“But Star Prism persisted, believing that she could defeat the evil organization one day if she continued fulfilling her duties as a hero to sustain herself. She managed to destroy most of the organization while she still had some of her hero gauge remaining, but before she was able to defeat the head of the evil organization, he summoned a huge kaiju from space to annihilate Earth. He said that if he couldn’t have it, no one could.”
“What a jerk.”
So the kaiju that Zeta scouted and Rachelle had finished off was summoned by Kiri’s evil organization, huh? That meant...
“Since Kiri didn’t defeat the kaiju, she still hasn’t been able to refill her hero gauge?”
“I’m afraid not...”
“Oh, no...”
Damn it! It was starting to feel like all of this was turning out to be my fault. I was the one who threw out space gramps’s back so he couldn’t play Galactic Great, I got Rachelle to take out the kaiju without hearing Kiri and Starmon’s side of the story first, and I hadn’t even been able to stop Rachelle’s ensuing rampage.
“Argh! I’ve been so useless this time, getting dragged all over the place!”
I was so worked up that I kicked the wall of the cave out of frustration.
“Hngh...”
The noise seemed to disturb Kiri. She groaned as she placed a trembling hand on the wall to support herself and sit up.
“Don’t push yourself, Kiri.”
“But... it must be terrible out there right now.”
It was true that the sounds of destruction in the distance were gradually growing louder. Things had probably gotten pretty ugly. The girls, all brainwashed by Rachelle, were attacking each other as they searched for me.
“At this rate, the town might get caught in the crossfire... They have to be stopped.”
“No, there’s no way...”
There was no way everyone would go that far... is what I wanted to say. But I only knew the girls, not what Rachelle’s brainwashing might make them do after she’d gone off the deep end with love energy. And without knowing that, I couldn’t say for certain how this was going to pan out.
“Star Prism, don’t force yourself!”
“Starmon... I have to. You know me, right?”
“I do! That’s why I’m stopping you! There’s barely anything left in your hero gauge! And if you exhaust it completely... you’ll die!”
“What?!”
No way... She was gonna die?
“What are you saying?! Didn’t you say the hero gauge was just a measure of her heroism?!”
“But like I said, that is the essence of a hero... If a hero isn’t defeating evil, then they have no worth as a hero.”
“What are you saying?! She’s been fighting an evil organization for an entire year, right? Her hero gauge has only been depleted because her enemies are using underhanded tricks!”
“Yes, but... The rules are the rules. That’s just how the contract works.”
“Contract?! Starmon, you’re the one who got Kiri into this, aren’t you?!”
I flew into a rage and tried to grab Starmon.
“Stop! This isn’t Starmon’s fault...” Kiri got up and gently lowered my raised arms.
“But this is just too unfair!”
“I don’t care about that!” Kiri flatly dismissed my indignation on her behalf. “I was the one who wanted to become Star Prism! Starmon isn’t to blame. If anyone is, it’s the head of the evil organization!”
“That may be true, but...”
“I don’t care what happens to me! Whatever it is, not stepping up to protect everyone would be far worse!”
The Namidare bloodline forced me into the role of main character in all kinds of stories, but Kiri was the real main character this time around. She was a genuine hero. And today was the least heroic I’d ever been... I needed to make a comeback. And fast.
“I’m going,” said Kiri bravely.
“Wait,” I said, stopping her from going. “Just give me one minute. I’ll figure something out in that time.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ll find a solution for everything.”
I used that minute to organize the threads of the various stories in my head.
Kiri’s story. Star Prism’s special ability. Her power to purify evil.
Zeta’s story. Her show. The story she was trying to tell. The state of her company.
Rachelle’s story. Her rampage. Her maniacal control over everyone right now.
Gathering the pieces, I went through all the possible connections trying to see what would fit where.
“Hey, Starmon. Star Prism can convert people’s support into power, right? Will that still work even when she’s been weakened by a depleted hero gauge?”
“Huh? Y-Yeah. I said she converts support into power, but it’s more like a temporary boost to her hero gauge—the source of her power. Once that support runs out, her gauge will drain accordingly. But in the meantime, it works just as well as the real thing.”
“Okay. Now, if she defeats that insane fallen angel, that should be sufficient to boost her hero gauge, right?”
“Yes, I believe so.”
“In this particular case, ‘defeating’ her is really just bringing her to her senses. Would that still count?”
“Yes. Like I said, Star Prism’s special ability is the power to purify the evil within one’s heart. Turning evil to goodness is just as heroic as vanquishing it.”
“All right.”
So if Kiri could stop Rachelle’s rampage, then I could solve two stories with one solution. The issue would be getting the support to power her up. With the kind of power she’d need, we’d need a lot of people cheering for her... But once we had that, Star Prism would be back to normal. No, if we did this right, she’d be way stronger.
“By the way, the back of your neck has been blinking for a while now,” said Starmon.
“Huh?”
“What is this? Some kind of switch?”
He jumped onto my shoulder and pressed the flashing button.
“Wah!”
As Starmon yelped in surprise, Galactic Great’s helmet extended from the suit and covered my head.
“Yo! Can you hear me, brat?!”
As soon as I had the helmet on, my eardrums were rattled by a deafening shout from the internal transmitter.
“Is that you, Zeta?”
“So you’re still breathing after all! Respond to me faster if you’re alive, damn it!”
Had she been trying to connect to me ever since her crash landing before? I must have worried her. I apologized earnestly.
“Jeez... What are you doing now? I haven’t seen any more plasma beams, but the tremors and the ruckus haven’t stopped. What happened to the kaiju?”
“Yeah, about that...”
I was kind of at a loss as to where to start explaining, but Zeta didn’t wait for an answer.
“Well, the program’s already doomed, so there’s no point in worrying about the kaiju anymore. Once I get back, I’ll have to handle the channel termination and bankruptcy forms...” She spoke with a certain amount of calm resolve, but then let out an especially emotional sigh. “Hahh... And there was so much more I wanted to make...”
That quiet mutter finally revealed the true heart of the matter. The real bad ending for Zeta wasn’t her company going under, it was her career as a creative professional being cut short.
The Galactic Federation Netvision Network her channel was a part of made it extremely difficult to rejoin with them once a contract had been terminated for bankruptcy or violations. They wouldn’t even humor a reapplication unless there were extenuating circumstances. The netvision network was an amazing system that allowed a single person to run an entire channel themselves, but the rules had to be all the more strict because of that.
“...”
Just then, something clicked in the back of my brain.
“Wait a minute, Zeta!”
�
�Hah?”
“Your company... No, your channel is totally yours, right?”
“What about it?”
“That means you can play whatever you want whenever you want, right?!”
“Well... I suppose so, yeah.” Zeta replied to my over-excited barrage of questions in a somewhat confused voice.
“Then, Zeta, I have a proposal for you.”
“What?”
I explained to her the plan I’d just come up with.
“Okay, I’ll bite. This new project of yours does sound interesting. Implementing it would be perfectly feasible. Thankfully, none of the filming equipment was damaged.”
“Really?! Then...”
“But you know what this means, right? You’ll have one shot. And I mean that. Just one take,” Zeta said with a hint of worry in her voice.
I grinned in response.
“It’ll work out somehow. You said it yourself, Zeta. You’ve done everything you can.”
“Heh, that’s right.”
With something of a chuckle—I couldn’t tell if it was genuine or embittered—Zeta agreed to my plan.
“What about you guys, Kiri, Starmon? Do you think you can manage it?”
“Yeah!”
She was still a little wobbly on her feet, but Kiri pumped her fist into the air to show her enthusiasm. I needed to take a page out of her book here and give this my all.
“All right! Let’s go put on the biggest show the galaxy has ever seen!”
Chapter 6: Legend of a Real-Time Hero
“Now...”
I took a deep breath to calm my racing heart.
“Are you nervous?” asked R.
“Well, yeah. I’ll never get used to this.”
The climax of the story... The proverbial fork in the road where things either take a turn for the good or the bad ending. There was just no getting used to it.
“No, no. That’s not what I meant.”
“No?”
“Starting with getting dragged to the theme park earlier, you’ve been completely powerless against the heroines fighting over you, Rekka. You’ve just uselessly been jerked around from one thing to another all day.”
“You sure know how to hit where it hurts...”
It was true I’d been led around by the nose the whole day. It was fair to say I was useless.
“But I’m finally seeing what I need to do, and I have a plan to resolve all these stories. Now I just need to do what has to be done.”
“Yes... Well, that may be correct.”
There seemed to be something else on R’s mind. But whatever it was, she didn’t say it. I didn’t bother to reply, and instead focused on what lay ahead of me.
“Zeta, how are things coming along on your end?” I asked.
“We’re good to go here,” Zeta replied from the other end of the transmitter.
“All right. Well, then, here we go... Make sure you don’t record what I say at the beginning, okay?”
“I know that. I wouldn’t include that tripe even if you asked me to. Galactic Great’s image would be ruined. I’ll let you know when the cameras are rolling, so make sure you’re in character from that point onward.”
“Gotcha.”
I ended the transmission for now, braced myself, and jumped out from between the trees. Zeta sent navigational information to the suit to guide me through the forest around to a cliff that overlooked where the heroines were currently fighting.
“Whoa...”
Everything along the coast had been destroyed for as far as the eye could see. The ground was caved in here and there, the trees had either been mowed or burned down... It was all a testament to how fiercely the girls were fighting.
The only one who had retired from the battle was Tsumiki, who had no special abilities and had long been knocked out. Lea was carrying her unconscious body in her arms to protect her. She wasn’t in Leviathan mode, and when I got a good look at her, I realized Corona wasn’t using her true powers, either. So despite being under Rachelle’s influence, they were all still friends. They were holding back, mostly using their powers to obstruct the other heroines in their search for me. However...
“You never know when they’ll lose all control,” R warned.
Hopefully we could stop things before then. I really hated to see them fighting like this. For the record, Rachelle—the cause of this mess—was hovering in the air overhead, encouraging the chaos.
“Ahahaha! Yes, everyone! More! More amour! More burning passion! That’s right! Ignite the fires of your love!”
Seriously, the only thing that wasn’t already on fire was the mountain. Any more and we’d have a full-blown wildfire on our hands. Gotta remember to extinguish all of this once we’re done...
But that wasn’t the biggest problem on our hands at the moment. I realized that, as Rachelle was yelling, more and more love energy from her crazy aura was raining down on the girls. And the more of it they absorbed, the worse their fight grew. There was no way we were gonna stop the fire without stopping their battle. And there was no way we were gonna stop their battle without stopping that dumb angel.
“Ah, Rekka!”
Suddenly, Iris noticed me from below the cliff. She called out to me, which alerted the others to my presence. They all looked up at me. Okay, it’s now or never! I cast aside all my shame and yelled in the loudest voice I could muster...
“IRIIIS!”
“Hi, Rekka! What is it?” Iris paused her fight and turned to wave at me cheerfully.
The expression on the other girls’ faces doubled in severity. It’d probably only get worse from here, but there was no turning back now! I had to say it! I pulled myself together and steeled my resolve. Then I shouted at the top of my lungs...
“PLEASE TAKE OFF YOUR CLOTHES!”
No, I didn’t mean it in a weird way! It was purely for the sake of the plan! It wasn’t anything dirty, I swear! But there was no way the others would believe that...
“Oh, my! How bold of you, Rekka!” cooed Iris.
“WHAAAAAAAAT?!” the other girls all screamed, looking like they were out for blood.
Yeah, I was prepared to be treated like a pervert... But I had to stick to the plan! As I was groaning to myself, the transmitter inside of my helmet crackled.
“Hey, the way you worded that just now made it sound like you wanted her to strip naked.”
“Huh?”
Prompted by Zeta’s words, I looked down. And yup... Iris was already in the middle of trying to take off all her clothes.
“Wait, wait, wait, Iris! The suit! I just wanted you to take of your suit!”
“Aww, you don’t need to hold back. I might be a little embarrassed, but if it’s what you want...”
“No, that’s not what I wanted!” I corrected myself in a great panic.
Luckily I was able to convince her to take off just the suit, but...
“REKKA!”
“NAMMY!”
“REKKA!”
Satsuki and the others were beyond livid. Ugh... I was worried that asking Iris to take off her suit would aggravate them as it was, but my poor wording had only managed to make it worse.
“Rekka! Wh-Wh-What are you asking Iris to strip for?!”
Satsuki was the first to come flying. She used her magic to send herself rocketing up to the cliff where I was standing. She swooped in, grabbed my collar, and shook me furiously.
“I-It was a misunderstanding! Um, wow, Satsuki, you’re pretty strong—ow, I said it was a misunderstanding!”
“REKKAAAAA!”
“Huh? Bwuh!”
While I was in the middle of trying to explain myself to Satsuki, Rosalind suddenly came charging in from the side at superhuman speed and kicked me right out of Satsuki’s grasp.
“OUCH! If it weren’t for the suit, you would’ve snapped me in half just now!”
“Silence, you rip!” Rosalind looked crazed with rage, her scarlet red eyes glinting menacingly. “Y-You’d prefer tha
t little girl’s naked body over mine?! And out in the open like this?! You despicable lecher!”
“Like I said, this is all a misunderstanding!”
Damn it, Rachelle’s brainwashing was making everyone so much more aggressive than usual... Er, wait. This was kind of normal, wasn’t it?
“It matters not! I shall put an end to this at once! I didn’t want to use it, but you’ve left me with no choice but to entrap you with my charm!”
Uh-oh, that was bad news. If I lost myself to mind control now, everything would be ruined.
“That weird helmet won’t save you from my powers!”
I held up an arm to shield my eyes when a ball came flying up from below and struck Rosalind directly in the face, exploding upon impact. A paint-like substance burst out, covering her eyes.
“Wh-What is this?! I can’t get it off!”
What the heck was that? It was like a paintball of glue... The next thing I knew, a whip lashed up from the precipice, wrapped around Rosalind’s ankle, and dragged her over the edge.
“Waaaaaaaah!”
“Whew, good grief. No good would have come of her charming you here.”
As I suspected, Shirley took Rosalind’s place atop of the cliff. It seemed she’d scaled it with the assistance of the floating device she’d used in the theme park earlier. Moreover, she had a medical gun in her hands.
“Sh-Shirley?”
“Don’t worry. It’s just a tranquilizer.”
“Yeah, that’s exactly the part that worries me...”
What was she going to do after she sedated me?
“Good night.”
Shirley flashed a smile before pulling the trigger...
“Hold it right there!”
But a sudden furious gust of wind blew the tranquilizer dart off course so it missed me entirely.
“Oh, Lyun. Did you get out of the electromagnetic net already?”
“No thanks to you! Stop using sneaky tactics like surprise attacks!”
In contrast to Shirley’s mild surprise, Lyun was positively fuming. The wind around her was whipping as she shouted.
I Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse: Volume 10 Page 10