Glow grinned helplessly as she watched the three get into costume, lighting up yellow and moving the digits of one hand around her mouth. "Good, good! I can tell this is g-going to be even better than I'd hoped..." She stayed mostly out of the way, seeming entranced as she watched the three discussing how to tackle the questions, but did respond when questioned by Divina. "Uuuh... your names, h-huh... W-well, you said the th-th-three of you aren't f-famous, right? Again, I h-hope I'm not deflating y-you three too much withis, but uh, this ishn't exactly a h-h-huge venue. Uh, it won't be strange for you three to be uh-up and coming. I'd r-recommend avoiding anything too outlandish that people'd wanna check up on. Anyway, it'sh y-your choice. You can use real names or pseudonuh-nyms. If anybody f-found out later, we could say they w-were stage names, or something."
"Anywuh-way, if you've all wuh-worked out your plan, we can go ahead and start. Try to have fun, and d-don't be nervoush er nervous!" the manager told them, with a hint of irony, coming from her. "Three, t-two, wuh-one, action!" Assuming none of them had waved hands or something as a gesture to stop her, she would go ahead and start rolling.
((Glow, nor any other events, will interrupt this segment, so feel free to tackle the questions in whatever manner you wish. You may want to alternate with each of you making short posts in the question order, or you can follow the usual method, having your character answer only the parts relevant to them and going in the usual post order. Either way, let me know when you're ready to be modded, either beforehand or after.))
First Annual Net-Idol Carnival
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"Mmm. I'll keep that in mind." Divina closed her eyes and gathered her thoughts for a moment, then took a deep breath. "All right, I for one am all set. We can always take a break between questions if we need to. Shall we?"
As soon as the camera was rolling, the goddess idol reached over, and pulled in Kabuki and Pirouette nice and close. "Hey! We're Passion on High, 'cause our passion's always on high! I'm Deevee, and these are my best friends Kabuki and Pirouette!" She gave each of her fellow 'bandmates' a nice squeeze as she announced each of them, in case it wasn't clear who was who. "And our passion for fun is only matched by our passion for making our fans happy! That's what makes us special!" There, that should get the proverbial ball rolling.
As soon as the camera was rolling, the goddess idol reached over, and pulled in Kabuki and Pirouette nice and close. "Hey! We're Passion on High, 'cause our passion's always on high! I'm Deevee, and these are my best friends Kabuki and Pirouette!" She gave each of her fellow 'bandmates' a nice squeeze as she announced each of them, in case it wasn't clear who was who. "And our passion for fun is only matched by our passion for making our fans happy! That's what makes us special!" There, that should get the proverbial ball rolling.
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Pirouette found herself nodding along contentedly while Divina and Kabuki sorted out the plan properly, then settled back into a cheery grin for the camera once they got started. In the back of her mind, she was quite impressed with both of the other costumes as well, and was surprised to find that her own outfit worked better, and without any clashing, than she had expected. All up, it was wonderful.
Divina's bright introduction seemed to go well, and the dancer noted the stage name that she had picked. That she then went on to use her and Kabuki's real name surprised her a bit at first, but in the couple of moments she had she realised that between them, a kabuki performer named Kabuki, and a ballerina named Pirouette, they might as well be stage names anyway. It fit well enough. she leaned in and waved with her outer hand as 'Deevee' gave her a hug and a squeeze, doing her best not to giggle. Even without, her smile was still bright and bubbly. This costume was really nice, and she was still feeling thrilled to be in it. Divina had pitched her question two, hadn't, she? Why were they doing this. A small part of her wished suddenly for more time, but the trails of an idea came to her as Divina chatted away, and she grabbed the thread and ran with it.
"Yes! There is... so much joy to be had, you know? And so we just want to share that with everyone, all over the world!" She peeked sideways at Divina and Kabuki. "We each have so much passion and joy, so we thought, why not form a group, and show everyone else as well? Then everyone can join us in the excitement, you know?" She leaned in to slip one arm about Divina's waist and give her a gleeful half-hug back, while waving to her imagined fans again with the other hand. Provided Divina took the reigns back on cue, she planned to turn her attention to the other woman, and help keep the focus where it belonged.
Divina's bright introduction seemed to go well, and the dancer noted the stage name that she had picked. That she then went on to use her and Kabuki's real name surprised her a bit at first, but in the couple of moments she had she realised that between them, a kabuki performer named Kabuki, and a ballerina named Pirouette, they might as well be stage names anyway. It fit well enough. she leaned in and waved with her outer hand as 'Deevee' gave her a hug and a squeeze, doing her best not to giggle. Even without, her smile was still bright and bubbly. This costume was really nice, and she was still feeling thrilled to be in it. Divina had pitched her question two, hadn't, she? Why were they doing this. A small part of her wished suddenly for more time, but the trails of an idea came to her as Divina chatted away, and she grabbed the thread and ran with it.
"Yes! There is... so much joy to be had, you know? And so we just want to share that with everyone, all over the world!" She peeked sideways at Divina and Kabuki. "We each have so much passion and joy, so we thought, why not form a group, and show everyone else as well? Then everyone can join us in the excitement, you know?" She leaned in to slip one arm about Divina's waist and give her a gleeful half-hug back, while waving to her imagined fans again with the other hand. Provided Divina took the reigns back on cue, she planned to turn her attention to the other woman, and help keep the focus where it belonged.
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"Exactly!" That was all 'Deevee' was going to say on that, since the next question was going to be a 180, based on what she'd thought up of. They needed something less 'rah we wanna bring joy to everyone', and something maybe a bit more...relatable? Was that the word? "Hmm, well, I dunno if I'd really like to share it, since it's kinda embarrassing..." She looked over at each of them, seemingly to give herself extra confidence from having her friends with her. "Aw, what the heck? Truth is, when I started doing this, I couldn't dance at all. I couldn't do a step without tripping over my own feet! And these two...back then, stray cats sung better than them! But since we were also both good at the opposite thing, we helped each other improve, and now we're all good at both! True story!" If by true, she meant completely made up on the spot.
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Divina picked up again quickly, and Pirouette caught on to what she was aiming for in the few seconds of attentiveness she gave the other woman. It was enough warning that she was able to muster a short gasp, feigning shock at her fellow performer. She was still grinning, and didn't quite manage to get any blush into her cheeks, which would have made it more perfect, but she still leaned back a bit to look at Divina more squarely.
"Oh! Hey, do not say that, Deevee!! Ah..." She giggled the feigned embarrassment off again quickly, looking forward once again. "Oh but it is true, you know... It was so funny at first, hehe. I wanted to wear a pillow case over my head while she was teaching me, I was so embarrassed!" She turned enough to gently poke Divina in the shoulder with one finger, still grinning. "But you know, you may have learned your balance faster, if we had actually blindfolded you, no?" She giggled again, looking forward.
"It is amusing how we first met, really. Kabuki and I, we met first, at a performing arts event some years ago. We are both so enthusiastic for the arts, you know, but when we first met, our styles were so different! We met dear Deevee about a year after that, you know, and it just all clicked so wonderfully! She is the just so exactly the perfect ingredient for bringing us all together, yes? Like... like..." Pirouette clasped her hands together in front of herself her wings stretching up for a moment as a look of happy bliss passed across her face. "She is like the chocolate that goes between the strawberry and the icing sugar, you know?" She giggled to herself again, getting progressively more caught up in her persona, then glanced over to the others to see how they were taking her ad-libbing.
"Oh! Hey, do not say that, Deevee!! Ah..." She giggled the feigned embarrassment off again quickly, looking forward once again. "Oh but it is true, you know... It was so funny at first, hehe. I wanted to wear a pillow case over my head while she was teaching me, I was so embarrassed!" She turned enough to gently poke Divina in the shoulder with one finger, still grinning. "But you know, you may have learned your balance faster, if we had actually blindfolded you, no?" She giggled again, looking forward.
"It is amusing how we first met, really. Kabuki and I, we met first, at a performing arts event some years ago. We are both so enthusiastic for the arts, you know, but when we first met, our styles were so different! We met dear Deevee about a year after that, you know, and it just all clicked so wonderfully! She is the just so exactly the perfect ingredient for bringing us all together, yes? Like... like..." Pirouette clasped her hands together in front of herself her wings stretching up for a moment as a look of happy bliss passed across her face. "She is like the chocolate that goes between the strawberry and the icing sugar, you know?" She giggled to herself again, getting progressively more caught up in her persona, then glanced over to the others to see how they were taking her ad-libbing.
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The leeriest eyes watched Pirouette and Divina as the two readied their new idol costumes; the leeriest brain thought to itself, secretly, that the new outfits fit the smaller frames of Pirouette and Divina better than they had the brain-owner's own navi.
Unaware of that slight against her uncharacteristically youthful dress, Kabuki continued to feed off of the enthusiasm of her allies. "Pretty MOE~AY, huh?" she whispered to Yoshitsune after Pirouette's comment about her strawberry hobby, although she still yelled the middle word. His operator shrugged, ironically caring less about it than Kabuki herself did. "Watch, my Brother! You will see just how MOE~AY your Sister can be!" she exclaimed, posing with an index finger and middle finger extended in front of one eye, while winking the other. Yoshitsune felt his skin crawl momentarily, as seeing his supposed older sister acting as a young idol was beginning to become increasingly uncomfortable towards him, especially given his preference towards older women. "Do not worry, DEE~VEE~NA! My grasp will hold you down to earth!" she reassured her goddess friend, turning the Divina sandwich into a Divina wrap by engulfing the goddess in a hard hug. Thankfully, that didn't last long, as she was forced to surrender half of her friend to Pirouette so they could get into position.
Kabuki was always grinning anyways, so hers was already on when the cameras started rolling. Divina might regret hugging Kabuki, though, because the energetic squeeze she received back in turn was nearly another breath-taker. What followed was Divina and Pirouette taking the lead on explaining the formation of their group, which, to be fair, probably needed a good amount of explanation, given the strong differences between them. Kabuki found it strange to remain quiet (save the occassional giggle or "Right, right"), seeing as she was ordinarily the chattiest one in any group.
Whereas Pirouette had faked a reaction to Deevee's story, Kabuki's momentary expression of shock was both comical and grounded in reality, as she had a hard time reconciling the stray cat comment and her self-perception of her own singing skills. Still, she was always one for telling a fantastic story, and she figured a group coming together like this was as interesting as anything. "You're right, PEER~ROO~ETT! Together, we form a DISH DEE~LISH!" she exclaimed, posing by kicking out one leg and then pantomiming working a whisk for a moment. "And for our fans across the world, we have a MESS~SAGE! Please, keep SUP~PORT~ING Passion on High! Your energy becomes our energy and is CHAN~NELLED into each of our performances! Without it, I would look like a RAY~VING MAD~WO~MAN, pouring out my soul for nobody!" she encouraged her imaginary fan base, pointing out towards Glow, who she presumed acted as "the screen." Despite her claims, she always looked at least a bit like a raving madwoman.
"You know, we talked earlier about spreading HAP~PE~NISS! When I'm not entertaining the fans, I spend my time at home, taking care of my LIT~TUL O~TO~CHAN, who is as cute as can be! We make each other as HAP~PEE as can be!" she announced proudly, beaming with satisfaction. "The two of us both adore TAK~O~YAK~EE, that chewy OC~TO~PUS snack, which can be topped with so many exciting flavors! But you mentioned STRAW~BER~RIES, Pirouette! Our most ATT~TENT~TIVE fans probably know about your hobby, but why don't you tell them about it?" she encouraged Pirouette, craning her long neck to look over Divina at her smaller compatriot.
Yoshitsune took offense both to being called a cute little kid and at the implication that he adored takoyaki (which he did, but didn't want other people knowing, since he'd like to think up something more masculine). He started to object, then remembered that Glow was recording in some fashion and decided that it'd probably be best if he avoided that.
Unaware of that slight against her uncharacteristically youthful dress, Kabuki continued to feed off of the enthusiasm of her allies. "Pretty MOE~AY, huh?" she whispered to Yoshitsune after Pirouette's comment about her strawberry hobby, although she still yelled the middle word. His operator shrugged, ironically caring less about it than Kabuki herself did. "Watch, my Brother! You will see just how MOE~AY your Sister can be!" she exclaimed, posing with an index finger and middle finger extended in front of one eye, while winking the other. Yoshitsune felt his skin crawl momentarily, as seeing his supposed older sister acting as a young idol was beginning to become increasingly uncomfortable towards him, especially given his preference towards older women. "Do not worry, DEE~VEE~NA! My grasp will hold you down to earth!" she reassured her goddess friend, turning the Divina sandwich into a Divina wrap by engulfing the goddess in a hard hug. Thankfully, that didn't last long, as she was forced to surrender half of her friend to Pirouette so they could get into position.
Kabuki was always grinning anyways, so hers was already on when the cameras started rolling. Divina might regret hugging Kabuki, though, because the energetic squeeze she received back in turn was nearly another breath-taker. What followed was Divina and Pirouette taking the lead on explaining the formation of their group, which, to be fair, probably needed a good amount of explanation, given the strong differences between them. Kabuki found it strange to remain quiet (save the occassional giggle or "Right, right"), seeing as she was ordinarily the chattiest one in any group.
Whereas Pirouette had faked a reaction to Deevee's story, Kabuki's momentary expression of shock was both comical and grounded in reality, as she had a hard time reconciling the stray cat comment and her self-perception of her own singing skills. Still, she was always one for telling a fantastic story, and she figured a group coming together like this was as interesting as anything. "You're right, PEER~ROO~ETT! Together, we form a DISH DEE~LISH!" she exclaimed, posing by kicking out one leg and then pantomiming working a whisk for a moment. "And for our fans across the world, we have a MESS~SAGE! Please, keep SUP~PORT~ING Passion on High! Your energy becomes our energy and is CHAN~NELLED into each of our performances! Without it, I would look like a RAY~VING MAD~WO~MAN, pouring out my soul for nobody!" she encouraged her imaginary fan base, pointing out towards Glow, who she presumed acted as "the screen." Despite her claims, she always looked at least a bit like a raving madwoman.
"You know, we talked earlier about spreading HAP~PE~NISS! When I'm not entertaining the fans, I spend my time at home, taking care of my LIT~TUL O~TO~CHAN, who is as cute as can be! We make each other as HAP~PEE as can be!" she announced proudly, beaming with satisfaction. "The two of us both adore TAK~O~YAK~EE, that chewy OC~TO~PUS snack, which can be topped with so many exciting flavors! But you mentioned STRAW~BER~RIES, Pirouette! Our most ATT~TENT~TIVE fans probably know about your hobby, but why don't you tell them about it?" she encouraged Pirouette, craning her long neck to look over Divina at her smaller compatriot.
Yoshitsune took offense both to being called a cute little kid and at the implication that he adored takoyaki (which he did, but didn't want other people knowing, since he'd like to think up something more masculine). He started to object, then remembered that Glow was recording in some fashion and decided that it'd probably be best if he avoided that.
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In her own mind, Pirouette caught herself thinking that, if they had been required to play roles that completely disguised their normal selves, Kabuki probably wouldn't have been able to stop herself from giving the act away. Being the sort of young lady she was, though, the thought wasn't in any way uncharitable, and really just made her want to giggle at how freely and directly the actress liked to express herself.
The questions came back her direction, and she already had something of an answer planned for these ones, so Pirouette ducked her head softly, and letting her wings fall back while she twisted her shoulders subtly back and forth for a second or two as though feigning a mild shyness in response to Kabuki's rally.
"Ah... well, if you think..." Her happy smile came back again, curling at the side of her lips first before taking over the rest of her face and letting mirth brush away the shyness as she looked back from her friend to the camera. "It is no secret that I am very fond of roses, you see," She made a small self-indulgent motion with her hands, drawing attention for a moment to her costume, then clasped her hands together in front of her chest. "When I have time to myself, I like to grow them! I have a little garden, and I grow red roses, and white roses, and pink ones too!" Then she glanced to the side and ducked her head slightly, giggling. She lowered her voice just slightly; the kind of stage lowering that would still be completely clear for the camera recording, but enough to suggest conspiracy.
"Oh, but I have a secret, you know. Hehe... right down the back on my little garden, yes? I have a separate bed where I like to grow strawberries instead. Oh it is so naughty of me, but often, when I garden, I like to pinch one or two, as a little treat to myself, you know. They are so sweet and juicy, and I just cannot resist, hehe." She looked across to Divina and Kabuki, wishing again that she could have summoned a blush to her cheeks on demand, which would have been perfect. For now, she had to settle for another grin and small giggle.
"You will not tell my operator, will you? I must watch my figure, you know!" Hopefully the turned question would serve as enough of a lead in for Divina to address her portion of the questions next, while Pirouette tried to remember if there was anything else she was supposed to be saying.
The questions came back her direction, and she already had something of an answer planned for these ones, so Pirouette ducked her head softly, and letting her wings fall back while she twisted her shoulders subtly back and forth for a second or two as though feigning a mild shyness in response to Kabuki's rally.
"Ah... well, if you think..." Her happy smile came back again, curling at the side of her lips first before taking over the rest of her face and letting mirth brush away the shyness as she looked back from her friend to the camera. "It is no secret that I am very fond of roses, you see," She made a small self-indulgent motion with her hands, drawing attention for a moment to her costume, then clasped her hands together in front of her chest. "When I have time to myself, I like to grow them! I have a little garden, and I grow red roses, and white roses, and pink ones too!" Then she glanced to the side and ducked her head slightly, giggling. She lowered her voice just slightly; the kind of stage lowering that would still be completely clear for the camera recording, but enough to suggest conspiracy.
"Oh, but I have a secret, you know. Hehe... right down the back on my little garden, yes? I have a separate bed where I like to grow strawberries instead. Oh it is so naughty of me, but often, when I garden, I like to pinch one or two, as a little treat to myself, you know. They are so sweet and juicy, and I just cannot resist, hehe." She looked across to Divina and Kabuki, wishing again that she could have summoned a blush to her cheeks on demand, which would have been perfect. For now, she had to settle for another grin and small giggle.
"You will not tell my operator, will you? I must watch my figure, you know!" Hopefully the turned question would serve as enough of a lead in for Divina to address her portion of the questions next, while Pirouette tried to remember if there was anything else she was supposed to be saying.
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"Of course not! Just...make sure he doesn't watch this." It would probably surprise some watching that 'Deevee' suddenly chimed in, considering she had doing basically nothing but smile, nod in agreement, and occasionally laugh at her friends' various remarks for a good while, before suddenly responding to Pirouette. "Now, I bet you all want to know my own hobby...well, I like to keep the happiness going, even when I'm not on stage! But there are those who could use a little extra, so I like to go incognito and do some volunteer work! Who knows, maybe I'll see some of you loyal fans next time! Or maybe...I already have?" She gave the camera a nice, big grin.
"And when I'm not doing that, well..." Not unlike the smaller 'idol', she hesitated for a moment, though hers was actually completely genuine. She honestly wasn't sure whether to be serious, or make something up. But ultimately, the truth WAS sorta idol-y, in her mind, so why not just share that? "...I actually have a huuuge sweet tooth! So, sometimes I'll whip up pies or cookies! My all-time favorite has to be any kind of cake, though! And yet, it's the one thing I haven't really gotten good at...maybe I try too hard, since it's my favorite?"
"...Heh, speaking of favorite...maybe we should tell them THAT story? The one about the other idol group? You tell it the best, Kabuki, so why don't you do the honors?" She gave the other Navi a pat on the back for encouragement, and hopefully to knock a really good lie into her. But since she knew the most about idols amongst them (i.e. anything), she had faith that she was the one for the job.
"And when I'm not doing that, well..." Not unlike the smaller 'idol', she hesitated for a moment, though hers was actually completely genuine. She honestly wasn't sure whether to be serious, or make something up. But ultimately, the truth WAS sorta idol-y, in her mind, so why not just share that? "...I actually have a huuuge sweet tooth! So, sometimes I'll whip up pies or cookies! My all-time favorite has to be any kind of cake, though! And yet, it's the one thing I haven't really gotten good at...maybe I try too hard, since it's my favorite?"
"...Heh, speaking of favorite...maybe we should tell them THAT story? The one about the other idol group? You tell it the best, Kabuki, so why don't you do the honors?" She gave the other Navi a pat on the back for encouragement, and hopefully to knock a really good lie into her. But since she knew the most about idols amongst them (i.e. anything), she had faith that she was the one for the job.
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Kabuki wanted to remark to everybody about how moe Pirouette was yet again, as it was the kind of observation that was just hard for her not to make, but with the cameras rolling, that would be a little awkward. She had to admit that even with her delusion of her own youthful charms and cuteness, she couldn't compete with Pirouette on that front. "Your secret is safe with me, GIRL~FRIEND!" she guffawed, grinning big so that all of her jagged teeth were on display.
Moving on, Divina had a bit to say about her own hobby, before tossing the hot potato back over to Kabuki. The actress' grin momentarily opened a bit, leaving her with a dumb expression as the corner of her smile twitched nervously. "N-Nani?! That is a very difficult segue, DeeVee!" she thought to herself, a bead of sweat slowly rolling down her forehead and into the crevice at her brow. She'd been expecting a question that would require her knowledge as an idol fan, but not one that would require her to make up a story, potentially one involving meeting her favorite band, on the spot. She decided to pad her response out to give herself some time to think. "Ho ho ho ho! Hohoho... Heeheheeheehee! Bwahahahaha! Ha ha ha... Ha!" she first guffawed, then giggled, then cackled, then weakly laughed. "Of course, who could forget?! That one time, where we were mistaken for my other favorite group, SPACE GIRLS, while playing one of our first gigs! That was when we had all gone a little crazy with our make-up and looked like SPACE~AIL~EE~AN ROCK EYE~DOLLS!" she exclaimed, waving her hands in the air. "But seeing as I look pretty CRAY~ZEE and the other two girls are so cute, there'd be no MIS~TAKE~ING us now, right? Teehee~"
Sweating, she looked back and forth between the two nervously while keeping a static grin on her face, hoping that either the interview was over now or that the other two would pitch in with a topic change.
Moving on, Divina had a bit to say about her own hobby, before tossing the hot potato back over to Kabuki. The actress' grin momentarily opened a bit, leaving her with a dumb expression as the corner of her smile twitched nervously. "N-Nani?! That is a very difficult segue, DeeVee!" she thought to herself, a bead of sweat slowly rolling down her forehead and into the crevice at her brow. She'd been expecting a question that would require her knowledge as an idol fan, but not one that would require her to make up a story, potentially one involving meeting her favorite band, on the spot. She decided to pad her response out to give herself some time to think. "Ho ho ho ho! Hohoho... Heeheheeheehee! Bwahahahaha! Ha ha ha... Ha!" she first guffawed, then giggled, then cackled, then weakly laughed. "Of course, who could forget?! That one time, where we were mistaken for my other favorite group, SPACE GIRLS, while playing one of our first gigs! That was when we had all gone a little crazy with our make-up and looked like SPACE~AIL~EE~AN ROCK EYE~DOLLS!" she exclaimed, waving her hands in the air. "But seeing as I look pretty CRAY~ZEE and the other two girls are so cute, there'd be no MIS~TAKE~ING us now, right? Teehee~"
Sweating, she looked back and forth between the two nervously while keeping a static grin on her face, hoping that either the interview was over now or that the other two would pitch in with a topic change.
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With her own attention directing the view towards Kabuki, Pirouette made the motions of smothering a giggle of her own with one hand while the actress stretched; laughter looked better with company after all. The story that she arrived at... well, the young ballerina had to admit she didn't really know whether it sounded contrived or not; she really had no clue about the entire genre, or even if the group her friend had mentioned was a known group at all... though she had to assume it was. Kabuki knew about that kind of thing, after all. Didn't she? Still feigning a stifled giggle, Pirouette nodded along, then did her best to support the other woman's story a little bit as she finished. She brought her hand down, clasping them together at her chest again for the moment as she smiled towards her friend.
"We did go a bit overboard those first few times, yes?" After the initial address she turned her gaze back out to the camera. "I did not even know of the other group, and Kabuki, she was helping Deevee and I find a look, you know?" The girl gave herself a small shake and ruffled her wings, stretching them out again and taking a deep breath so that she could let out a short, happy sigh.
"Ah but I am so glad that we have found a look that is more 'us', now. And I am so happy that we can have this chance to debut it for you all here today! Oh this is so exciting, is it not? We really must thank everyone involved in giving us this opportunity!" She grinned and did actually giggle this time, before giving another small wave to the camera. She wanted to say a public thank you to Glow herself, for organising things, since the colourful navi seemed to need the confidence booster, but Pirouette wasn't sure if that would be appropriate for the camera or not, so she kept it more vague. As far as she could remember, all the key points for the interview had been answered now, in some fashion at least. She opted to keep quiet until Glow called a close to things, unless one of the others brought her back into the conversation again deliberately.
"We did go a bit overboard those first few times, yes?" After the initial address she turned her gaze back out to the camera. "I did not even know of the other group, and Kabuki, she was helping Deevee and I find a look, you know?" The girl gave herself a small shake and ruffled her wings, stretching them out again and taking a deep breath so that she could let out a short, happy sigh.
"Ah but I am so glad that we have found a look that is more 'us', now. And I am so happy that we can have this chance to debut it for you all here today! Oh this is so exciting, is it not? We really must thank everyone involved in giving us this opportunity!" She grinned and did actually giggle this time, before giving another small wave to the camera. She wanted to say a public thank you to Glow herself, for organising things, since the colourful navi seemed to need the confidence booster, but Pirouette wasn't sure if that would be appropriate for the camera or not, so she kept it more vague. As far as she could remember, all the key points for the interview had been answered now, in some fashion at least. She opted to keep quiet until Glow called a close to things, unless one of the others brought her back into the conversation again deliberately.
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Glow had remained quiet while filming, although various twitches of her grin and fluctuations to her color seemed to indicate emotional responses to what was being said. In general, though, she was clearly trying to keep her thoughts to herself, probably anticipating that the acting would be difficult enough without distractions. Furthermore, given her natural shakiness, it was probably about all she could do to keep the camera steady. A tripod probably would have been appropriate...
Nonetheless, the idol trio made it through their introductions without interruptions. Glow took Pirouette's final pause as the "cut" it was intended to be, and tapped a button on the top of the camcorder to shut it off. The three might be eagerly anticipating what her evaluation of their performance was, but given the fact that her body and eyes were glowing bright yellow, there probably wasn't much suspense in the revelation.
"R-r-really really good, guys! We p-probably coulda made it perfect if we'd practiced a little bef-f-forehand, but the chemistry here is p-perfect, and that's what we need... I left myself j-just a bit to touch it up in editing, and we'll be s-set... uh..." she paused, putting her hand to her lips. "B-but is Space Girls a real group? I mean, I g-guess you coulda made it up, but if it really is your favorite, y-you'll have to tell me about it sometime... I don't know a whole l-l-lot about ruh-r-rock idols, y'know?"
Whether or not Kabuki knew, that line of discussion would likely be the last thing on anyone's mind as the side of the tent near Glow's bed suddenly bent inward and then ripped. The dark shape of a body came rolling in, with Glow stepping back to avoid a collision with it. Unless there were multiple Navis running around in full-body suits covered in small, faintly luminscent orbs, the man rising in front of them would have to be MoCapMan.
The man let out a groan, confirming that assumption. He looked remarkably well off for how dramatic of an entrance he'd just made: in fact, it was apparent that, assuming a blow was what had knocked him in, it must have been squarely to his face. Whoever or whatever had assailed him had apparently been nice enough to avoid his (reportedly) expensive motion capture gear, as none of his bulbs appeared to be damaged. He hung his head for a moment before finally clicking his teeth and brushing himself off. "Glow. We've got a problem."
"A-a-a-are y-you all right, Mo? What's g-going on? Is s-someone attacking the v-venue?" Glow stuttered, her hands working together unconsciously as her body pulsed in purple strobes.
"No, but... damn it. I knew things were going too smoothly." He turned to face Divina, apparently treating her as the leader of the group, now that she'd been made the leader of their fake idol trio. "McMan, if that's even who was using the tent, conned us. I went to deliver the costumes to his team's tent. As soon as they got their hands on the .GMOs, they... attacked me and split. I overheard them say where they were going. In retrospect, I probably should have requested the GNA provide contacts for that role, too... the security process might have vetted these guys. I... hired them based on word of mouth... agh, Glow, I'm sorry." He turned not to face Glow, but rather the hole in the wall, his lips tightened in a grimace. "The .GMOs are gone, and the performers are gone."
Glow stood biting her digits, her colors swirling between purple and blue. "Th-th-th-the v-venue, though... i-if we can't have a s-second group perform... is there enough t-time to... h-hire..." She trailed off, her lips trembling as she kept her eyes focused on MoCapMan's back.
The man remained silent, then shook his head. "... There's no time for this. We'll work something out. The main issue isn't what happens to us, it may very well be what's going to happen to these three." He turned back to Divina, his face grim. "I'll give you all an apology later, but for now, you need to get to the NetSquare. I don't know what those three con men are planning to do with those .GMOs, but... I have pride in my technology. Those .GMOs they've created, with the exceptions of your clothes, should replicate nearly everything about you. Your shape, your voice... and, if they have any talent at acting, even the basics of your movements and gestures are written into them. If you can't track them down and make them give them up, this could easily end up as a case of identity theft. The only advantage we have now is that we know where they are, and they don't know you're coming. You have to act on it."
Glow continued chewing her fingers, her eyes darting back and forth. "I, uh, I uh mean... their appearances, right? But their id-duh-d-d-dentities, their code and emblems can't b-be copied! It's not r-r-really identity theft, and if they tr-try to pass themselves off as those th-three they'll be f-found out and arrested! M-maybe there's a w-way to have th-these three... d-do the..."
"Now's not the time to argue!" MoCapMan yelled, displaying uncharacteristic sharpness. "Do I really have to go into all the details? There's so many ways they could get into trouble. Those three are talented actors. Furthermore, McMan's gang... they don't have the proper clothed bodies of our these three. My motion-capture technology is designed, however, to perfectly replicate their base form. Do you see where I'm going?"
Glow bit her lip, the light behind her eyes extending a bit to indicate widened eyes. She nodded. "B-but... how can we... Is it... is it o-over...? There's n-no b-b-battle if w-we d-d-d-don't... a suh-s-second..."
"Glow," MoCapMan spoke, putting his hands on her shoulders. "You know there's still a way you can do this. It has to be you. There's no other option. We have to rehearse, now!"
The manager Navi continued to tremble as comprehension appeared to dawn on her. "W-wuh... N-n-no way! That's yuh-useless! And wh-whaddya mean w-we?!"
MoCapMan sighed, but turned to Divina with a resolute expression in his eyes. "I'm going to take care of this. You three can still catch them if you hurry to the NetSquare. You can come back later for your reward, and naturally, I'll do what I can to make this right by the three of you as well."
A lot of words seemed to be flying around, and there were still plenty of questions. A sense of panic still hung thick in the air as MoCapMan tried to shake Glow into whatever action the two of them understood. It stood in stark contrast to the low energy and murmur of the crowd and the multi-colored lights that shone in the night beyond. Now that the three could see outside the tent, a second, apparently empty tent was visible, as well as the back of what appeared to be the stage for the event.
Nonetheless, the idol trio made it through their introductions without interruptions. Glow took Pirouette's final pause as the "cut" it was intended to be, and tapped a button on the top of the camcorder to shut it off. The three might be eagerly anticipating what her evaluation of their performance was, but given the fact that her body and eyes were glowing bright yellow, there probably wasn't much suspense in the revelation.
"R-r-really really good, guys! We p-probably coulda made it perfect if we'd practiced a little bef-f-forehand, but the chemistry here is p-perfect, and that's what we need... I left myself j-just a bit to touch it up in editing, and we'll be s-set... uh..." she paused, putting her hand to her lips. "B-but is Space Girls a real group? I mean, I g-guess you coulda made it up, but if it really is your favorite, y-you'll have to tell me about it sometime... I don't know a whole l-l-lot about ruh-r-rock idols, y'know?"
Whether or not Kabuki knew, that line of discussion would likely be the last thing on anyone's mind as the side of the tent near Glow's bed suddenly bent inward and then ripped. The dark shape of a body came rolling in, with Glow stepping back to avoid a collision with it. Unless there were multiple Navis running around in full-body suits covered in small, faintly luminscent orbs, the man rising in front of them would have to be MoCapMan.
The man let out a groan, confirming that assumption. He looked remarkably well off for how dramatic of an entrance he'd just made: in fact, it was apparent that, assuming a blow was what had knocked him in, it must have been squarely to his face. Whoever or whatever had assailed him had apparently been nice enough to avoid his (reportedly) expensive motion capture gear, as none of his bulbs appeared to be damaged. He hung his head for a moment before finally clicking his teeth and brushing himself off. "Glow. We've got a problem."
"A-a-a-are y-you all right, Mo? What's g-going on? Is s-someone attacking the v-venue?" Glow stuttered, her hands working together unconsciously as her body pulsed in purple strobes.
"No, but... damn it. I knew things were going too smoothly." He turned to face Divina, apparently treating her as the leader of the group, now that she'd been made the leader of their fake idol trio. "McMan, if that's even who was using the tent, conned us. I went to deliver the costumes to his team's tent. As soon as they got their hands on the .GMOs, they... attacked me and split. I overheard them say where they were going. In retrospect, I probably should have requested the GNA provide contacts for that role, too... the security process might have vetted these guys. I... hired them based on word of mouth... agh, Glow, I'm sorry." He turned not to face Glow, but rather the hole in the wall, his lips tightened in a grimace. "The .GMOs are gone, and the performers are gone."
Glow stood biting her digits, her colors swirling between purple and blue. "Th-th-th-the v-venue, though... i-if we can't have a s-second group perform... is there enough t-time to... h-hire..." She trailed off, her lips trembling as she kept her eyes focused on MoCapMan's back.
The man remained silent, then shook his head. "... There's no time for this. We'll work something out. The main issue isn't what happens to us, it may very well be what's going to happen to these three." He turned back to Divina, his face grim. "I'll give you all an apology later, but for now, you need to get to the NetSquare. I don't know what those three con men are planning to do with those .GMOs, but... I have pride in my technology. Those .GMOs they've created, with the exceptions of your clothes, should replicate nearly everything about you. Your shape, your voice... and, if they have any talent at acting, even the basics of your movements and gestures are written into them. If you can't track them down and make them give them up, this could easily end up as a case of identity theft. The only advantage we have now is that we know where they are, and they don't know you're coming. You have to act on it."
Glow continued chewing her fingers, her eyes darting back and forth. "I, uh, I uh mean... their appearances, right? But their id-duh-d-d-dentities, their code and emblems can't b-be copied! It's not r-r-really identity theft, and if they tr-try to pass themselves off as those th-three they'll be f-found out and arrested! M-maybe there's a w-way to have th-these three... d-do the..."
"Now's not the time to argue!" MoCapMan yelled, displaying uncharacteristic sharpness. "Do I really have to go into all the details? There's so many ways they could get into trouble. Those three are talented actors. Furthermore, McMan's gang... they don't have the proper clothed bodies of our these three. My motion-capture technology is designed, however, to perfectly replicate their base form. Do you see where I'm going?"
Glow bit her lip, the light behind her eyes extending a bit to indicate widened eyes. She nodded. "B-but... how can we... Is it... is it o-over...? There's n-no b-b-battle if w-we d-d-d-don't... a suh-s-second..."
"Glow," MoCapMan spoke, putting his hands on her shoulders. "You know there's still a way you can do this. It has to be you. There's no other option. We have to rehearse, now!"
The manager Navi continued to tremble as comprehension appeared to dawn on her. "W-wuh... N-n-no way! That's yuh-useless! And wh-whaddya mean w-we?!"
MoCapMan sighed, but turned to Divina with a resolute expression in his eyes. "I'm going to take care of this. You three can still catch them if you hurry to the NetSquare. You can come back later for your reward, and naturally, I'll do what I can to make this right by the three of you as well."
A lot of words seemed to be flying around, and there were still plenty of questions. A sense of panic still hung thick in the air as MoCapMan tried to shake Glow into whatever action the two of them understood. It stood in stark contrast to the low energy and murmur of the crowd and the multi-colored lights that shone in the night beyond. Now that the three could see outside the tent, a second, apparently empty tent was visible, as well as the back of what appeared to be the stage for the event.
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Divina allowed the others to close out the interview, and nodded at Glow's review. "I thought we all did wonderfully, including the camera lady." Unfortunately, the good feelings came to an end as someone came crashing in through the side of the tent, and, more importantly to her, was hurt. Instinctively, she summoned her staff and shone a light on his face...though she made sure to dim it so he wouldn't get blinded. Come to think of it, that face was extremely familiar, as was the outfit... "MoCapMan? What in heaven's name happened?"
She got her answer, and she couldn't say it was one she wanted to hear. "That...is quite troubling. He's right, Glow. They probably couldn't do it indefinitely, but they could do plenty to cause us problems. ...Especially me, to be quite frank." She turned to Kabuki and Pirouette. "For all our sakes, we need to track them down. ...That said, if we do, and it comes to blows, I'm not much of a fighter. I simply don't have the heart for violence. But I can still aid you two if needed." She motioned to the motion capture Navi, who, if he hadn't left the light, would feel and look quite a bit better. "There is something I'd like to clear up first, though. If we go out like this, will people think we're idols and slow us down? Should we go back to how we normally dress? Or will it not matter?"
She got her answer, and she couldn't say it was one she wanted to hear. "That...is quite troubling. He's right, Glow. They probably couldn't do it indefinitely, but they could do plenty to cause us problems. ...Especially me, to be quite frank." She turned to Kabuki and Pirouette. "For all our sakes, we need to track them down. ...That said, if we do, and it comes to blows, I'm not much of a fighter. I simply don't have the heart for violence. But I can still aid you two if needed." She motioned to the motion capture Navi, who, if he hadn't left the light, would feel and look quite a bit better. "There is something I'd like to clear up first, though. If we go out like this, will people think we're idols and slow us down? Should we go back to how we normally dress? Or will it not matter?"
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Kabuki nodded along with Pirouette enthusiastically, thinking that the girl had done an admirable job of MO-AY-ing her way through the awkward end of their interview. She continued grinning as Glow praised their performance. "Our CHEM~ES~TREE is the stuff of legends! We are the most CO~ORD~UN~ATE~ED of sisters!" Kabuki agreed. Her face fell momentarily, however, as Glow revealed that she'd never heard of the Space Girls. The actress flicked her head from side to side, to see if the others were similarly in the dark; from their lack of reaction, she had to assume they didn't know either. "No one has heard of the SPACE~GIRLS? What a TRAV~ES~TEE! Quick, I'm calling an INT~ER~MISH~SHUN so that we can listen to their GREAT~EST~HITS~TAPE, and I will tell you what you want, what you really, really-!"
The intermission would have to wait, because the sudden outbreak of violence had sent MoCapMan barreling into the tent. Kabuki had enough clarity of mind to ponder how strange it was that this was the first violence she'd seen during her missions with Divina, despite the dark bath-house plot she'd been through earlier. Another thought was nagging at the back of her mind as well: wasn't it a little convenient that his expensive motion capture suit had avoided damage from whatever just hit him? She didn't voice that, though, as this was hardly the time to be suspicious, when there was a fresh problem already on the plate to investigate. As it turned out, there really wasn't even time to investigate; immediate action was needed to get on top of the situation. "They took the GMOs just because they were VAL~EW~A~BUL?!" she questioned, again, half-wondering why MoCapMan's hadn't been taken. "Those DAS~TARD~LEE criminals! Ruining our idol debut! I'm already too old to be an EYE~DOL; any further waiting and I'll lose my chance EN~TI~YUR~LEE!" the actress questioned, looking distraught.
The panicked dialogue continued; Yoshitsune scoffed. "Ha! They cannot possibly replicate my navi's talent for the theater. She is almost as knowledgeable as me!" he laughed. Further revelations caused him to clasp his hand to his nose, his imagination momentarily getting away from him. "Th-That would be cowardly indeed... so you think there is possibly some chance that the three will appear nude?" he questioned, sounding nasally as he pinched his nose.
"SHI~MA~TA! Even worse! We have to catch those EE~VIL~DOO~ERS!" she reaffirmed.
"Then again, hmph... If they're hoping to do something sexy using the behavior data they gathered, they'll be out of luck," he chuckled, crossing his arms and smirking while clearly revealing that his mind had 'gone there.' "Pirouette is still a child, Divina is a goddess and therefore a symbol of purity, and while Kabuki often dances, I have never seen her perform a provocative one."
"W-Well be that as it may," Kabuki murmured, not mentioning that she had recently performed a strip-show dance in front of a large audience that included many, many navis but no Yoshitsune, "who knows what sort of MIS~BEE~HAYV~YUR those devils will get up to?! We must capture them!" Still, even as she said that, it became apparent that there were actually two concerns: the ruination of the concert and the capturing of the criminals. "Ahem. If I MAY~ADD! The Netsquare will be patrolled heavily by NetPolice, as well as GNA, although those only in the NEW~TRAL ZONE! That means that one or two of us would be enough to capture the CRIM~UH~NULS, with little worry of the ensuing fight. With that in mind, perhaps one of us should stay and ASS~SIST Glow? I could do that, since I have knowledge of EYE~DOL dances and songs myself! I have practiced in front of a MIIIRR~OR many ti-!" she began, before blushing and furiously waving her hands, revising the statement. "I-I mean, I have seen many songs and dances! And tried some of the steps! And sung along with the KAY~REE~OH~KAY!" she explained, looking back and forth between her partners.
Her operator shook his head, partially because he saw a logic hole, and partially because he desperately wanted his navi to join the others and potentially see naked versions of all of them. The middle section of his face was still hidden by his sleeve, but his frown and glowering eyes were visible. "There is a problem! Even with you, Glow will only have one unit, two-thirds as large as she intended! The other group of competitors were actually conspirators, do you recall? That means there are no longer any idols left to perform... besides her," he murmured, not seeming in a hurry to see Glow perform.
"UN~TRUE! Glow could act as one unit while I acted as her OPP~PO~NENT! We could have an idol contest... a one-on-one EYE~DOL CON~TEST!" she finished, striking her MOE~AY pose once again and causing Yoshitsune to cringe a bit.
The intermission would have to wait, because the sudden outbreak of violence had sent MoCapMan barreling into the tent. Kabuki had enough clarity of mind to ponder how strange it was that this was the first violence she'd seen during her missions with Divina, despite the dark bath-house plot she'd been through earlier. Another thought was nagging at the back of her mind as well: wasn't it a little convenient that his expensive motion capture suit had avoided damage from whatever just hit him? She didn't voice that, though, as this was hardly the time to be suspicious, when there was a fresh problem already on the plate to investigate. As it turned out, there really wasn't even time to investigate; immediate action was needed to get on top of the situation. "They took the GMOs just because they were VAL~EW~A~BUL?!" she questioned, again, half-wondering why MoCapMan's hadn't been taken. "Those DAS~TARD~LEE criminals! Ruining our idol debut! I'm already too old to be an EYE~DOL; any further waiting and I'll lose my chance EN~TI~YUR~LEE!" the actress questioned, looking distraught.
The panicked dialogue continued; Yoshitsune scoffed. "Ha! They cannot possibly replicate my navi's talent for the theater. She is almost as knowledgeable as me!" he laughed. Further revelations caused him to clasp his hand to his nose, his imagination momentarily getting away from him. "Th-That would be cowardly indeed... so you think there is possibly some chance that the three will appear nude?" he questioned, sounding nasally as he pinched his nose.
"SHI~MA~TA! Even worse! We have to catch those EE~VIL~DOO~ERS!" she reaffirmed.
"Then again, hmph... If they're hoping to do something sexy using the behavior data they gathered, they'll be out of luck," he chuckled, crossing his arms and smirking while clearly revealing that his mind had 'gone there.' "Pirouette is still a child, Divina is a goddess and therefore a symbol of purity, and while Kabuki often dances, I have never seen her perform a provocative one."
"W-Well be that as it may," Kabuki murmured, not mentioning that she had recently performed a strip-show dance in front of a large audience that included many, many navis but no Yoshitsune, "who knows what sort of MIS~BEE~HAYV~YUR those devils will get up to?! We must capture them!" Still, even as she said that, it became apparent that there were actually two concerns: the ruination of the concert and the capturing of the criminals. "Ahem. If I MAY~ADD! The Netsquare will be patrolled heavily by NetPolice, as well as GNA, although those only in the NEW~TRAL ZONE! That means that one or two of us would be enough to capture the CRIM~UH~NULS, with little worry of the ensuing fight. With that in mind, perhaps one of us should stay and ASS~SIST Glow? I could do that, since I have knowledge of EYE~DOL dances and songs myself! I have practiced in front of a MIIIRR~OR many ti-!" she began, before blushing and furiously waving her hands, revising the statement. "I-I mean, I have seen many songs and dances! And tried some of the steps! And sung along with the KAY~REE~OH~KAY!" she explained, looking back and forth between her partners.
Her operator shook his head, partially because he saw a logic hole, and partially because he desperately wanted his navi to join the others and potentially see naked versions of all of them. The middle section of his face was still hidden by his sleeve, but his frown and glowering eyes were visible. "There is a problem! Even with you, Glow will only have one unit, two-thirds as large as she intended! The other group of competitors were actually conspirators, do you recall? That means there are no longer any idols left to perform... besides her," he murmured, not seeming in a hurry to see Glow perform.
"UN~TRUE! Glow could act as one unit while I acted as her OPP~PO~NENT! We could have an idol contest... a one-on-one EYE~DOL CON~TEST!" she finished, striking her MOE~AY pose once again and causing Yoshitsune to cringe a bit.
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When the interview came to an end, Pirouette clapped her hands together again softly, still grinning. She could tell just from the way she looked that Glow was pleased with the recording, and that in turn made the young ballerina happy with the outcome. Before she could add anything to Divina's praise, however, the moment was shattered. Without really meaning to, Pirouette let out a small squeak and darted back from the sudden intrusion into their tent; it wasn't actually anywhere near her, but she still took a nimble step backwards out of instinct.
Without really knowing how to react, Pirouette remained in a startled silence, watching wide-eyed as the new turn of events unfolded. As Mo explained the betrayal, she found her surprised swiftly being replaced by an indignant anger. Doing something like that was just cruel and unsporting, and it didn't really even sound like it was getting them anything much, either. Her startled expression darkened as her eyebrows drew down and her lips compressed into a small scowl. The more Mo explained, however, the more the anger was pushed out by something else. Pirouette licked her lips softly, fretting as a pink blush suffused her cheeks. Perhaps she should have been more suspicious of the circumstance, but only one thought was really able to occupy her mind at the moment, and the worry that she had been trying to brush off as her own over-reaction was given voice both by Kabuki and her operator. She found her eyes darting back and forth between Kabuki and Mo, suddenly quite focused upon confirming exactly what this problem meant.
"Ah... the .GMOs we have, they are, ah, the costumes, yes, but the others, they were so the actors could have our... our forms, our bodies, yes? But Mo, sir, you said... you said base form, no? That is... ah, my default look, it is still a costume, you know, an outift? It is not... ah, that is, my base code, you see, it is..." She was blushing furiously at this point. "It is... without, you know? You are saying they may be out there, now... like this, yes? With nothing?" Perhaps it should have been obvious from what Mo had already tried to explain to Glow, but the worry was more than enough to make Pirouette need it spelled out clearly. Predictably, her accent had thickened slightly again the more concerned she grew.
From what Glow had tried to say, it was clear she was still hoping that the three of them might save the day on her contest, and if she was truly honest with herself, now more than ever, Pirouette really didn't want to take off the wonderful costume she'd been given, but the idea that someone might be out there now, showing off what was effectively her own bare body, was more than enough to push that particular question right to the front of the queue, and she wouldn't really be able to focus on any other course of action or address anyone else's worries until she knew for certain whether or not her fear was an actual possibility.
As it turned out, however, one thing did manage to be distracting enough to pull her attention away: the incidental jab from Kabuki's operator made Pirouette's head snap across to the source with a sharp gasp. Her mouth was open in a mask of sudden indignation, and without any proper visual on the one who had insulted her so, she found herself looking, unfairly for the other woman, at Kabuki herself as she thrust her hand down at her sides in small fists.
"Oh! I am not!!" She didn't exactly stamp her foot, but her small fists came up just a little way for emphasis as she objected, then thrust down again, making the rest of her body bounce slightly. She may not have stamped a foot but the small, unconscious actions did much to suggest it. A moment later she realised she was directing her objection more at Kabuki, who was innocent, than at Yoshitsune, whom she couldn't see. She blinked, visibly relaxing herself and trying to move past the disparaging comment with a small sniff and a swift turn of her head away. It was better to focus on positive things, in her own mind, so to get past the moment she turned her attention to Glow directly, instead.
"It will be well, Glow. Please do not worry!" She wasn't convinced of that herself, but it didn't do to say out loud. "The other group, out 'opponents' for the battle, yes? I am sure they will not mind waiting for just a little bit, if they need to. Technical difficulties, they happen, you know? It is no terrible thing." Perhaps it was because she was subtly ignoring the one who had called her a child, but she didn't directly try to correct Yoshitsune about the number of performers available to them, and instead glossed past it to what seemed like a better suggestion, in her own mind.
"If you take my spot to perform, I am can go and teach those... those... nikudyshnyy lyudi a lesson, yes? If Divina comes too, then perhaps MoCapMan, he can fill another spot, maybe, and, ah..." Now she had to look back to kabuki again, and ducked her head in apology for inadvertently shouting at her before. "If Kabuki would like to stay and act, with you then, well, then you have your three, yes? You will not need to be alone on stage, Glow, you would have others with you, you know, supporting you! You will do wonderful, I am sure of it!" she quickly stole a glance across to Divina to see if she was in favour of the plan. "I am sure Divina and I will be able to get the overrides back in no time. It will all work out well!" She hoped. Her hands had crept up to clasp together at her chest again as she made her suggestion, and it was easily apparent that her words came more from hopefulness than actual confidence.
Without really knowing how to react, Pirouette remained in a startled silence, watching wide-eyed as the new turn of events unfolded. As Mo explained the betrayal, she found her surprised swiftly being replaced by an indignant anger. Doing something like that was just cruel and unsporting, and it didn't really even sound like it was getting them anything much, either. Her startled expression darkened as her eyebrows drew down and her lips compressed into a small scowl. The more Mo explained, however, the more the anger was pushed out by something else. Pirouette licked her lips softly, fretting as a pink blush suffused her cheeks. Perhaps she should have been more suspicious of the circumstance, but only one thought was really able to occupy her mind at the moment, and the worry that she had been trying to brush off as her own over-reaction was given voice both by Kabuki and her operator. She found her eyes darting back and forth between Kabuki and Mo, suddenly quite focused upon confirming exactly what this problem meant.
"Ah... the .GMOs we have, they are, ah, the costumes, yes, but the others, they were so the actors could have our... our forms, our bodies, yes? But Mo, sir, you said... you said base form, no? That is... ah, my default look, it is still a costume, you know, an outift? It is not... ah, that is, my base code, you see, it is..." She was blushing furiously at this point. "It is... without, you know? You are saying they may be out there, now... like this, yes? With nothing?" Perhaps it should have been obvious from what Mo had already tried to explain to Glow, but the worry was more than enough to make Pirouette need it spelled out clearly. Predictably, her accent had thickened slightly again the more concerned she grew.
From what Glow had tried to say, it was clear she was still hoping that the three of them might save the day on her contest, and if she was truly honest with herself, now more than ever, Pirouette really didn't want to take off the wonderful costume she'd been given, but the idea that someone might be out there now, showing off what was effectively her own bare body, was more than enough to push that particular question right to the front of the queue, and she wouldn't really be able to focus on any other course of action or address anyone else's worries until she knew for certain whether or not her fear was an actual possibility.
As it turned out, however, one thing did manage to be distracting enough to pull her attention away: the incidental jab from Kabuki's operator made Pirouette's head snap across to the source with a sharp gasp. Her mouth was open in a mask of sudden indignation, and without any proper visual on the one who had insulted her so, she found herself looking, unfairly for the other woman, at Kabuki herself as she thrust her hand down at her sides in small fists.
"Oh! I am not!!" She didn't exactly stamp her foot, but her small fists came up just a little way for emphasis as she objected, then thrust down again, making the rest of her body bounce slightly. She may not have stamped a foot but the small, unconscious actions did much to suggest it. A moment later she realised she was directing her objection more at Kabuki, who was innocent, than at Yoshitsune, whom she couldn't see. She blinked, visibly relaxing herself and trying to move past the disparaging comment with a small sniff and a swift turn of her head away. It was better to focus on positive things, in her own mind, so to get past the moment she turned her attention to Glow directly, instead.
"It will be well, Glow. Please do not worry!" She wasn't convinced of that herself, but it didn't do to say out loud. "The other group, out 'opponents' for the battle, yes? I am sure they will not mind waiting for just a little bit, if they need to. Technical difficulties, they happen, you know? It is no terrible thing." Perhaps it was because she was subtly ignoring the one who had called her a child, but she didn't directly try to correct Yoshitsune about the number of performers available to them, and instead glossed past it to what seemed like a better suggestion, in her own mind.
"If you take my spot to perform, I am can go and teach those... those... nikudyshnyy lyudi a lesson, yes? If Divina comes too, then perhaps MoCapMan, he can fill another spot, maybe, and, ah..." Now she had to look back to kabuki again, and ducked her head in apology for inadvertently shouting at her before. "If Kabuki would like to stay and act, with you then, well, then you have your three, yes? You will not need to be alone on stage, Glow, you would have others with you, you know, supporting you! You will do wonderful, I am sure of it!" she quickly stole a glance across to Divina to see if she was in favour of the plan. "I am sure Divina and I will be able to get the overrides back in no time. It will all work out well!" She hoped. Her hands had crept up to clasp together at her chest again as she made her suggestion, and it was easily apparent that her words came more from hopefulness than actual confidence.
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MoCapMan turned to Divina's comments first, giving her a nod as she seemed to agree with his recommended course of action. "I wouldn't worry about the outfits you're wearing. I mean, they're eye-catching on stage, sure, but I have a feeling that unless you all are a lot more famous than you let on, you're not going to stand out too much in the NetSquare. But uh, yeah, there's no reason you need to dress like that. You can hold onto the outfits and return them later, if you want. Just... make sure to return them, okay? I'm already out of a good bit of money on the stolen ones..."
The Navi frowned at Yoshitsune, apparently wishing he hadn't stated the problem quite so plainly while everyone seemed on the verge of panic. "I'm only saying that's a possibility. Assuming all three of your Navis are modeled with the capability to remove clothing, which seems to be the case based on the lack of obstructions with my model override creation earlier, the possibility is there. Of course, that's only one of the things they could be planning to do with them..."
"Th-they could be fr-fr-framing them for crimes or something! Th-this could be bad," Glow muttered, still wringing her hands.
MoCapMan remained silent for a moment, but frowned tighter as Pirouette had her brief outburst. "Please. Pirouette, Yoshitsune, it's imperative that you focus right now."
Glow seemed to calm down slightly by taking deep breaths, fading to a paler shade of purple as the group did the best to calm her down and MoCapMan tried to maintain focus. Kabuki even managed to draw a small smile and a faint blue from her at her show of enthusiasm for the idol culture.
On the other hand, MoCapMan seemed to grow even more dour. "I'm sorry, Kabuki, but I don't think that's a good idea. It's clear from our discussion just now that the three of you haven't been fully briefed on what this idol contest actually entails, and we certainly don't have time to catch you up on an entire routine right now in addition. While an aptitude for singing, dancing, and performing on stage could help, performing a brand-new song for the first time is completely different. I think that Glow and- er," he said, seeming to bite his tongue for a moment. "I think that Glow already has the steps and song down. With a brief bit of practice, we can have her stage ready. But we're burning that time now, discussing."
"N-n-n-no! I think Kabuki has a g-good idea!" Glow asserted, shaking her head and sending her ponytails flying. "The presentation is c-critical here! We need a r-reasonably sized group to perform. Plus, I th-think Kabuki really wants to d-do it! Th-these three are already having to g-give up their proper idol deb-buh-but! I can't t-take this away from her too. Divina and Pirouette sh-should be able to handle it."
MoCapMan clicked his teeth again, seeming to glare at Kabuki with an impatience that was beginning to border on actual anger. "Well, whatever! Go if you're going, stay if you're staying. We don't have time to debate this any more."
Glow tightened her ips again, then turned to the three again, glowing a dull fluorescent shade. "I'll luh-leave it to you three. Whatever you d-decide is best. You three are already doing m-much more than I'm sure you bargained for. If any of you are sticking around, M-Mo and I will try and quickly c-catch you up. I get the impression your operators are in the same room, so uh.... it ought to be uh-easy to stay in t-touch. To any of you leaving... g-good luck."
((New topic open in NetSquare.))
The Navi frowned at Yoshitsune, apparently wishing he hadn't stated the problem quite so plainly while everyone seemed on the verge of panic. "I'm only saying that's a possibility. Assuming all three of your Navis are modeled with the capability to remove clothing, which seems to be the case based on the lack of obstructions with my model override creation earlier, the possibility is there. Of course, that's only one of the things they could be planning to do with them..."
"Th-they could be fr-fr-framing them for crimes or something! Th-this could be bad," Glow muttered, still wringing her hands.
MoCapMan remained silent for a moment, but frowned tighter as Pirouette had her brief outburst. "Please. Pirouette, Yoshitsune, it's imperative that you focus right now."
Glow seemed to calm down slightly by taking deep breaths, fading to a paler shade of purple as the group did the best to calm her down and MoCapMan tried to maintain focus. Kabuki even managed to draw a small smile and a faint blue from her at her show of enthusiasm for the idol culture.
On the other hand, MoCapMan seemed to grow even more dour. "I'm sorry, Kabuki, but I don't think that's a good idea. It's clear from our discussion just now that the three of you haven't been fully briefed on what this idol contest actually entails, and we certainly don't have time to catch you up on an entire routine right now in addition. While an aptitude for singing, dancing, and performing on stage could help, performing a brand-new song for the first time is completely different. I think that Glow and- er," he said, seeming to bite his tongue for a moment. "I think that Glow already has the steps and song down. With a brief bit of practice, we can have her stage ready. But we're burning that time now, discussing."
"N-n-n-no! I think Kabuki has a g-good idea!" Glow asserted, shaking her head and sending her ponytails flying. "The presentation is c-critical here! We need a r-reasonably sized group to perform. Plus, I th-think Kabuki really wants to d-do it! Th-these three are already having to g-give up their proper idol deb-buh-but! I can't t-take this away from her too. Divina and Pirouette sh-should be able to handle it."
MoCapMan clicked his teeth again, seeming to glare at Kabuki with an impatience that was beginning to border on actual anger. "Well, whatever! Go if you're going, stay if you're staying. We don't have time to debate this any more."
Glow tightened her ips again, then turned to the three again, glowing a dull fluorescent shade. "I'll luh-leave it to you three. Whatever you d-decide is best. You three are already doing m-much more than I'm sure you bargained for. If any of you are sticking around, M-Mo and I will try and quickly c-catch you up. I get the impression your operators are in the same room, so uh.... it ought to be uh-easy to stay in t-touch. To any of you leaving... g-good luck."
((New topic open in NetSquare.))
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"AIY~AAA! They are almost certainly making a MOCK~CURR~REE of my practiced kabuki actor's mannerisms!" the kabuki-minded member of the newly-formed idol group cried, clutching at her glowing red hair. She stopped clutching and started raising her hands in an "I'm innocent" gesture when Pirouette fired back at her operator for his comments.
"Hmph! A horse is a horse! I call a child a child when I see one!" Yoshitsune replied childishly, crossing his arms and turning up his nose. "MotionCaptureMan is right, of course. The fact that you would take the time to bicker with me is a sign of your lack of maturity! You should instead be focusing on the mission at hand!"
"The fact that you'd-" Kabuki started, raising one finger, but then abruptly zipped her lips, fading back to her black and dark form. She had almost said that only a childish person would pick on another child, but then she'd be insulting Pirouette in the same way Yoshitsune just had. "I-In the end... it's hard to deny how she looks," Kabuki thought to herself, regarding Pirouette with an uncharacteristically small, tightly closed, smile.
Yoshitsune narrowed up his eyes again, taking further exception. "Excuse me, child but did you not hear what I said? The other group that we were supposed to compete with were all conspirators who attacked MotionCaptureMan and stole his equipment! There is no 'opponent' for Glow to face if Kabuki aids her!" he scoffed.
"Well, I'm not sure if they were the only group of competitors or not," Kabuki remarked quietly. "But yes, I believe that there was only McMan's group and our own. This means that, in order to have a 'competition,' I would have to act opposite Glow," she offered. MoCapMan had some further complaints to add, but Kabuki glowed with renewed fire and waved her fan, which appeared in a burst of fire, dismissively. "NON~SENSE! I'll have you know I have recently polished my skills in KAB~OO~KIII IM~PROV! Those skills are TRANS~FUR~RAB~BUL to our current crisis!" the actress announced proudly, striking a pose with both arms flexed that seemed hard to correlate to "I've recently practiced improv." "Divina, Pirouette, I will entrust the protection of our ID~ENT~TUH~TEES to you, while I save the idol gathering along with Glow! Go teach those... NIK~UH~DIS~HUN~EE~LYUH~DEE a lesson!" she cried, bravely attempting to climb the mountain of Pirouette's unique language and butchering the pronunciation in the process.
Hopefully, the other two would dash off to the scene of the crime now, while Kabuki would turn her attention back to Glow. She crossed her arms and smirked confidently. "Do not take my skills LIGHT~LY! You will have to face me just as you would your RIVE~ALL! After all, I CAN~NOT lose to one who does not know the Space Girls!" she boasted, showing her sharp teeth in a cocky grin. "So... do I go on first or am I SEC~COND?"
"Hmph! A horse is a horse! I call a child a child when I see one!" Yoshitsune replied childishly, crossing his arms and turning up his nose. "MotionCaptureMan is right, of course. The fact that you would take the time to bicker with me is a sign of your lack of maturity! You should instead be focusing on the mission at hand!"
"The fact that you'd-" Kabuki started, raising one finger, but then abruptly zipped her lips, fading back to her black and dark form. She had almost said that only a childish person would pick on another child, but then she'd be insulting Pirouette in the same way Yoshitsune just had. "I-In the end... it's hard to deny how she looks," Kabuki thought to herself, regarding Pirouette with an uncharacteristically small, tightly closed, smile.
Yoshitsune narrowed up his eyes again, taking further exception. "Excuse me, child but did you not hear what I said? The other group that we were supposed to compete with were all conspirators who attacked MotionCaptureMan and stole his equipment! There is no 'opponent' for Glow to face if Kabuki aids her!" he scoffed.
"Well, I'm not sure if they were the only group of competitors or not," Kabuki remarked quietly. "But yes, I believe that there was only McMan's group and our own. This means that, in order to have a 'competition,' I would have to act opposite Glow," she offered. MoCapMan had some further complaints to add, but Kabuki glowed with renewed fire and waved her fan, which appeared in a burst of fire, dismissively. "NON~SENSE! I'll have you know I have recently polished my skills in KAB~OO~KIII IM~PROV! Those skills are TRANS~FUR~RAB~BUL to our current crisis!" the actress announced proudly, striking a pose with both arms flexed that seemed hard to correlate to "I've recently practiced improv." "Divina, Pirouette, I will entrust the protection of our ID~ENT~TUH~TEES to you, while I save the idol gathering along with Glow! Go teach those... NIK~UH~DIS~HUN~EE~LYUH~DEE a lesson!" she cried, bravely attempting to climb the mountain of Pirouette's unique language and butchering the pronunciation in the process.
Hopefully, the other two would dash off to the scene of the crime now, while Kabuki would turn her attention back to Glow. She crossed her arms and smirked confidently. "Do not take my skills LIGHT~LY! You will have to face me just as you would your RIVE~ALL! After all, I CAN~NOT lose to one who does not know the Space Girls!" she boasted, showing her sharp teeth in a cocky grin. "So... do I go on first or am I SEC~COND?"
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"Hmm...that's true, but if it's all the same, I think I'd rather give chase to our identity thieves in something more comfortable." Divina snapped her fingers, causing her to be engulfed in a sphere of light. When it receded a few moments later, she was back in her usual goddess themed attire. "It's not that your outfit wasn't comfortable, Glow...I'm just used to wearing this, you know?"
She smiled to try and soften the possible blow of not wanting to remain in idol clothes, but that faded for a rare look of irritation as Yoshitsune spoke up again. "Yoshitsune! I'm finding your arguments to be the most childish thing here right now! Please hush, so that we may focus on more important things!" Her comments would probably go down as the closest she ever told someone to shut up.
Shaking her head, she shifted her gaze to Kabuki, and returned to her normal serene look. "If you feel you're better served staying here, then I won't stop you. I believe I'm better off in the chase, though." Now to address Pirouette. "Tracking isn't my specialty, but if they look like us, they shouldn't be hard to find. So, shall we?" Assuming the answer was yes, Divina would vanish in a beam of light, to head off to locate the crooks. If not, she'd stay and hear out the reasoning why not.
She smiled to try and soften the possible blow of not wanting to remain in idol clothes, but that faded for a rare look of irritation as Yoshitsune spoke up again. "Yoshitsune! I'm finding your arguments to be the most childish thing here right now! Please hush, so that we may focus on more important things!" Her comments would probably go down as the closest she ever told someone to shut up.
Shaking her head, she shifted her gaze to Kabuki, and returned to her normal serene look. "If you feel you're better served staying here, then I won't stop you. I believe I'm better off in the chase, though." Now to address Pirouette. "Tracking isn't my specialty, but if they look like us, they shouldn't be hard to find. So, shall we?" Assuming the answer was yes, Divina would vanish in a beam of light, to head off to locate the crooks. If not, she'd stay and hear out the reasoning why not.
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There was a small part of Pirouette that felt vaguely self conscious about the fact that of all of them, she would be the only one both heading out to the net square, and doing so still in the fancy costume glow had made for her. It was only a very small part though; the rest of her thought the whole look was just lovely and didn't care what anyone else thought. While she was struggling to maintain a sense of calm and composure in the face of Yoshitsune's insults, the others came to a conclusion on who would be doing what.
Really, it took everything she had not to rise to the infuriating child's bait. Was he really judging her maturity solely on her... her figure? What sort of a hormonal teenager with no sense of class or poise did you have to be to do that? The way he went on to wallow in his own obvious misunderstanding of the situation, and plaster his ignorance all over them as though it were some kind of obvious truth didn't help the young woman find her calm either. It really was maddening, and she was quite furious enough at the whole situation already.
"Poise and grace, lebedёnok. It is rain from the feathers, yes? As he says, you must focus." Mikhail's voice cut quietly though her silent seething and despite herself, Pirouette blushed faintly. While she had been standing in silence, her features and gone somewhat cold and aloof towards the best she could manage for the general direction of Yoshitsune, but otherwise she'd looked far calmer than her inner monologue might suggest. Snapped out of her reverie, Pirouette was fortunate to find Divina quickly repeating the plan to her in confirmation; the ballerina nodded to her.
"Yes. Let us go."
None of her irritation had remained on her face, but it had comfortably joined her anger and resentment for the more serious betrayal at hand, and together it was bubbling away quite energetically beneath her smooth face; she didn't take the time to correct Kabuki's pronunciation, quietly delighted just to hear her have a go at it, though the thought was buffered by knowing full well that Kabuki had no idea what the phrase had meant in the first place. It had been, in truth, one of the vilest, most offensive curses and insults that Pirouette could mange to say aloud, and translated from her native Sharoan into something more or less equivalent of "no-good wastrels". It really had been quite a naughty thing for her to say. There was no more time for chatter though, and Pirouette, still dressed up in her awesomely fancy costume, followed Divina a moment later, ready to teach those horrid thieves a proper lesson in manners.
((To -> Net Square))
Really, it took everything she had not to rise to the infuriating child's bait. Was he really judging her maturity solely on her... her figure? What sort of a hormonal teenager with no sense of class or poise did you have to be to do that? The way he went on to wallow in his own obvious misunderstanding of the situation, and plaster his ignorance all over them as though it were some kind of obvious truth didn't help the young woman find her calm either. It really was maddening, and she was quite furious enough at the whole situation already.
"Poise and grace, lebedёnok. It is rain from the feathers, yes? As he says, you must focus." Mikhail's voice cut quietly though her silent seething and despite herself, Pirouette blushed faintly. While she had been standing in silence, her features and gone somewhat cold and aloof towards the best she could manage for the general direction of Yoshitsune, but otherwise she'd looked far calmer than her inner monologue might suggest. Snapped out of her reverie, Pirouette was fortunate to find Divina quickly repeating the plan to her in confirmation; the ballerina nodded to her.
"Yes. Let us go."
None of her irritation had remained on her face, but it had comfortably joined her anger and resentment for the more serious betrayal at hand, and together it was bubbling away quite energetically beneath her smooth face; she didn't take the time to correct Kabuki's pronunciation, quietly delighted just to hear her have a go at it, though the thought was buffered by knowing full well that Kabuki had no idea what the phrase had meant in the first place. It had been, in truth, one of the vilest, most offensive curses and insults that Pirouette could mange to say aloud, and translated from her native Sharoan into something more or less equivalent of "no-good wastrels". It really had been quite a naughty thing for her to say. There was no more time for chatter though, and Pirouette, still dressed up in her awesomely fancy costume, followed Divina a moment later, ready to teach those horrid thieves a proper lesson in manners.
((To -> Net Square))
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While it didn't seem as though Pirouette and Yoshitsune had quite worked out their spat, it was at least evident that the pair was going to be split up by way of Pirouette's exit. As such, MoCapMan decided to let it go. "Good hunting, you two. We'll salvage what we can here..."
"M-Mo, you're making it s-sound like a lost cause! W-with Kabuki's help, I can p-probably pull off a d-duet performance-" Glow began, wanting to keep the group's spirits up.
"Absolutely not," MoCapMan interjected, shaking his head with surprising vigor. "Listen. This contest was staged as a competition between idol groups. The first group has given their performance, and now it's up to the second group to do theirs, and the audience reactions are compared. The other group had three members, which means this group has to have three members."
"Eh... Eeeeh?!" Glow exclaimed, putting her hands to her hair as her colors went wild again. "Th-then we really don't have enough to make up a group?! Sh-sh-should we-"
MoCapMan held up a hand to stop her stammering, continuing to frown sourly. "I told you, I've prepared with contingency plans. Luckily, I happen to have just one such plan in mind for this situation..."
With that, the Navi backed up from the event planner and Kabuki as well. Contrasting with his normal stiff posture, he suddenly flexed backward and held his arms out ahead of himself. The orbs across his outfit all suddenly flashed brightly: this didn't cause Glow to cover her eyes, so it was reasonable to assume that her glasses actually acted as shades in some capacity.
When the light dimmed again, Kabuki and Glow would be standing in the room with an entirely different Navi: her color pallete and overall motif was seemingly the only familiar trait about her. She stood nearly a foot shorter than MoCapMan had been, with skin the same dark hue of the Navisuit she was now wearing. Her outfit was quite different, though: the hood was gone, revealing short hair in a platinum-hued bob cut. She was wearing a blouse and skirt the same dark shade as his previous Navisuit, causing the whole ensemble to blend together. She appeared to have leggings with the same material as his previous Navisuit, but the blouse, skirt, gloves, and boots were all decorated with much larger, springier luminescent orbs. Overall, her features were petite and boyish. It would be hard to recognize that she was supposed to be the same Navi she had been a moment ago if it weren't for her expression: the whites of her eyes were still shining from eyes that were lidded either in sleepiness or boredom, and her mouth was still set in a taut frown.
"W-w-what the h-heck?! Mo... y-you're a woman?!" Glow blurted, flashing purple and orange alarm colors alternately and covering her mouth.
"No, I'm not a woman!" he snapped back, clicking his teeth again. "This is a costume. The important thing here is just the appearance to the audience." His voice had become more petite as well, but still relatively husky for a woman.
"So, like... is your, uh... your equipment...?" Glow started, raising an eyebrow and still holding her hands over her mouth as she began to glow red.
"Oh, my motion capture suit? No, it isn't functional in this .GMO. It doesn't need to be, since I don't intend to utilize any of its functions. Again, this is solely as an alternative persona to present to the audience."
"Oh... th-that's not what I, uh.... you know wh-what? Never mind," Glow sighed, calming herself and blanched to a dull purple once again. "Still, that's a cute costume! Where did y-you get it? I d-don't think I d-designed one like that..."
"Like I said, I prepare for contingencies," Mo responded, keeping her arms crossed beneath her chest and seeming nonplussed. "Now, we need to work fast. There's one song of yours that I know you've practiced, and I happen to have picked up as well: RAINBOW RAINFALL. I think that's our safest bet. Since both of us are familiar with it, only Kabuki would need to learn the steps and lyrics."
Glow raised an eyebrow again, smiling bashfully. "Eh? Wh-when did you see me d-doing RAINBOW RAINFALL? Actually... wh-when did you practice it y-yourself...?"
Mo frowned, tilting her head. "Hmm... I'm pretty sure you were performing it one of the first times we met, weren't you? I'm pretty sure I picked it up then... naturally, since you were performing it so early in our meeting, I assumed that was the best bet to cover this contingency."
"Oh yeah... th-that makes sense. So, uh, Kabuki... I'm s-sorry I don't have t-time to prepare graphics for this. I think graphics go a l-long way to help s-s-set the tone for lyrics! But uh, this time y-you're gonna have to make do with a v-video file, and a t-text file for the lyrics." Glow inhaled sharply, seeming to take a breath for courage as she lit up a bright mauve shade, then handed over a packet with the aforementioned data.
Glow would continue explaining, whether Kabuki began examining the data or not. If she did, she would find the lyrics to be something of a teenage-targeted romance story, which jumped between a budding spring romance and a winter when it had cooled, leaving the girl and boy struggling to recapture what they had before. It ended on a happy note, with a hopeful and naive suggestion that the upcoming spring might see the two together again. Notably, it was performed with only one dancer: Glow, in the same casual clothes she was currently wearing. The lyrics and dance were slow, but there was clearly a lot of technical effort. If Kabuki hadn't already guessed, Glow looked almost like another person when she was performing: her voice was crystal clear with good projection, and her steps looked nearly professional.
"R-R-RAINBOW RAINFALL is the first song I wrote... a-and the only one I've ever performed in front of an audience," Glow emphasized, shooting Mo a small glare. "I think it ought to be simple enough to pick up. The only ish-shu-shu is it was written for a solo perf-fuh-former, so we have to adapt it for a three-girl group." Hearing Mo cough again, Glow rubbed the back of her head, giggling a little. "S-sorry, Mo, but do you want this to keep moving or n-not? Ahem. I th-think we can split the song up into thr-three parts. The first action, before the chorus, Kabuki will do. That p-part's upbeat. Mo can d-do the second, and I'll do the climax. I th-think matching the parts semi-thematically to our c-c-costumes ought to offset how they aren't really th-themed..."
"Speaking of, about your own costume... do you have something lined up?" Mo interjected.
"Don't worry about me, I'll handle myself last." Glow bit her lip again, evidently thinking about something, but shrugged it off. "I g-guess we all dance and sing the chorus. When the solo parts are going, the one person sings and dances, and the others will probably step out of spotlight and... uh... for l-lack of a better word, sw-swuh-sway in the background. We all pick it up loud on the final chorus, with energy, and naturally, we do it twice. Got it? If s-so, we ought to do our own p-practice. We don't have m-much time."
Glow would continue to watch Kabuki curiously, obviously scanning. It wasn't clear if the purpose of that scanning was to get a reaction to her video, or to detect if Kabuki had any nerves going into this. Mo watched Kabuki impassively, occasionally scanning her eyes back to Glow and then back to Kabuki again.
"M-Mo, you're making it s-sound like a lost cause! W-with Kabuki's help, I can p-probably pull off a d-duet performance-" Glow began, wanting to keep the group's spirits up.
"Absolutely not," MoCapMan interjected, shaking his head with surprising vigor. "Listen. This contest was staged as a competition between idol groups. The first group has given their performance, and now it's up to the second group to do theirs, and the audience reactions are compared. The other group had three members, which means this group has to have three members."
"Eh... Eeeeh?!" Glow exclaimed, putting her hands to her hair as her colors went wild again. "Th-then we really don't have enough to make up a group?! Sh-sh-should we-"
MoCapMan held up a hand to stop her stammering, continuing to frown sourly. "I told you, I've prepared with contingency plans. Luckily, I happen to have just one such plan in mind for this situation..."
With that, the Navi backed up from the event planner and Kabuki as well. Contrasting with his normal stiff posture, he suddenly flexed backward and held his arms out ahead of himself. The orbs across his outfit all suddenly flashed brightly: this didn't cause Glow to cover her eyes, so it was reasonable to assume that her glasses actually acted as shades in some capacity.
When the light dimmed again, Kabuki and Glow would be standing in the room with an entirely different Navi: her color pallete and overall motif was seemingly the only familiar trait about her. She stood nearly a foot shorter than MoCapMan had been, with skin the same dark hue of the Navisuit she was now wearing. Her outfit was quite different, though: the hood was gone, revealing short hair in a platinum-hued bob cut. She was wearing a blouse and skirt the same dark shade as his previous Navisuit, causing the whole ensemble to blend together. She appeared to have leggings with the same material as his previous Navisuit, but the blouse, skirt, gloves, and boots were all decorated with much larger, springier luminescent orbs. Overall, her features were petite and boyish. It would be hard to recognize that she was supposed to be the same Navi she had been a moment ago if it weren't for her expression: the whites of her eyes were still shining from eyes that were lidded either in sleepiness or boredom, and her mouth was still set in a taut frown.
"W-w-what the h-heck?! Mo... y-you're a woman?!" Glow blurted, flashing purple and orange alarm colors alternately and covering her mouth.
"No, I'm not a woman!" he snapped back, clicking his teeth again. "This is a costume. The important thing here is just the appearance to the audience." His voice had become more petite as well, but still relatively husky for a woman.
"So, like... is your, uh... your equipment...?" Glow started, raising an eyebrow and still holding her hands over her mouth as she began to glow red.
"Oh, my motion capture suit? No, it isn't functional in this .GMO. It doesn't need to be, since I don't intend to utilize any of its functions. Again, this is solely as an alternative persona to present to the audience."
"Oh... th-that's not what I, uh.... you know wh-what? Never mind," Glow sighed, calming herself and blanched to a dull purple once again. "Still, that's a cute costume! Where did y-you get it? I d-don't think I d-designed one like that..."
"Like I said, I prepare for contingencies," Mo responded, keeping her arms crossed beneath her chest and seeming nonplussed. "Now, we need to work fast. There's one song of yours that I know you've practiced, and I happen to have picked up as well: RAINBOW RAINFALL. I think that's our safest bet. Since both of us are familiar with it, only Kabuki would need to learn the steps and lyrics."
Glow raised an eyebrow again, smiling bashfully. "Eh? Wh-when did you see me d-doing RAINBOW RAINFALL? Actually... wh-when did you practice it y-yourself...?"
Mo frowned, tilting her head. "Hmm... I'm pretty sure you were performing it one of the first times we met, weren't you? I'm pretty sure I picked it up then... naturally, since you were performing it so early in our meeting, I assumed that was the best bet to cover this contingency."
"Oh yeah... th-that makes sense. So, uh, Kabuki... I'm s-sorry I don't have t-time to prepare graphics for this. I think graphics go a l-long way to help s-s-set the tone for lyrics! But uh, this time y-you're gonna have to make do with a v-video file, and a t-text file for the lyrics." Glow inhaled sharply, seeming to take a breath for courage as she lit up a bright mauve shade, then handed over a packet with the aforementioned data.
Glow would continue explaining, whether Kabuki began examining the data or not. If she did, she would find the lyrics to be something of a teenage-targeted romance story, which jumped between a budding spring romance and a winter when it had cooled, leaving the girl and boy struggling to recapture what they had before. It ended on a happy note, with a hopeful and naive suggestion that the upcoming spring might see the two together again. Notably, it was performed with only one dancer: Glow, in the same casual clothes she was currently wearing. The lyrics and dance were slow, but there was clearly a lot of technical effort. If Kabuki hadn't already guessed, Glow looked almost like another person when she was performing: her voice was crystal clear with good projection, and her steps looked nearly professional.
"R-R-RAINBOW RAINFALL is the first song I wrote... a-and the only one I've ever performed in front of an audience," Glow emphasized, shooting Mo a small glare. "I think it ought to be simple enough to pick up. The only ish-shu-shu is it was written for a solo perf-fuh-former, so we have to adapt it for a three-girl group." Hearing Mo cough again, Glow rubbed the back of her head, giggling a little. "S-sorry, Mo, but do you want this to keep moving or n-not? Ahem. I th-think we can split the song up into thr-three parts. The first action, before the chorus, Kabuki will do. That p-part's upbeat. Mo can d-do the second, and I'll do the climax. I th-think matching the parts semi-thematically to our c-c-costumes ought to offset how they aren't really th-themed..."
"Speaking of, about your own costume... do you have something lined up?" Mo interjected.
"Don't worry about me, I'll handle myself last." Glow bit her lip again, evidently thinking about something, but shrugged it off. "I g-guess we all dance and sing the chorus. When the solo parts are going, the one person sings and dances, and the others will probably step out of spotlight and... uh... for l-lack of a better word, sw-swuh-sway in the background. We all pick it up loud on the final chorus, with energy, and naturally, we do it twice. Got it? If s-so, we ought to do our own p-practice. We don't have m-much time."
Glow would continue to watch Kabuki curiously, obviously scanning. It wasn't clear if the purpose of that scanning was to get a reaction to her video, or to detect if Kabuki had any nerves going into this. Mo watched Kabuki impassively, occasionally scanning her eyes back to Glow and then back to Kabuki again.
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"There is nothing childish about being right! The one who is childish is the one who is incorrect, boasting about their age or wisdom or whatever they might when they are clearly a little girl!" Yoshitsune responded to Divina, remaining unpleasant to work with.
"My brother's TAN~TRUM aside, I wish you all the best of luck and promise that I will ensure that the show goes on while you are away," Kabuki saluted the others, as they moved on to the pressing business of catching the identity thieves who'd fled to the net square. As it turned out, Kabuki and Yoshitsune had been misunderstanding the rules of the contest. "SHI~MA~TA, we must work together then! Maybe I can scrounge up someone from the Blood Red HAN~AH~MEE~CHEE to assist us... Oh, though... They'd be a little out of place in an idol setting," she admitted, fading back to black. Women were rare in kabuki theater, and thus, just by probability, it figured that she'd be the only female navi to come out of the Blood Red Hanamichi, or even the Burnt Gold. While Kabuki was weighing those options, MotionCaptureMan made a surprising offer for their third: himself. "NAH~MU~SAN! What a SHOCK~KING surprise! MotionCAP~TUREMan is actually a moe girl too?!" Kabuki cried, unsure of how she felt about that development, given that he'd definitely had a man's profile just a moment earlier.
"Another little girl?!" Yoshitsune gasped, looking even more confused than his navi. "Wh-What is going on here?! What sort of a disguise was that?!"
Kabuki thought that it didn't warrant quite that much yelling, although it had certainly surprised her. Mo was quick to point out that he was, in fact, a MotionCaptureMan and not a MotionCaptureGirl, once Glow jumped to the same conclusion the two of them had. "Oh! Ooooh..." Kabuki laughed awkwardly, her colors darkening again and her face looking slightly disappointed.
"Oh..." Yoshitsune murmured, letting out a low sigh and resting his head on his fist.
"Well, you are a KA~WA~YEE girl, Mo!" Kabuki laughed, showing her sharky teeth in a big grin and brightening up again. "Although... your voice might leave something to be DEE~ZIE~YURRED. Have you practiced SING~GING as well as dancing?" she asked, tilting her head curiously. She somehow couldn't really imagine MotionCaptureMan on stage, saying nothing of imagining him singing on one. After a brief exchange of innuendo that caused Kabuki to giggle in spite of herself, the two revealed the name of the song that they would be singing. "Alright, but if we're going to sing in rainfall, I will need a PAIR~RO~SULL," she joked, flipping her fiery red hair over her shoulder.
Next up, Glow had a video for her to watch, which proved both inspiring and informative for the kabuki actress. "What a FAB~BEW~LUSS song!" Kabuki cried, making a pose with both palms shielding her face, as if worried she was going to go blind from some unseen light source. "Youthful love is such a BEE~YOO~TEE~FULL topic for a performance! As a YEWTH~FULL EYE~DOLL myself, I will be sure to do it justice!" she announced, giving her moe pose again. "And you are quite the DAN~SURR and the SING~URR, Glow! Such TAL~LENT is worthy of praise!"
Yoshitsune opened his mouth, but was, miraculously, starting to think that just maybe he'd insulted others appearances enough for the day. He closed it back without voicing his opinion that Glow would be better suited for the role if she would wear something flattering, like Kabuki was.
"Hm hm hm... If you're looking for someone UP~BEAT, you've come to your best and final DES~TEE~NAY~TION! I've trained around the net in cheerful songs, rousing plays, inspiring performances, and RIB~TICK~UL~LING comedy! Why, you'll see: I'll have Mo grinning EAR~TO~EAR before we're finished!" she boasted, striking a pose with a giant, confident grin and standing on one leg, before pretending to trip on the hem of her robe, recover, and stand on the other leg. Of course, comedy wasn't really what they were trying to do here; she'd gotten a little stuck on that point. If there was any nervousness on Kabuki's part, it didn't show in the least. After fighting a grueling battle to pull the bathhouse district off from the brink of cold tyranny and hellish riot, this was much more in line with her specialties (and didn't have stakes that might include execution for someone), so she was remaining highly optimistic. "Yes, LOUD and EEEEE~NURRR~JEEEEEH~TIIIIIC! I'm your girl!" she boasted again. "And PRAC~TISS~SING is the necessary friction that ignites kindling into a flame! We should sing our hearts out in PRO~DUCK~TIVE practice!"
"My brother's TAN~TRUM aside, I wish you all the best of luck and promise that I will ensure that the show goes on while you are away," Kabuki saluted the others, as they moved on to the pressing business of catching the identity thieves who'd fled to the net square. As it turned out, Kabuki and Yoshitsune had been misunderstanding the rules of the contest. "SHI~MA~TA, we must work together then! Maybe I can scrounge up someone from the Blood Red HAN~AH~MEE~CHEE to assist us... Oh, though... They'd be a little out of place in an idol setting," she admitted, fading back to black. Women were rare in kabuki theater, and thus, just by probability, it figured that she'd be the only female navi to come out of the Blood Red Hanamichi, or even the Burnt Gold. While Kabuki was weighing those options, MotionCaptureMan made a surprising offer for their third: himself. "NAH~MU~SAN! What a SHOCK~KING surprise! MotionCAP~TUREMan is actually a moe girl too?!" Kabuki cried, unsure of how she felt about that development, given that he'd definitely had a man's profile just a moment earlier.
"Another little girl?!" Yoshitsune gasped, looking even more confused than his navi. "Wh-What is going on here?! What sort of a disguise was that?!"
Kabuki thought that it didn't warrant quite that much yelling, although it had certainly surprised her. Mo was quick to point out that he was, in fact, a MotionCaptureMan and not a MotionCaptureGirl, once Glow jumped to the same conclusion the two of them had. "Oh! Ooooh..." Kabuki laughed awkwardly, her colors darkening again and her face looking slightly disappointed.
"Oh..." Yoshitsune murmured, letting out a low sigh and resting his head on his fist.
"Well, you are a KA~WA~YEE girl, Mo!" Kabuki laughed, showing her sharky teeth in a big grin and brightening up again. "Although... your voice might leave something to be DEE~ZIE~YURRED. Have you practiced SING~GING as well as dancing?" she asked, tilting her head curiously. She somehow couldn't really imagine MotionCaptureMan on stage, saying nothing of imagining him singing on one. After a brief exchange of innuendo that caused Kabuki to giggle in spite of herself, the two revealed the name of the song that they would be singing. "Alright, but if we're going to sing in rainfall, I will need a PAIR~RO~SULL," she joked, flipping her fiery red hair over her shoulder.
Next up, Glow had a video for her to watch, which proved both inspiring and informative for the kabuki actress. "What a FAB~BEW~LUSS song!" Kabuki cried, making a pose with both palms shielding her face, as if worried she was going to go blind from some unseen light source. "Youthful love is such a BEE~YOO~TEE~FULL topic for a performance! As a YEWTH~FULL EYE~DOLL myself, I will be sure to do it justice!" she announced, giving her moe pose again. "And you are quite the DAN~SURR and the SING~URR, Glow! Such TAL~LENT is worthy of praise!"
Yoshitsune opened his mouth, but was, miraculously, starting to think that just maybe he'd insulted others appearances enough for the day. He closed it back without voicing his opinion that Glow would be better suited for the role if she would wear something flattering, like Kabuki was.
"Hm hm hm... If you're looking for someone UP~BEAT, you've come to your best and final DES~TEE~NAY~TION! I've trained around the net in cheerful songs, rousing plays, inspiring performances, and RIB~TICK~UL~LING comedy! Why, you'll see: I'll have Mo grinning EAR~TO~EAR before we're finished!" she boasted, striking a pose with a giant, confident grin and standing on one leg, before pretending to trip on the hem of her robe, recover, and stand on the other leg. Of course, comedy wasn't really what they were trying to do here; she'd gotten a little stuck on that point. If there was any nervousness on Kabuki's part, it didn't show in the least. After fighting a grueling battle to pull the bathhouse district off from the brink of cold tyranny and hellish riot, this was much more in line with her specialties (and didn't have stakes that might include execution for someone), so she was remaining highly optimistic. "Yes, LOUD and EEEEE~NURRR~JEEEEEH~TIIIIIC! I'm your girl!" she boasted again. "And PRAC~TISS~SING is the necessary friction that ignites kindling into a flame! We should sing our hearts out in PRO~DUCK~TIVE practice!"