The stadium lights cut to black. A massive, digitized heartbeat thrummed through the floorboards.
"LINK START!" The iconic SAO chime rang out, and the crowd—fifty thousand strong—roared so loud it rattled the loose screws in Rebecca’s toolbox. Carrie was currently being hoisted up the central elevator, glowing like a neon star in her fiber-optic gown.
"Mina is on the catwalks!" Rebecca hissed into her comms, ditching the orange staff vest. It was covered in pink glitter anyway. "Carrie, she’s got the remote! If she triggers the pyros now, the front row is going to need gas masks!"
"I’m already at center stage, Becca! I can't stop!" Carrie sang the first line of her opening ballad, her voice sweet and clear, but her eyes were darting toward the rafters. "Do something... tactical!"
The Catwalk Chase
Rebecca didn't use the stairs. She fired a Grapple-Line straight into the iron girders sixty feet above the stage. She zoomed upward, her armor clanking against the metal.
Mina Melody was perched on a narrow beam, her finger hovering over a bright pink detonator. She was watching Carrie below with a spiteful grin.
"Ten seconds until the chorus," Mina whispered. "Ten seconds until the 'Smell of Defeat' hits the fans."
"Not on my watch, Glitch-Girl!"
Rebecca landed on the catwalk with a heavy thud. The beam groaned.
"You again?" Mina snapped, spinning around. She pulled out a pair of High-Frequency Ribbon-Whips—standard idol-combat gear, but customized with serrated edges. "You’re going to ruin my shot, Bunny!"
The Silent Duel
Below them, Carrie reached the crescendo. The crowd was holding their breath, waiting for the massive fire-jets to ignite.
"Give me the remote," Rebecca commanded, her blue visor glowing.
Mina lashed out with a ribbon. It hissed through the air, sparking against Rebecca’s forearm guards. Rebecca ducked, swept Mina’s legs with her wrench, and lunged for the remote.
They tumbled across the narrow metal walkway. To the audience looking up, it looked like a choreographed "Shadow Dance"—two figures silhouetted against the spotlights, fighting in perfect time with the beat.
"Look! It's the 'Phantom Rival' segment!" a fan screamed. "The choreography is insane!"
"I am... NOT... CHOREOGRAPHED!" Rebecca grunted, catching Mina’s wrist just as her finger pressed down.
The Switcheroo
Rebecca knew she couldn't let the fuel ignite, but she also knew if the pyros didn't go off, the show’s timing would be ruined. She tapped into the stage’s local network using her gauntlet’s hacking spike.
Accessing Pyro-Subsystem... Overriding Fuel Line A... Rerouting to Liquid Nitrogen Reserve B...
"What are you doing?!" Mina shrieked, struggling to break free.
"Improving the show," Rebecca growled.
The chorus hit. The beat dropped. Mina slammed her thumb onto the detonator with a triumphant laugh.
BOOM!
Instead of a stinking purple cloud of sulfur, a massive, sixty-foot explosion of pure white frost and glittering ice-vapor erupted around Carrie. It looked like a blizzard in the middle of a summer night. It was beautiful. It was breathtaking.
The audience went absolutely ballistic.
The Final Bow
Mina stared down at the stage, her jaw dropping. "Ice? You turned my stink-bomb into a... special effect?!"
"Physics, Mina. You should try it sometime," Rebecca said, neatly stripping the remote from her hand and crushing it into a small ball of plastic.
Before Mina could retaliate, Rebecca used a Tactical Zip-Tie to secure her to the catwalk railing. "Stay put. Security will be up here after the encore to discuss your 'Creative Sabbatical' in detail."
Rebecca looked down. Carrie was center-stage, spinning in the artificial snow, looking like a true Goddess. She looked up toward the rafters and gave a nearly invisible wink.
Rebecca sat back against a support beam, her armor covered in frost and pink glitter. She was exhausted, her ears were ringing, and she was pretty sure she’d bruised a rib.
"Target neutralized," Rebecca whispered into her mic. "Now... can we please get those burritos?"
"Encore first, Becca! You’re coming out for the finale!" Carrie’s voice laughed in her ear.
"I am... definitely... not—"
"The fans are already chanting your name! Get down here, Bunny!"
Rebecca groaned, adjusted her beanie, and prepared to leap. Being a "famous" hero was a lot of work, but seeing Carrie shine made the glitter-burns almost worth it.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV0JoyMCeTd
and then Add to home screen.