confrontation.

[cancrymods]

It's time.

Esme has been doing her level best to make sure everyone in Invidia knows about their little competition, so it shouldn't be a surprise to see that the mall is absolutely overflowing with devoted fans today, all eager to see the outcome of this "friendly" competition between performers. Thankfully, Esme has been unusually sportsmanlike and deigned to release a schedule of the event beforehand, so you're not just going in blind. Esme and Idol-ON will perform two songs each and then hold a question and answer session with the audience, after which a vote will be held – and whoever has the most votes by the end of the show will be declared Invidia's newest top idols.

Sounds simple, right? Right.

You've all been given a private room out of the way of the crowds, with some time to spare before the event itself starts. Time for some last minute rehearsal, some last minute panicking, some last minute... sabotage? Well, Esme's probably not going to play fair, so why should you?

Comments

[ourtomorrow]

A feeling that the area's "different"?

[ Oh look it's the kid who had screamed himself hoarse from the audience during the Q&A, climbing up onto the stage to investigate instead of evacuating like everybody else. ]

Beyond the earthquake?

[pride_of_amarcia]

Y-yeah, it's sorta like... I dunno, the whole place looks a bit less, uh, foggy maybe?

How do I put it... Eh, maybe that can wait actually.

[She glances at the fissure.]

That's a heck of an exit...

[ourtomorrow]

I can't feel a thing.

[ That's murmured more to himself, though it's not like he's trying to make sure she doesn't hear. Just lost in thought.

He peers down in. And begins to move towards the stairs. ] Let's go.

[ They have their next objective, right? It seems pretty clear. Obviously the thing to do is immediately pursue this.

Why would this not be the sensible move? ]

[pride_of_amarcia]

[And that's Brainiac just stepping up and lightly grabbing his collar to stop him.]

I don't know about you, but I'm not exactly ready to go full Executor mode, and I doubt the rest of the band is, either. Let's wait until we're ready to go as a crew, all right?

[ourtomorrow]

[ whoa suddenly stopped ]

But--

[ He turns, and then the fullness of what she's saying sinks in. That's right. All he had to do was stand in the audience and look around. But everyone else.....

Monarch looks down, ashamed of himself. ]

[pride_of_amarcia]

Take some time. Let people get rested a bit.

We'll be fine waiting a bit longer to finish this.

[ourtomorrow]

[ And that's the important part, isn't it? Monarch swallows, hoping to banish the shame. ]

All right.

[ He's willing to walk away from the gaping pit now. Big picture. Think big picture...

...if his mind is this scrambled he probably needs the break too, huh. ]