fine. HIGH-KEY!"
A powerful ringing sound shot through the room, forcing everyone to drop to the ground and cover their ears. Okuda nearly passed out in the crowd.
"It's like a damn battlefield! What's happening here?"
Reika held out her hand and used her power to transport Melodar above the stage, ending the attack. He dropped down, landing casually. "Reika, Reika, Reika! I hate when you cheat!"
A strum of his tune sent her falling to the ground. Dachii came up and punched him, but he caught Dachii's punch. "Come now, Dachii! There's no need to talk with fists! We can handle this like fine artists!"
Dachii tried to use the other fist to punch him, but he sent him back with a sonic wave. Toru and Noriko landed in front of the two.
"This strategy won't work. He'll kill us all," Toru realized.
"Pfff, as if," Noriko replied.
"Dachii," Toru ordered. "You and Saori take your brother and get as far away from here as possible. Reika, send them to the farthest place you can. No matter what happens, he must not get the armor!"
"Understood, sir!" Reika complied.
Dachii took Saori and headed over to Marachii, where Okuda was there, still reeling from the sound waves.
"Okuda…?"
Okuda jumped back. "Oh, Dachii! The hell's happening, man? Why are you guys fighting like some cartoon battle?"
"Long story…you need to take the others and run…"
He picked up Marachii.
"Where are you going?" Okuda asked.
"To stop this."
In the next second, he was gone. Okuda blinked a few times, in disbelief. "Man. How the hell am I going to tell Mihina all this?"
On stage, Noriko and Toru confronted Melodar.
"You said your name is Melodar, right?" Noriko recalled. "Tell me, are you scared to die?"
"Not anymore than you are, sweetheart," Melodar answered. "But I must warn you, I won't go easy on you just because you're a girl."
She smirked. "How flattering."
Somewhere else…
Dachii, Marachii, and Saori found themselves inside a plane, and Marachii suddenly jerked forward, breathing heavily. "Where are we? Where's the stage?"
"We had to leave…" Dachii clarified. "Uta's a member of the order, and he's attacking. Toru said get the armor far, far away."
Marachii looked out the window, noticing they were on a plane flying over the sea. "This is pretty far. Do you think he can get us from this distance?"
"No clue."
Saori bit her fingernails. "What about the others? I hope they're okay! We have to go back for them!"
"They're strong," Marachii assured her. "I'm sure they can buy time! Now, I suppose we sit here and keep this last piece of armor from him."
Marachii popped open his back. "Here, take your outfits, guys! We might need them!"
The three changed into their S-1 outfits when suddenly, a well-dressed waitress came over to them. "Excuse me, do you three have a ticket for this flight?"
"No, but we need to leave, urgently!" Marachii said. "It's of high importance!"
The waitress turned to the person in the seat behind them. "How about you, do you have a ticket?"
The person behind them grinned. "Yes. Yes, I do."
Dachii suddenly had a bad feeling, and he immediately recognized the two as they stood next to each other. "Shit, guys, run—!"
The girl's eyes glowed blue as water erupted from her body, slashing the back half of the plane clean off. The alarms went off.
"MAYDAY! MAYDAY!"
As Dachii, Marachii, and Saori fell into the sea, Melodar and Vortessia watched with a grin as they hit the water, the plane soaring down into the vast ocean as well.
"Oops," Vortessia laughed. "Did I intrude on your mission, Melodar?"
"Not at all. In fact, I'm glad you stayed to join the show."
—-