The Bounty Hunter
Chapter 87: Concert Debut

August 30th, 2089

I stood in the darkness off-stage as I braced myself to go on.  The arena is packed to capacity with 6,000 people who are already cheering as the dimming lights indicate it is showtime.  With my heightened senses I am painfully aware that my fan club, which has expanded beyond the 4 founders, is occupying most of the first few rows.  Reiji, his girlfriend Akemi, Kiyoshi, Aito, and Koji are all ecstatically watching the stage, waiting for the show to start.  My hair is up in its usual high ponytail style, and I even allowed the makeup artist to touch up my face.  I have on a pair of white tight-fitting jeans along with a sky-blue blouse that matches my eyes perfectly.

My heart is pounding and I can feel the metaphorical butterflies in my stomach.  Even though I have technically performed in the eyes of millions of people on Japan’s Rising Idol, there is something about seeing so many people live and in person that gives it a whole different atmosphere.  The producer nods to me and starts a silent countdown to my arrival on stage.  He did it just like we had done many times before during rehearsal and the similarity helped soothe my anxiety.  Let’s knock ‘em dead with the performance.

At the signal, I took one last calming deep breath and walked out onto the stage as the crowd roared in anticipation.  Many different cameras tracked me as I moved, a stark reminder that there are even more people watching at home.  Unlike with nearly every other artist, Top Talent chose to not release most of the songs on my album (apart from a few teasers) until after my concert.  In other words, no one has any idea what exactly they’ll be hearing.  It is a rather bold strategy to build up hype and it is completely reliant on the fact that I garnered so much public attention during my time on Japan’s Rising Idol.  My album will be released at the end of my concert, so a good performance is vital. 

I reached the microphone at the center stage and the lights all focused on me as my back-up dancers and the band filed out onto the stage in the shadows behind me.  Alright, it’s time to begin.  I kept up my usual poker face as I spoke “Hello everyone, I am Rin Yamamoto and I am delighted that everyone could attend.”  I paused to allow for the enthusiastic cheering at my words to die out a bit before continuing “So now let’s have some fun.  Are you ready?”  I gave a mischievous smirk, which I had practiced beforehand in the mirror at home, to psyche up the crowd.  The band started playing and I started my performance as I lost myself in the roar of the people.

The flashing lights, the sound of my own voice, the sweat and exertion of dancing, so many things blurred together as the concert went on.  I lost myself as I focused on doing the best I could, and I only regained my self-awareness as I concluded the finale.  The audience had cheered themselves hoarse by this point, but nevertheless they responded to the end with their loudest cries of appreciation yet.  The applause rang out and I couldn’t help but give a truly heartfelt smile as I waved to the crowd in acknowledgement.  “Thank you everyone for a wonderful evening!  I just have one thing to ask:  did you all have fun?”  Everyone in the stadium bellowed out a resounding “YES!”, prompting yet another smile from me. 

The concert is finally over, but before I could walk off the stage someone else walked onto it.  The man clapped lightly as he spoke into a mic of his own “Such a marvelous performance…  I was planning to cut in earlier, but I was entranced.  It was one hell of a show.”  He wore jeans and a black tank-top with a red leather jacket over it that had black accents.  The jacket matched his crimson hair and eyes, but that wasn’t what was most shocking about him.  It was the fact that he reeked of freshly spilled blood, a scent that I am far too familiar with. 

The noise from the crowd vanished as they saw his face on the giant projector screens that showed the stage.  An ominous silence overtook the 6,000 people.  The normal looking face split into an eerie smile as the figure continued speaking to the audience who were all deathly aware of who he was “But it can’t truly be a hell of a show without a little… Pandemonium.”  Dante, the “Demon Lord” of Pandemonium, continued smiling after his awful pun as if he were waiting for something.  That something became apparent when the silence broke as cries of terror and panic rang out from the audience. 

I saw the cameras and the stage lights all be taken offline, plunging the stadium into darkness and I heard gunshots and explosions as the terrorists attacked.  My eyesight was unaffected, so I decided to make this asshole pay for ruining this concert.  I’ll then deal with the lackeys.  I lunged forward at full speed, causing the stage to splinter beneath me, and struck out with a fist that would knock this terrorist’s head clean off his shoulders.  BOOM!  The concussive force of my blow sounded like a small-scale explosion had occurred, but contrary to my expectations, there was not a headless corpse collapsing on the stage while blood spurted out.  Instead, there was a wickedly grinning man holding my fist in his hand and radiating magic.

Dante’s POV

Now isn’t this a pleasant surprise.  I came to this concert intending to simply interrupt in the middle and finally scratch my slaughtering itch, but instead I meet a Remnant.  And boy is she one hell of a looker too.  Her expressionless face is focused on me despite the gunfire and my rampaging minions.  I was fortunate that the stage did not provide enough of a footing for her to get all her strength behind her attack, else I would have looked rather pathetic getting knocked right across the stadium.  “You want to dance, cupcake?”  I taunted her while tightening my grip with enough force to crush concrete.  There was no change in her beautiful face, nor was there the sound of crunching bone. 

That was all I could see before a foot met my face and sent me flying right through the backdrop of the stage.  Ohh, so she’s rather flexible, that’s good to know.  I picked myself up and brushed off the dust as I magically constructed a shield from the surrounding debris to intercept a vicious wind blade as it cut through the air.  The impact scattered the debris like cannonballs into the crowd, eliciting a variety of screams that made me quiver in delight as the impromptu projectiles struck.  I remotely possessed 20 different nearby audience members and sent them to intercept her before she could follow up with her attack.  Fufu, no matter how strong of a Remnant she is she’s still only human.  She’ll definitely hesi… *squelching sounds and body parts flying*…tate? 

The idol known as Rin Yamamoto landed amidst the pile of bodies I had sent moments before, drenched in blood.  Her face was as indifferent and expressionless as ever, as if the cold-blooded murder of her fellow humans was nothing new to her.  Those sky-blue eyes stood out against the crimson blood that was splattered across her pale face and stole my heart away.  That cruel ruthlessness hidden behind her mesmerizing exterior is so beautiful.  There’s nothing more pleasurable than defiling something beautiful.  I want to make her mine and ravage her.  I want to see her face contort into pain and agony as she screams my name in hatred.  My blood is boiling and right now I don’t give a damn about anything else.  I want to break that mask hiding her emotions.  It is time to go crazy.  “LET ME SEE YOUR DESPAIR!!!”

Reiji’s POV

I am frantically scrambling for cover as Pandemonium terrorists have started gleefully massacring the fleeing audience.  Every exit so far has been sealed in some unknown manner, meaning that we are all like fish in a barrel.  Akemi, Aito, Kiyoshi, and Koji are following me closely as we fumbled about in the near darkness.  The other fan club members were either separated from us or killed when a RPG flew right into our row.  I honestly have no clue how we survived the blast.  The only light we have is from the emergency lights.  Everyone’s holophones seemed to have been shorted out via an electromagnetic pulse or something, meaning that there is no police or military intervention coming in a timely fashion. 

“Let’s go!  Hurry!”  I screamed at the others as we had to detour at yet another locked emergency exit.  Akemi’s hand was held tightly in mind as we moved.  She was silently crying in terror, and my heart ached at the sight.  Gunfire continued to surround us, along with the occasional flashing of light.  Are they using energy weapons as well?  Every time the light appeared, something strange happened.  I had no time to ponder as our group tried to avoid getting trampled by the panicking crowd.  Bullets seemed to dance all around us, striking everyone we could see yet missing us entirely.  I don’t know if a guardian angel or something is watching over us, but I’ll take anything I can get.  Then it happened.

Shattered blocks of steel and concrete were launched into the crowd, one such block was headed towards our group.  I reacted instinctively, pushing Akemi away from the danger.  There was no time for me or the others to dodge.  Heh, at least I’ll go out saving a hot girl that I really like.  The next part of this script is that I’ll reincarnate, right?  Ohh, maybe I’ll finally meet a cat girl!  I’m not sure why I was able to so easily accept my death, but I think it was because I thought that I at least managed to help someone in my final moments.  I was wrong.

The block that I thought was going to kill me missed by inches, breaking apart onto the ground and sending out fragments of rebar and concrete like shrapnel from a bomb.  These all miraculously missed me, but they did not miss Akemi.  I don’t know how exactly, but she died.  She was alive, and now she’s dead.  Had I not pushed her away, she might have survived.  Had I not given her an extra ticket I had when a club member canceled this morning, she wouldn’t have been here and would still be alive.  Had she never met me, she would still be alive.

“NOOOO!!! AKEMI!”  I tried to rush over to her body, maybe CPR can still save her, but Aito and the others pulled me back.  Another explosion sounded and Akemi’s body disappeared amongst the flames.  “DAMNIT, REIJI!  YOU CAN’T HELP HER!!!  SHE’S GONE!!!”  Aito roared at me as they dragged me away.  The tears were flowing freely down my face.  After that we managed to escape the death trap that was the open arena.  I can’t even recall how we did it.  All I can remember is a lot of screaming, panicking, and blood.  It doesn’t matter though.  Akemi’s dead.  I couldn’t help her.  Kiyoshi had to slap me repeatedly across the face before I came to my senses just enough to leave my grieving for later.  But that wound is very much fresh on my heart. Sᴇaʀᴄh the NovᴇlFɪre .ɴᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Currently we are cowering behind a concession stand, breathlessly waiting for the situation to change.  Minutes later and the sound of gunfire is starting to dwindle.  Kiyoshi is quietly typing into his voice projector to ask a question at low volume, but Aito cuts him off with an angry whisper “Don’t use that damned voice projector!  I know you can talk damnit!” 

Kiyoshi responded by flipping him off and the two were going to start arguing now of all times.  But before they could, the echoing sounds of approaching footsteps cut them off.  “Mommy!!!”  a child’s crying voice reached us as an older woman’s voice frantically tried to shush her kid.  2 gunshots rang out, followed by a cry of pain which was then followed by the thumping sound a body makes when falling to the ground. 

I peeked over the counter and saw a non-descript salaryman with an assault rifle looming over the unmoving mother and her 6-year-old child.  His back was facing the concession stand where we were hiding.  I looked at Aito, who was pale as a ghost, Kiyoshi, who was sweating, and Koji, who was twitching nervously.  I too was terrified, but all four of us came to the same conclusion after a rapid series of nonverbal cues and hand motions.  They had lost friends amongst the fan club members and I had lost my lover, but we won’t watch another person die who we could have helped.  Otaku bravery at its finest, where our belief in reincarnation stymies our fears of dying.

We creeped over the counter, and right as the terrorist raised his weapon we jumped.  Aito and I tackled the man, while Koji ran to the mother and child.  His weapon was flung from his grasp due to the impact and we started desperately punching him while the child continued crying.  Kiyoshi grabbed the gun off from the ground, but had no chance of a clear shot.  As Aito pinned the man’s arms I grabbed a nearby chunk of concrete and slammed it down onto the terrorist’s neck.  There was a cracking sound and the man went limp with his head at an unnatural angle.  I just killed someone. 

The horror over my actions flooded into me and I leaned over and vomited.  Aito looked queasy as well, but he collected himself enough to ask “Koji.  Is the mom still alive?”  Koji nodded “There are two bullet holes in her left leg, I think she hit her head falling and was knocked unconscious.”  “Let’s move the two back into the concession stand and continue hiding.”  “Okay!”  But before we could do anything else, the man who I thought to be dead let loose an inhuman growl and I was sent sailing into the wall, followed shortly after by my friends. 

“Fucking humans, you could have lived had you continued scurrying in the dark like the worthless rats your kind are.”  The supposedly dead terrorist stood up despite his fatal wound and glared at us.  “Now you are going to–” *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* Kiyoshi had pulled the trigger on the assault rifle and fired.  However, a wall of smoke appeared in front of the terrorist, stopping the bullets in their tracks. 

The terrorist waved his hand and a bolt of lightning shot out and struck Kiyoshi, causing him to seize and drop the gun.  “Kiyoshi!”  Aito cried out as I continued to look at the terrorist in shock.  “Don’t worry, scum.  I made sure not to kill him with that.  It’s no fun killing with magic after all.  I prefer being up close and personal.”  A black miasma started leaking out from the terrorist, who then fell to the ground with blank eyes like the corpse it should have been. 

The miasma solidified into a grotesque creature.  It had a head like a vertical cylinder with numerous eyes covering it all over.  Instead of a neck there was a gaping maw with far too many molar like teeth.  The body was that of an obese orangutan, with very long arms ending in three talon-like fingers, squat legs and folds of fat covered with matted burnt orange fur.  Who would have thought that the members of Pandemonium were quite literally demons.  Magic also seems to in fact exist.  Somehow that detail doesn’t seem as wonderful as I thought it would be.  The creature than spoke in a voice that sounded like a little girl.  “AlLlow mE TO inTROduce myself, mY name is Ori aNd iT iS Now yOUR TiME To DiE!!!” 

One of its long arms reached out to my throat as Aito fainted in terror and joined Kiyoshi in unconsciousness.  “SEAL OF THE ENLIGHTENED SHADOW EMPEROR!”  Koji threw a black talisman at the demon, apparently even the threat of death is not enough to knock him out of his chunnibyou delusions.  Contrary to my expectations, the demon shrieked out in pain as the talisman touched it.  Why the hell did that work?  As far as I know from all the games I played, demons are only vulnerable to items with a holy attribute… like a talisman from a Shinto Shrine.  Koji tossed several more talismans at the demon, and it was getting pushed back. 

“wHO ArE YOU?”  The demon cried out in rage.  “I am the legendary Abyssal Vortex Champion!  Fear my mastery of the corrosive dark!”  Koji then threw yet another black talisman, eliciting yet another cry of pain.  The demon was completely enraged, but before it could retaliate something happened.  The very air grew heavy, and I felt despair and hopelessness press down on me.  I can’t breathe.  Make it stop.  Please make it stop!  As if it were a signal, the demon turned to leave and hissed angrily “ThE DEmoN LoRD shalL kNow oF YOu!”  He launched a fireball at a paralyzed Koji before fleeing, not even waiting to see the outcome.  I felt a surge of energy within me, allowing me to shake off paralyzing pressure and to lunge forward to push Koji out of the way. 

We can’t afford to lose him.  I don’t know if it is simply because of the talismans or if Koji might have some sort of magic, but he is our best chance of surviving this demonic onslaught.  Even if that means that I might die instead.  I hope Minato doesn’t get too mad at me.  He may be socially and emotionally stunted, but when he cares he does it with all his heart.  Hopefully Hikari can also move on.  It’s a relief that neither of them came to the concert today.  Ah, looks like I’ll be with Akemi soon.  I hope she doesn’t scold me too much for failing to survive.

BOOOM!!  The fireball exploded, yet I didn’t have any sensation of heat or pain.  I opened my eyes and saw a golden barrier of light shining all around me and the others.  The plain looking wristband I had received from Minato ages ago was glowing with a strange script I had never seen before.  I could feel my injuries fading away and even the feelings of despair, grief, and terror plaguing my mind were treated by the soothing light.  The light then started getting brighter and brighter, blinding me without causing any discomfort. 

When I regained my vision, I realized that we were all in the parking lot outside of the stadium.  The others, except for Koji, were still unconscious although they no longer had any injuries.  Were we just teleported to safety?  I took out my holophone and saw that it was working once more.  I immediately called the police.  I know they won’t believe me about the demons, so let’s just let them know about the terrorist attack instead.

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