Akemi walked down the street in civilian clothes, grumbling to herself. The magical girl was more than a little frustrated - this was the third time in week that Hikari had managed to solve an incident without her, and the second that Akemi had needed a rescue. It wasn’t that she didn’t think it was good that the girl was so strong, per se. The stronger her rivals/allies are the better it is for the civilian populace! But it was infuriating that she didn’t even seem to realize it, and didn’t take it seriously.

This time, Akemi had made it to the scene first, but the villain was actually pretending to be one of the minions and had got the drop on her when she thought she was dealing with a small fry. Hikari had shown up and blasted them off of her. And while Akemi had vigorously claimed not to need the help, she knew that she had, and it bothered her.

She was so focused on her own inner thoughts that she didn’t notice herself walking straight into someone until she made contact.

“What? Oh, sorry,” she muttered, trying to move past the tall man in a dark coat that she’d collided with. But he stepped in her way, keeping her where she was. She looked up, scowling - she wasn’t exactly short herself, but the man was still over a head taller. “Do you need something?”

“Oh, I must apologize for my rudeness,” the man said in a tone that put Akemi in the mind of a used car salesman, “But I was simply struck by your appearance, and your voice,”

“I’ve barely talked.” Akemi said flatly.

“You’ve done enough. I simply must offer you an invitation…” he handed her a flier.

Akemi took it with some annoyance, giving it a look more to get the man to leave her alone than out of any actual interest. It was some sparkly thing looking for new “magical idols”. Looking at it, Akemi felt something… odd. Interest, sparking in her mind without prompting. And it was a feeling she well recognized, an attempt at magical influence. She looked up sharply, already planning to punch the villain, but he was gone.

He must have thought that he’d had her, and made his getaway secure in the knowledge she’d come to him. Not realizing, perhaps, that she was a magical girl with more resistance than your average citizen, or perhaps simply thinking she was inexperienced and would be easy prey.

But even if she wasn’t going to be tricked, she probably wasn’t the first target, and the others may not have been as strong as her. She looked back towards where the earlier battle had taken place, wondering for a moment if she should get HIkari’s help… but no, she could do this on her own!

She looked at the address on the flier and nodded to herself. Yeah, she could do this.

-----

Akemi checked the address again, making sure she was in the right place before opening the door. The venue seemed to be some sort of deserted convention center. There didn’t seem to be anyone around, despite the not-too-late hour, which was odd for a city as populated as Matsushita - more evidence she was in the right place.

Swapping back to magical girl form, her armor/dress forming around her and magic flowing through her, Akemi wondered why she was being so… straightforward. Usually she’d at least try to sneak in, but here she was, barging in the front door. But then she dismissed that - if the villain needed to lure her in rather than just take her off the street, it would be the sort that required a trap, and thus if she knew about it it wouldn’t matter if she barged in.

As the door opened, Akemi was buffeted by noise - she wasn’t alone in the place after all. After getting through the main entrance she entered a large hall. There was a raised stage in the center. Scattered across it were other young women, in frilly idol-style outfits, singing and dancing to some inaudible beat.

Behind them was a monster, thin purple lines of magic connecting it to the assorted “idols”, moving them around like puppets on strings. The thing itself didn’t seem to be a person, looking more like a life-sized (or larger, even) doll in an approximation of human shape, but it glowed with magical power.

Well, here was a nice, obvious threat, with a nice, obvious gimmick. Don’t touch the strings. Akemi grinned and cracked her knuckles. That was just what she needed right then. “Hey! You!”

The monster-doll turned to look at her, and the controlled young women did as well. It cracked a creepy smile, too wide for its face. “Welcome to the show! I always love to see new idols! Why don’t you join us?”

“Release these people, and submit to justice, and I might go easy on you!” Akemi shouted, taking a fighting posture and putting up her fists.

“You’ll be dancing to the tune soon enough~ I think you’d make a good tsundere type, maybe put in a bit of haughty...” The doll giggled.

“You can talk all you want - it won’t change your fate. Akemi Foster, Magical Girl and heroine of justice has declared you will fall!” Akemi shouted, revealing a little in the drama before leaping into the fray. The puppeted women were predictable, even if they were numerous, and easy to avoid - their dance/attacks were simple as a result of the way they were being controlled. But Akemi was focused on other targets anyway. Who cares about the puppets; deal with the puppetmaster, and you cut all their strings!

As she stepped onto the stage, she kept on smiling. She ducked and weaved through the crowd of attacking puppets, following their rhythm to keep away from their attacks. Even the one or two that had vidently been magical girls weren’t too tough to avoid, and soon, she made it to the living doll. It kept smiling even as she approached.

She must have cut a heroic figure, she thought - the spotlight putting a shine to her armor, making her efforts seem all the more cool and coordinated. She kinda loved that idea - and how it would probably look when she brought the doll down.

One magical punch to it’s grinning face was all it took, and it went down with a sharp crack, the porcelain breaking around her fist. As she’d expected, it wasn’t a person, but a magical construct; it wasn’t too uncommon for them to gain a mind of their own and go on a rampage, if the creator didn’t know what they were doing as was so often the case. And in this case, a particularly fragile magical construct.

The strings snapped, and Akemi felt the thrill of victory. It had been too easy! Way, way too easy…

The ‘idols’, the ones controlled by the monster, had begun to applaud her. The cheer was infectious, worming it’s way into her brain. She was so proud of what she’d just done, she hardly paid attention to the large, cloaked man walking up.

“Good show! Good show!” he said, clapping slowly in a way that sent pleasant shivers up Akemi’s spine, “Truly, the best audition I’ve seen yet! You really are as powerful as you look, aren’t you?”

“I… yeah. Yeah, I’m pretty great, aren’t I?” The magical girl said with a dazed, but haughty grin. She was great. Everyone present agreed. She could hear a faint music in the back of her head. A tune that begged to be given proper attention.

“Why don’t you show us how great you are, Akemi?” The man asked. “A bit of a song and dance. Show us you’re the greatest magical idol we’ve ever seen.”

Idol? She wasn’t an idol… but the song in her head was insistent, all consuming, blocking out all worries and negative thoughts. She was the best. Even if she wasn’t much of a singer or a dancer, she would do it.

The song gaining in volume in her head, the others spreading out to give her room, she found herself dancing. She found a song dragging itself from her lips, and she knew it sounded good.

As she began to dance, twirling across the stage, her clothes shifted and changed. Armor plates fading away, leaving lace designs across her dress wherever they used to be. Her gauntlets and greaves softened and turned to blue silk, gloves on her hands, leggings and heels on her legs and feet. Her skirt shortened, enough to tease at what it hid but not enough to actually show it when she twirled around and around. The soft blues darkened to a navy color, complemented by black as her clothes finished turning from practical combat attire into fancy idol dress.

As she found herself launching into a chorus, the other girls joined in - backup dancers, worthless on their own but propelling her even higher. Makeup applied itself on her face, thick eyeshadow and lipstick emphasizing her new self as she could almost feel her ego swell. And she liked it.

She wasn’t just the best magical girl, she decided as the song began to reach it’s climax - she was the best idol too! And, and- she would be the greatest villain! Better even than her nemesis Izanami! She finished her dance, taking a theatrical bow. “I hope you enjoyed my show, manager~”

“It was perfect! Just perfect!” the tall villain said, clapping.

Akemi grinned viciously. “Of course it was! Anything I do is done perfectly!” She turned to the backup-idols. “You all! Worship my perfection, and you may one day approach adequacy!” she snapped.

The identically dressed girls snapped a salute. “Of course mistress!” they said as one. Good, they understood their place!

Akemi looked back to the doors, smiling. “Look out Matsushita city! This idol’s beautiful song will have you all under her spell…”