Star (Worm AU)

[0th Law]

"Are you sure you're ready for this, Taylor?" My manager, Grace, asked. "It's been months since you were last on stage."

"I'm still in shape." I pointed out, continuing my pre-concert stretches. "And even if I wasn't, I'm pretty sure my power would more than make up for that."

She sighed. "That's not what I was referring to. Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

I flashed a well-practiced smile. "Of course I'm going to be. Besides, it's not like I could back out now, not without wasting all the effort that was put into making this actually happen."

"And incurring a large indemnity, I may add." A new voice said. I glanced over my shoulder to see the agency's representative walking into the room. He was a little young for a pencil-pusher, but he certainly did his best to look the part with his particular choice in suits and glasses. "A lot of money has been spent on marketing you, Lili, and you would bear the fair share of that loss if you walk out on us, or if you let your identity leak."

"Yes, Patrick, I did read the contract." I rolled my eyes when I was turned away from him. "I'm not going to back out, and what happened last time was a one-time occurrence."

"Oh, we're perfectly fine if you do it more, assuming it is one of the best ways to gather strength for you." He moderated. "We just ask that you do so in your civilian identity, and ensure no connections are made with your current occupation. We're even happy to help, if things come down to it."

I noticed Grace grit her teeth, but before she could get caught up in the heat of the moment, I decided to take a more… measured approach. "Are you referring to the act itself, or efforts to maintain confidentiality?"

"The latter, of course." He clarified. I couldn't see his face, but his voice had a panicked tilt to it. "If Viridian Productions was involved with the former, a leak would be far more dangerous to our reputation. If anything, we would actively discourage it."

I nodded. "Thank you for clearing that up. Still, I… would rather not act like that again. I was in a bad place at the time, and that's not how an idol should behave."

"Of course, Lili." His tone had returned to being the pinnacle of professional banality. "However, we are still ready to assist you if things come down to it. This is a large investment, but one that promises a potentially greater return. Not just for our bottom line, but for the safety of-"

"You're on in five!" We heard the stage manager call to us.

"The safety of the city." Patrick finished. "Bad Canary very nearly sunk the Parahuman Music industry, but by combining Idol culture with more typical superheroics, the industry should not only be revitalized with newfound public trust, but also improve the country by getting more people to become superheroes. In any case, I won't take up any more of your time. Break a leg!"

With that, he left through the same door he came in from.

"I still don't like him." Grace crossed her arms, glaring at the now-closed door.

I shrugged. "What he lacks in tact, he makes up for in honesty, I think." With that, I looked within, feeling for the power within my chest. It was like… a core, a second heart, but one that was only around a quarter as large as it could be. It burned and beat slowly, sending energy throughout my body with each pulse. I could turn it off and slow the loss down to barely a trickle, but I was going on stage soon: if I wanted this debut to be successful, I'd need to use every edge I had.

I stoked the flames, feeding more power into that pulsing beat, and the transformation rapidly took effect: my already-pointy ears grew longer, my hearing becoming just that little bit sharper. My skin began to pale, my canines extended, and my vision sharpened to the point that I needed to remove my glasses. Glancing in the mirror, my eyes had shifted to a now-familiar crimson. Internally, I was feeling rather good now, those pulses of energy bringing both warmth and relaxation. I knew I would feel even better if I pushed the transformation further, but I held back, not just out of fuel concerns, but also because I wanted to at least try and maintain a more… proper image.

In the meantime, Grace looked back at me, but turned away almost immediately when she noticed that I had progressed my transformation to the second stage. "Well, he could stand to be a little less honest." She said, a blush visible on her cheeks.

"True, I suppose, but it's better than the alternative."

She sighed. "Yeah, I guess. You're ready now?" She pointedly did not look at me, which I was fine with: she needed to maintain at least a degree of professionalism, after all.

"Just one last thing." I said as I put on my mask. It wasn't necessary here, as my features were already effectively unrecognizable, but it was practically standard-issue for idols these days, and not every future "Superidol," as ViriPro had decided to brand me, would have such a convenient power.

"Well… good luck." Grace said.

"Thank you." I nodded, even though she almost certainly didn't see me do it.

With that, I made my way onto the stage.

==*==​

"And now, without further ado, let us present… Lili Blossom!"

I raised my microphone as the spotlights turned on and illuminated me. "Hellloooo Brockton Bay and America! As you just heard, I'm Lili Blossom, and while I may be a demon, I want to be a hero! What's more, I want to bring happiness and smiles to each and every one of you, so while you'll be able to see me out and about fighting criminals, I'll also be up here onstage quite a lot. So raise your glowsticks, and enjoy the show!"

With that, the show began. Pre-recorded music began to play, and I began to sing and dance. The songs and choreography were relatively new: I'd written the lyrics only a couple weeks ago to go along with the composition made by… someone else in ViriPro's employ, probably, and once those were done, they'd been sent to a choreographer to produce a proper dance for them, as was tradition.

The instrumentation itself was… passable. Intellectually, I knew it was probably pretty good, all things considered, but there were countless points where a more unique, vibrant spin could be put on things, or at least, that's how I felt about things. Maybe it was just a case of my musical preferences being partially blinded by affection, or maybe Kumiko really was better than whoever wrote this music.

The choreography, on the other hand, was honestly nice, a refreshing change of pace that allowed me to take advantage of my powers to a greater extent, springing and spinning in ways I don't think I'd have been able to do before.

Of course, the real thing to focus on and pay attention to was the audience. Part of me instinctively looked for red glowsticks, before remembering that my new theme color was white. Predictably, the onlookers appeared captivated by me, swinging their white glowsticks in tune with the music, and I was reasonably confident that, at least for the people watching live, a similar reaction was being exhibited everywhere this show was being broadcast.

My powers tended to have that effect on people, after all.

With the crowd enraptured as they were, I felt my internal charge begin to skyrocket, refilling fully after a single song. Part of me, with this burgeoning strength, wanted to stoke those flames even hotter, shine even brighter, spread my wings and go even further beyond. After all, I'd already announced that I was a demon, so such a change in form would be entirely expected. Plus, surely that would make this debut even more successful, allowing me to captivate the audience to a vastly greater degree.

But I also felt like if I took that next step, ramped things up by even a moderate degree, I might not be able to stop, and if absolutely nothing else, that'd mess up any recordings made of this performance, and probably make the choreography much more difficult.

The idea was nice, though. If nothing else, it'd make me feel more full inside, what with the audience waving glowsticks of only a single color, and a stage that held no one but me.

I suppressed my reaction to that thought as best I could. At most, I think my voice might have cracked slightly, but I don't think anyone watching was going to notice. They were all focused on me. On my bo-

Focus, Taylor. Focus! I chided myself. Right. This was supposed to be fun, enjoyable. If there was anything I had experience with, it was distracting myself with the fun of performing.

So I did. I threw myself into the dancing, into the lyrics that were all pure and hopeful and filled with things other than melancholy. I told myself I was happy, and at the end of the concert, I think I managed to make myself believe it.

==*==​

It was past sunset, but still relatively early in the night, as I walked out onto my apartment's balcony. It was rather warm outside, unseasonably so for late March… although I suppose the Equinox had been a few days ago, so it didn't count as unseasonably warm now that it was no longer the winter. Plus, this was New England. Strange weather was the rule, rather than the exception.

I sighed, looking down at my phone. Was it even worth making the call? She'd probably blocked my number, and it wasn't like she'd answered at all over the last two months. I could just… call Annie a little early, and move on.

But what if she did answer? It was slightly more likely than before, now that I'd made my new debut. I could hear her voice, talk to her again, even if it was only-

Oh, I'd already pressed the call button. I hurriedly put the phone to my ear as I listened to it ring.

I'd had that argument with myself many, many times over the course of the past two months. Once every day, really. Part of me imagined that even if she didn't answer, she did at least listen to the voicemails I sent her. She might lie down on her couch and reminisce about the good memories. She might think about how she missed me as much as I missed her. She might-

"Heya, Kumiko here. Sorry, but it looks like I can't come to my phone right now. I'm probably at a concert or writing music. But if you want, you can leave a message after the BEEP."

I sighed. I probably shouldn't have expected, hoped for anything different. Still, I had to keep trying. "Hi Kumiko. It's Taylor. I'm just calling to say hi, tell you how I'm doing." Even though you probably don't care anymore. "I don't know if you saw it, but I had my new debut today. It's definitely more high-profile at the beginning than what we did back then; ViriPro got the concert broadcast to at least a dozen different channels nationwide, even as just a short ad. They even managed to get it on Idol Network America. Remember you insisted we watch it for hours on end, just to scope out the competition?" I chuckled slightly. "I guess if you still do that, you must have seen me. Do you think I did well? The music wasn't the greatest, but I tried to make it work, even without you." I'll have to do that a lot more in the future. "I miss you, y'know? I know it was all my fault, and it probably won't ever be the same, but… please call me back. I need to talk to you again."

I choked that last line out, before hanging up and finally wiping the tears out of my eyes. This was the first time I'd cried on the phone like this since that first week. Maybe that would be the final push she needed to respond?

Who was I kidding? Of course it wouldn't. But it was nice to think about, anyway.

I took a couple breaths to center myself, before calling Annie. She, at least, picked up almost immediately.

"Hi Taylor!" Her voice was bright, cheerful. Just the thing I needed to pull me out of this slump. "I saw your debut. You looked great!"

I smiled. "Thanks! Did you go in person? I know I got you those tickets, but I don't think I saw you there."

"Well, you know how it is." A note of pain entered her voice. "If I did that, then there'd be a whole incident if and when the others found out. It's not like they hate you or anything, far from it. It's just… difficult."

I sighed. "Yeah, I get it. That's why I don't go to you four's concerts in person anymore."

"Well… five now, actually."

"Oh you got a new member?" I tried to sound supportive. "That's… great! What's she like? Is she fitting in well?"

"Well, it's been a bit touch-and-go." I knew she noticed my slip-up, but thankfully she didn't call attention to it. "Almost two years without any change in membership, and we get a new member two months after… that. Well, she's having a bit of trouble fitting in."

I nodded. "Yeah, I get that."

"We really should meet in person about it sometime." She suggested. "How about… Sunday at 3? We can meet over tea."

I grimaced. "I'm doing patrols then, so…. What about Wednesday?"

"After-school practice." I could almost hear her shaking her head. "Let's… figure it out later, okay?"

"Yeah, I guess." I sighed. "Talk to you later?"

"You know it." She laughed slightly. "Goodbye."

"Bye." I hung up, then collapsed against the wall. That could have gone better. I got the impression that we probably wouldn't be able to schedule that meetup, but…

Maybe it was time to move on, if that was even possible. I was starting a new gig, not just as an Idol, but as a proper Cape too.

I couldn't afford to be distracted.

---

Thank you to @RainehDaze for Beta-ing!