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The Portal of Zeta: iDOLM@STER Neo Vision

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ZetaFlare:
Asou Mirai's Route, conclusion

One week later, Mirai sticks around with Kenji after work is over and asks him to give her another lesson. However, Kenji is too busy with exams to help her out now. Getting a little upset, Mirai wonders how she will be able to learn more without his assistance. Kenji suggests that maybe she could try practicing on her own. As a musician, practicing has become a daily mantra for Kenji in order to keep up in his music and techniques. Mirai is not too sure if she can properly train herself. She feels as though she needs Kenji to make sure she is doing things right. Kenji comforts her and tells her to believe in her own abilities. She has come so far since her idol debut. She does not need to rely on others like Kenji for help. As long as she keeps practicing a regular habit, the results will definitely show, especially during promotions and live performances. Mirai understands and decides to stick around in order to run through her song a couple of times. She then tells Kenji her practicing will not be nearly as special without him around as she begins to blush a little.

Over the weeks, she starts asking her partners for advice on training, studying, working around the house, etc. in order to help improve her skills. They are happy to help her out, allowing the unit to bond. Later, on the day NAZO issues a challenge against ZetaPro at the Harvest Moon Festival, Mirai suddenly gets a surprise blog post. “Foolish cops! Pathetic! Pathetic!! You will not stop me from fulfilling my dream!” Mirai thinks it’s strange and simply deletes it. Little does she know, the menace who sent her threatening messages has returned, creating a fake email address in order to continue his mischief.

At the Harvest Moon Festival, Mirai shows off the results of her extra training. She puts on an outstanding display of raw abilities…until the performance is cancelled due to a pyrotechnic malfunction. Yamato appears and begins to mock Mirai and ZetaPro in general. The fact they plucked a “talentless hack” like Mirai off the streets and hired to become an idol just proves how low the depths of the middle class will sink. It’s like the President has become way too soft and easily moved by sob stories. Mirai is, was, and will always be an epic failure at life. This is how it was destined. Nothing she ever does will change destiny. Then, who should stand up for her…than Mirai herself! Mirai warns Yamato not to underestimate her because of her past shortcomings. She can change. In fact, she already has! With a little help from her partners and producer, she felt as though she has grown up a lot from her talents as an idol to her ability to be independent and responsible. Yamato laughs at her preaching, claiming all that popularity must have gotten to her head. According to him, the members of NAZO are the true perfection she claims to be.

Back at the office, Kenji, the President, and the other two idols can hardly believe how much Mirai has matured. She’s practicing efficiently on her own, her grades have shown a drastic improvement, and she’s standing up for herself and making her own decisions. Plus, her talents are beginning to show incredible growth. Her singing voice has become much clearer, her movements and rhythm have become much more fluid, she has gained lots of stamina, and she is shining more brilliantly than ever on stage. All of this while keeping her upbeat nature. It’s like she has become another person entirely! She has really become the x-factor of the unit. Mirai thanks everyone for the support. She never thought she would become this good. Becoming an idol must have been the best decision she ever made!

However, her happiness is soon spoiled once she checks her blog on her tablet and reads her newest post. “Did you like the little fireworks display I put on at today’s festival? I made it especially for you.” Below the post is a picture of Mirai burning in a sea of raging flames. Mirai screams in terror and nearly faints. Kenji rushes over to her to see what the matter is. Upon seeing the horrible picture, Kenji angrily believes the same guy who harassed Mirai before is still up to his old tricks. Kaito contacts the police about the incident and reminds them to take further precautions during Mirai’s public appearances. Kenji and Kaito, fearing her safety, offer Mirai a ride back home, which she accepts. She may be more independent now, but she doesn’t want to become an easy target for this guy or any other creepy strangers.

At the IU finals opening ceremony, Mirai arrives in a police car and undercover security is beefed up to the maximum. After all the competitors are introduced, Mirai overhears Himeko. While her rival still claims to be perfect, she feels a little insecure being fully British. She fears that if word gets out (especially about her real name), all the fame and fortune she has will be destroyed and she will have absolutely no chance of winning the IU. Yamato angrily makes her snap out of it. He made her a regal princess idol because she is the definition of pure perfection and proof that the upper class is superior in every way. Her competition will bow to her like the goddess she is. Mirai tells Kenji what she heard. She believes Himeko is a great idol and shouldn’t let anything doubt herself.

Later that night, believing Mirai has become too popular for her own good, Yamato decides to put his ultimate plan into motion. Thanks to the information he received from his spies, he knows where the menacing posts on Mirai’s blog have been coming from. In order to help fulfill his desires (and keep Mirai from performing), he decides to send the creeper tickets to attend the IU finals.

On the first day of the IU finals, the tighter security requires bag checks and body searches for all attendees. With the coast clear, Mirai gets the thumbs-up from Kaito to perform. ZetaPro defeats their first two opponents and will head for the final round the next day. That night as Mirai checks her blog, she receives her scariest post yet. The stalker promises to attend her performance tomorrow, meet her in person, and confess his true feelings. He plans to strike at the IU finals!

The next day, Mirai arrives at Tokyo Dome in a police car. The cops escort her to dressing room. Mirai is scared stiff. With tensions mounting, Kaito is having serious second thoughts about letting Mirai appear on stage. Just about thirty minutes before curtain, as all hope seems lost, Kaito gets big news from the staff. They got him! The creeper managed to get inside without much trouble, but luckily for security, his knife fell out of his pant leg as he was prowling the dome looking for Mirai. After his capture, he admitted to being the same guy who sent death threats to Mirai. Kenji and the other two idols hear the news and immediately tell Mirai, who is delighted and relieved to be able to perform safely. Yamato appears in order to laugh at ZetaPro’s misery, but he too overhears the news and is flabbergasted. After all the trouble he went through to help fulfill the dreams of a doting fan, he had to go and blow his cover. Kenji can’t believe what he is hearing. Did Yamato really send a dangerous man after Mirai? Yamato wanted to teach his father the error of his ways by keeping Mirai from performing and figured using a blog troll who continuously threatened her would do the trick. Kenji is beyond pissed off and threatens to squeal to the police on him, demanding a fair fight. As Mirai confronts NAZO for the final showdown, she promises to show not only her rivals, but all the audience just how far she has come…from zero to hero!

ENDING

Mirai’s family and peers are all so impressed and proud of the person she has become. Mirai is glad she is able to have her first one-on-one chat with Kenji in quite a while. After so many years of bad luck, she felt like it was a stroke of fortune when he made his decision to produce her. All that extra time she spent with him practicing and all that faith he had in her really helped bring out her full potential as an idol. All that advice he gave her really helped her mature and become much stronger. So many people who used to torment and make fun of her now respect and look up to her. She has finally found her true calling in life, all thanks to him. As Mirai tenderly hugs Kenji, she softly whispers to him…

“Aishiteru.”

Amazing_Grace:
Aww, Miku~!
She's growing to be a favorite of mine. She's just so...cute~! <3

But really. Miku's such a fun character. Once again, I just adore your characterization and the way you develop these characters. Following along with Miku and her steady gain of good luck was a blast!

And I'm starting to ship Miku/Kenji. Sakura/Kenji? I DON'T KNOW WHICH ONE I SHIP MORE.

ZetaFlare:

--- Quote from: Amazing_Grace on May 23, 2014, 05:52:11 pm ---Aww, Miku~!
She's growing to be a favorite of mine. She's just so...cute~! <3

But really. Miku's such a fun character. Once again, I just adore your characterization and the way you develop these characters. Following along with Miku and her steady gain of good luck was a blast!

And I'm starting to ship Miku/Kenji. Sakura/Kenji? I DON'T KNOW WHICH ONE I SHIP MORE.

--- End quote ---

Thanks again, Grace! I'll be honest, though, Miku's story was a bit tougher to think up, mainly because she is one of my most recent additions to ZetaPro. Luckily, recent events involving a real-life idol helped inspire me.

Sorry about the recent lack of updates. I've been preparing for/at San Jose for Fanime-con, so I've been away from the computer. I'm currently working on Mai's story.

Oh, there will be a couple more shipments soon to come.

Amazing_Grace:

--- Quote from: ZetaFlare on May 25, 2014, 05:48:33 am ---Thanks again, Grace! I'll be honest, though, Miku's story was a bit tougher to think up, mainly because she is one of my most recent additions to ZetaPro. Luckily, recent events involving a real-life idol helped inspire me.

Sorry about the recent lack of updates. I've been preparing for/at San Jose for Fanime-con, so I've been away from the computer. I'm currently working on Mai's story.

Oh, there will be a couple more shipments soon to come.

--- End quote ---

Recent events? Real life idol? ...death threats...?
Poor, poor Miku. And if my assumption is correct, poor, poor real life idol too.

You had better have fun at Fanime-con or I'll never forgive you. :P Looking forward to Mai's story!

That's just what I need. :P

ZetaFlare:
Oh I had a lot of fun. I posted a few pics from the event in the "General Everyday Life Pictures" thread.

Anyway, on to business. A dancer extraordinaire turned idol: Mai Kazama's story mode route is about to take center stage!

Kazama Mai’s Route

Kenji first meets Mai practicing her dancing at a nearby gym. Kenji watches in amazement as she performs a dazzling jazz routine. He calls out to Mai, causing her to stop and turn the music off. She’s a little upset that her practice was interrupted, but is excited to discover she is going to make her debut.

There will be one scene involving Mai’s tendency to do high kicks and leaps on stage. In order to prevent unnecessary panty flashes, Mai decides to wear shorts underneath while wearing a skirt.

After Mai reaches Rank E, Kenji, impressed by her amazing dancing skills, asks her how long she has been dancing. “For about ten years,” Mai replies. She has also been involved in several competition rings over the years, winning quite the collection of awards. Kenji wonders. If Mai always focused on dancing, what drove her to become an idol? According to Mai, the President scouted her talents and offered her a chance to audition, which she quickly accepted. She might not have much singing or acting experience, but to her, the sky is the limit when it comes to her abilities. Her idol dancing routines are much easier than her competition routines, but the addition of singing, visual effects, and facial expressions make them almost as challenging. While Mai is an incredible performer, to her, there is no such thing as a perfect performance. She claims she can always get even better.

Weeks later at the Sunny Beach Festival, Mai catches a glimpse of her opponent and starts to feel a bit of doubt, but goes on stage and performs to her fullest. Unfortunately, her unit is easily defeated singlehandedly. Mai’s fears are soon confirmed—her opponent was in fact Maya Nikaidou, a fellow competitive dancer who has achieved far greater success than Mai. Mai finds it hard to believe that she, of all people, would decide to become an idol. Maya is a little disappointed from the lack of challenge her opponents provided, but is thrilled to find another girl riding in the same boat she is. Ever since Maya turned to the idol industry, she has been discovering talents she never knew she had while continuing to improve her dancing. Her producer has even written some special routines for her in order to bring out the fullest of her extraordinary techniques. Surprised, Mai tells her she also became an idol in order to awaken new talents and become an even better performer. An excited Maya can hardly believe how similar she is to her new rival. Still, she informs Mai she still has a ways to go. Maya is pretty sure they will meet again, so she urges Mai to put a little extra in her training, looking forward to see what she has learned during their next encounter.

Mai is looking a little down as ZetaPro returns to the office. She is even more worried when she discovers that Maya is a member of NAZO, the new super-popular idol trio that has been sweeping the nation over the past few months. Everyone wonders what is bothering her. Mai knows a lot about Maya. Every professional and competitive dancer knows her name. She has been performing at a national level for almost ten years, winning several championships and the envy of even adult competitors. Mai, somewhat blaming herself for the unit’s loss, claims she just is not nearly skilled enough to stand a chance against Maya and must push her practicing much harder than before. Kenji does not understand why Mai would berate herself when she herself has so much talent. Being involved in talent competitions himself, he knows a bit of a golden rule when it comes to performing—focus on your own performance rather than someone else’s, otherwise the stress will just become a burden. Plus he and the other idols are worried that Mai might wind up pushing herself too hard. Mai, getting a little frustrated, claims she must become stronger and heads straight into an empty room to get some extra practice time in.

Meanwhile, Maya is talking to her producer, excited how she met someone who is very similar to her in the earlier festival. The producer then snaps at her, claiming her opponents are the enemy. If she expects to become the best and master her dancing, she must destroy all enemies. Seeing how this unit was so easily defeated by Maya alone, he figures they are no longer a threat to his plans.

(to be continued)

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