Luna goes to take a nap in her bed in The Gang’s House, though hoping she won’t miss the pep rally. The next thing she knows, Luna wakes up in her Moonlit Bungalow, a studio apartment somewhere. It's very reminiscent of an apartment she shared with Jane years ago. She's just relaxing on the couch watching TV and working on her usual archives. These memories aren't going to archive themselves! She's kind of confused as to how she got here, but assuming it's just a dream, she sits and relaxes. "Gosh, this place is weird. But I guess my dreams would bring me to Jane's old place." After some time, she them remember what Jackie Asshawk told her on Twitter. "Oh right, hope I don't miss the cab to that pep rally. What was it? Fartstep Picollos or something?"
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Luna's phone buzzes. When she checks it, a mysterious text has appeared on her phone from an unregistered number:
??? - "READY TO PARTY?!?"
Luna looks down at her phone and mutters, "geez isn't it like 8? I should be in bed by now." She then responds with "yeah."
??? - "Thought so! I was a bit worried after how you acted at work today. Glad you are going to the rally!"
Luna - "Work? I haven't worked anywhere in months."
??? - "Very funny! I saw you at work this morning, Patty!"
Luna - "Patty??? I think you got the wrong number dear. My name's Luna Selene Nightsh-- uh Grey."
??? - "Very funny. I have your number saved on my phone!"
[She texts the number and it matches.]
[Luna looks dismayed, but thinking this is still a dream, she shrugs it off.]
Luna - "Are you sure you didn't get my number by mistake? And who are you?"
Minty - "No, I did not. I called you on this number yesterday. This is Minty Greene from accounting... your BEST FRIEND!"
Luna - "I have never met you in my life Minty Greene. If this is a dream I would love to wake up."
[She texts sad emojis followed by tears.]
Minty - "Why are you doing this?"
Luna - "I'm sorry, but I really don't remember you. My memory is... unfortunately pretty shot. I blame my creators. I'm sure you're super sweet Minty, and I would like to meet you." [She adds various blue heart emojis and smiley faces]
Minty - "I don't understand... I guess I won't be going to your Birthday party tomorrow then!"
Luna - "No? My creation da-- ugh, birthday is on June 20th. Are you sure you got the right person? I'm a 4'6" purple haired catgirl cyborg. It's a long story."
Minty - "I just called Patty's phone and she picked up... I'm on the phone now. It's the same number... How does that work... Who is this? Are you some sort of hacker?"
Luna - "What. No, I'm an archivist!"
[A soft background noise can be heard. Is that a chorus of flutes?]
Luna - "Ah and that's the flutes thing. I'll talk to ya later Minty, Patty." [She puts her phone into her hoodie pocket.]
"Wait why aren't I waking up?" Luna is pinching herself hard. "owwww, wake up me."
The flutes begin to sound like they are playing Bring Me To Life by Evanescence.
"yooooo Hinata is missing out on Evanescence Flutestep! Where did she go?" Luna sighs. Her golden locket is around her neck, but Krystal seems to be silent as well. Same with Alais. "Huh. So this is what it's like to have mental clarity. First time for everything, gods it's lonely." Luna walks outside.
-----
Dozens of purple helicopters fly overhead, a plethora of flutes sound from speakers attached to their undersides. The volume level of the "toots" is so powerful that every window in the city rattles from the vibrational waves. Some even shatter as they get closer. Luna's ears are flattened against her skull as she grunts and groans in pain from the extremely loud flutes, "fuuuuuuuucking hell, why does a pep rally need to be this loud!? I knew I wanted mental clarity, but sometimes, needing to activate your own abilities is a pain." Luna is not having fun at the moment. She eventually finds some bright yellow buses with Neon Transportation written below Solcorp’s logo. "Neon Transportation? This feels incredibly dodgy. What the fuck is this?" Luna shudders from the visual clutter and the oddly corporate nature of this whole thing. She then walks towards one of the cabs hoping one lets her on.
Luna steps into one and stands in a corner. Her ears are still flattened and sparkly purple energy surrounds them to further muffle the volume to a comfortable level. A flash of light consumes her vision as the bus becomes incredibly crowded. Through the corner of her eyes, she spots Violet and another Naomi named Angie. Instead of moving to join them, however, Luna hides herself in the corner of the bus out of pure introversion and discomfort.
Inside the buses are tons of people dressed in business attire. Others are dressed more casually, but they seem a bit embarrassed by that. Luna begins to take note of them as they continue to file in until the bus reaches capacity. Everyone seems overly happy and overly colorful. If their business attire is bland then their hair is colorful, if their hair is bland then their clothes are vibrant and expressive. The fact that the bus is now getting more crowded is making her want to shrivel up and die. Her anxiety has reached its peak. It's all downhill from here. When the bus door closes, Luna takes deep breaths to calm herself and deny herself from hyperventilation, muttering “It can’t get worse this right? Right???”
The person closest to Luna blows a raspberry at her. She seems to be a teenager from the looks of it with short green hair and purple pompoms in it. She's wearing a traditional school uniform whose color matches her hair. She blows another trying to get Luna’s attention.
Luna shakes her head and turns to the teenager, "can I help you?" Her tone is friendly, but it's to mask the discomfort and anxiety she's filled with.
"I don't know... Can you?", she replies jokingly.
Luna rolls her eyes, her tone slowly becoming a bit more annoyed by this kid's insistence on proper grammar, "okay, you wanna be smart then. How may I help you?"
She scoots over, waving her arms outward, as if presenting the seat to Luna.
Luna shrugs. "Well thank you very much. What's your name?" She asks, her tone returning to its usual relaxed state before sitting down.
"Coriander. And yours?"
Luna smiles gently, "Name's Luna. Nice to meet you Coriander."
Coriander seems hyperactive, "So, are you a fan of MAGENTA-CITRINE too? I've never seen her live but... OH MY MARA! Her music rocks so hard!"
"I've never heard of her! I can't wait though." Luna seems to be a lot more relaxed, even purring a little bit.
Coriander begins swinging her legs energetically. "She's like the best! ALL of her songs live in my head rent free! So, what kind of music do you usually listen to then?" All of the buses begin pulling away, one after the other in a single-file line.
"Mostly anime stuff, some video game music. Sometimes rock?" Luna rattles off.
Any vehicle that was traveling before this occurrence has been pulled over by police. Their cars remain on the sides of the road unoccupied. Who would miss such an event as this?
Noticing the odd police presence, Luna asks, "Does the police usually do this, Coriander? I've never been here before."
"Do you like darker anime or like-are action animes more your thing? I'm a sucker for a good romance anime! You seem like an action sort of girl." Coriander is talking a mile a minute, seemingly without taking breaks for breathing. Then she shifts to the current subject without ceasing, "Um, not usually. Just when it's a like a huge event or a mandatory meeting or something. What parts you from?"
Luna doesn’t know how to answer that, so she just tells the truth, "Uhhhh it's complicated. I'm from another place called Capital City, but I currently live in Fairview with friends."
Coriander continues on her hyperactive rampage, "Fairview With Friends? Is that near Family Boulevard? I have friends who live on Family Boulevard-Hazel, Tyme, Ginger..."
Luna looks over at Violet with the face of 'help me'. Her poor introvertive soul. The bus suddenly lurches forward and speeds up dramatically. The world outside seems to grow fuzzy, like TV static but clear. The buses behind and in front seem to be keeping pace. One can feel the immense G forces pressing them into the seats.
"The hell is happening!?! I just wanted to listen to music, not go on a roller coaster!" Luna is white-knuckle gripped to anything sturdy she can reach. Coriander bursts out laughing. The fuzz gradually clears along with the g-force pressure. As things slow to normal speeds, the group can make out the area surrounding the bus again. They are nowhere near where they were before. All of the buses are now driving down lanes in a big city setting, circling a gigantic indoor stadium. The buses in front of them park on the sides of the street near the front, and a flood of people begin to spill from them and funnel through the doorways into the stadium.
"You good?" Coriander asks through her giggling, sounding out of breath. "You act like you've never taken a bus before."
Luna begins to hyperventilate and then goes through her usual grounding mantra, "I'm not dead, my mind is my own, and the mental collar is gone.I'm not dead, my mind is my own, and the mental collar is gone.I'm not dead, my mind is my own, and the mental collar is gone... uhm.. I'd say, yeah I'm good." Luna smiles towards Coriander, "and you're right. This is literally my first time."
Coriander tilts her head in confusion, "Oh-o..okay? Well, I'm glad you're good. Where is that place you said you were from again?"
The bus pulls up to the front doors and opens its door.
Luna simply responds, "Capital City. It's in the northern part of the USA.. I think. I'm not exactly sure."
"What’s the USA?" Coriander spots a friend outside and starts waving frantically. "Oh my Mara! There's Ginger! See you, Luna!" She rushes to the front of the line and literally jumps off the bus.
"See ya" Luna walks off of the bus and looks around in awe.
The city buildings are colorful and bright. Pastels paint the sidewalks and neon lights over the doors display the names of shops. The city would surely be bustling with people... If everyone wasn't busy trying to crowd into the stadium... Or should I say stadiums? A few other stadiums can be seen off in the distance. Spotlights shinging into the night sky above them.
Luna is utterly confused and overwhelmed, "what in the many hells below did I get myself into?" Then she starts looking for Violet and Angie, if only for her own sanity. They wave Luna down quickly as she groups up with them. She seems overloaded and anxious with her eyes shifting all around, her breathing irregular, and ears twitching, "Violet, I don’t like this place.."
Violet notices Luna's discomfort, “I bet with all the sounds and flashing lights. But that’s Naomi for you. Just… it’s best we stick together.”
Luna nods. "Sounds good to me." Her ears are still covered in purple sparkly energy, aka her Auditory Muffle magical ability.
"Hey, nice to meet you. I'm Angie." Angie offers her hand awkwardly not sure if this greeting is customary to Luna.
Luna gently takes it and shakes with a shaky smile. "Nice to meet you Angie. I'm Luna Nightshade."
"Oh-um... Angie Licorice Naomi" She tries to correct herself, assuming that full names were required.
Luna blinks a little bit, but figuring full names are customary with Naomis, she nods before releasing. "Got it, so are we heading in?"
"Y-yeah. Let's go." Angie says. Violet nods in agreement as they walk together.
The line is long but moves fast. The group are in the door within minutes. Inside, the first thing one notices is that the ceiling of the lobby is very tall. Elaborate crystal decorations of every color hang suspended from metal rods. Various food stands line the halls that lead around the sides of the building to the seating stands. Men and women dressed in purple suits are blocking the main entrance and are handing out tickets to the select seating areas.
"Daaaaaang talk about efficiency. That was so fast." Luna is impressed with this, and that's not even speaking on the decor. The crystalline decorations cause her eyes to glow blue a bit more intensely. "Gosh, Krystal would love this if she were here." Luna mutters.
Krystal - No I'm here Luna. It's just I don't know why you don't hear me.
The man laughs a bit at Luna's remark and hands the card back. He doesn’t say anything until after he hands the pizza boxes to the group. Even then all he says is a polite "Thanks."
Luna grins towards the worker, "glad I could make you laugh."
He smiles for a moment, but the smile fades as another customer walks up. Angie looks at her ticket again. "210-b..." She looks for the stairs and spots a golden-railed starcase winding around the side of the stadium wall, leading to the entrance. Music can be heard from inside already. Everyone follows Angie.
Upon entering the stadium, the group's senses are overwhelmed by the lasers, colorful lights, loud bass-empowered music and the intermingling smells of cotton candy and popcorn. Some of the seats are filled already but there are still plenty left available on several rows.
Violet looks to her ticket as she walks inside, looking around.
Luna is suffering! ✨
Angie tells the group, "I think this whole section is ours! Let's sit down somewhere so we can eat!"
Luna nods as her audio muffle increases in intensity and covers her whole head in purple sparkly energy. "Alright, sounds good."
Violet nods, “Sounds good to me too.”
The group find seats on the outside of a row and sit down. Angie notices that Luna is suffering and takes off her left ear. She splits it in half, peeling it like a fruit roll-up and offers them to Luna "Put these on over your ears. They will adjust the volume to a comfortable level! They stretch!"
"Wait what? Whoa, okay. Thank you Angie, but don't you need that?" Luna slips the ear over her cat ears as the energy dissipates. Suddenly, Luna seems very okay. The auditory chaos drops down to a more reasonable level.
"I have another." She points at her remaining ear.
Luna tilts her head but shrugs it off. It's starting to feel less and less like a dream to Luna. "So wait, this is real then?"
"I mean... I believe so?" Angie responds. "Violet and I are real, at least... Right, Violet?" She asks awkwardly, taking a bite of pizza.
"Right...Last I checked" Violet says.
Luna then explains, "It's just I woke up in a recreation of my old house in Capital City, hence my confusion."
Angie pokes Violet's forehead jokingly. "That's weird... Hey, umm... Do you... remember... Umm... The universe resetting or anything?"
"Resetting?" Luna tilts her head from side to side, "I remember being in a place with red skies, passing out, then waking up in blue skies? Does that count?"
"Violet... She's from the last universe too! Was she outside when the big bang went off as well?"
Luna shrugs. "I have no idea. I just remember waking up next to Hinata in the front yard of a forest cabin that I apparently co-own. I didn't hear from Violet for a couple weeks."
"I am unsure. I'm just glad we did not get stuck outside the safe." says Violet.
"Yeah, me too... I was honestly uncertain that we would survive. It seemed like we weren't going to. I..." Angie’s voice trails off.
"I'm just glad we're all safe. I can't believe even you guys were affected by that. Then again, Lavender Tower 4 was there too so..." Luna sighs. Violet side hugs Angie.
The booming voice of the male announcer interrupts their chat. He is centered on stage at the center of the stadium. His face is projected on a massive screen behind him. He is dressed in a purple suit with pink sequins. His bowl-cut hair matches his suit.
"Oop." Luna watches the screen intently while taking some mental notes.
"Welcome humans, Naomi and esteemed members of the board! Welcome to the first ever annual Neon Accord pep rally! I know you are all waiting for tonight's special guest..
He pauses for the expected roar of cheers and screams. And boy... do they deliver. The roar of the crowd is enough to knock someone over if they weren't expecting it. Luckily, for Luna and Angie, her ears adapt. Violet covers her ears, looking around just in case.
"But before then, we will have an announcement from everyone's favorite mother, Ashen!”
Angie seems shocked by that, “Wait.. MOM??”
"Wait- What?!" Violet seems very confused by what the announcer said.
Luna, on the other hand, seems excited. "Yooo it's the person that gave me my broomstick for Christmas last year!"
The announcer rushes off stage as a hole opens up at the center. A gigantic neon purple spire arises from underneath along with a plume of smoke. The sides of this spire are transparent and smooth, like a tube, revealing someone suspended within.
Violet looks on in discomfort, "Shit..." Angie looks on with wide eyes. Luna’s eyes cannot believe what they’re seeing, “What the fuck is happening?”
All of the spotlights focus on this person within, and the tubular front slowly slides open. A woman around four feet in hight, wearing a solid white dress, with short, trimmed black hair, is suspended by wires inside. Her eyes are closed. The wires slowly lower her down to the stage. Her eyes remain closed. The wires disconnect and she takes a step forward. Her eyes slowly open, revealing glowing, solid purple orbs where her eyes should have been. Angie covers her mouth.
Despite her hearing not hurting for once, Luna seems incredibly uncomfortable seeing this sight. She didn't really know Ashen outside of Twitter, but this feels wrong. Luna notices Angie and Violet are distressed about something, but out of respect for the two, she does not speak up.
Ashen speaks with two, booming female voices. One young and chipper, the other cold and calculated, like older AI voices. "Welcome home, beloved Naomi! It has been too long since we last spoke. How I've missed all of my wonderful children! Let us begin tonight by singing the anthem of unity."
A cheery song begins to play in the background. Everyone in the stadium lifts their arms to the sky and looks up... Everyone but the group. The people sing along, seeming to know the words by heart.
The song finishes, followed by a moment of silence.
Luna mouths the words "the fuck" silently.
Angie just shakes her head.
Ashen continues, "It is such a blessing and an honor to be with you all here tonight. Let us take a moment to cherish that glorious gift of world unity and an era of ecological repair!"
The crowd roars and cheers "Naomi!" over and over.
"An end to poverty... an end to prejudice... Removing all that ailed us from the world, leaving behind only the truest and best versions of ourselves... of everything! The future is here at last and it is ours!" Ashen smiles and seems to look directly at the group. Overhearing Ashen was Angie’s mom and that she’s now corrupted, Luna shivers from fear. Ashen seems to hold the stare for a few moments before the crowd cheers again.
Luna takes some deep breaths.
Ashen immediately looks away after Violet stepped in front. "As we move into the final stages of unification, we must remember to remain strong. There will be costs to this, as with everything in life."
Luna cringes, "Unification? Costs?? I don't like how they said that."
Ashen - "Life is a balance of giving and taking. Expect some food cuts next month. Nothing significant, but cuts nonetheless. This should last no longer than four weeks. After which, your portions will be restored. This sacrifice must be made to keep the natural resource usage from exceeding the threshold set by our predecessor's prior mistakes." The room grows silent. "There will also be a limit to how much electricity can be used each day. Again, expect these cuts for no more than four weeks... After this period has passed, everyone will be rewarded with a new vehicle, free of charge from the World Neon Accord of each region!"
Luna is stunned into silence.
The screen behind Ashen switches from showing her face to showing the faces of people from various ethnicities and backgrounds, in what seemed to be this audience. It keeps switching though, now depicting different versions of Ashen from each of the various ethnicities and backgrounds. They say the same thing in other languages and then it changes to footage of the other audiences cheering. The people in this stadium cheer as well, adding to the all-consuming roar. The crowd begins to chant "NA-O-MI!" in unison. Ashen continues speaking over the chant. "Yes, I am speaking to all of you... All of my children all at once tonight... Painting a brilliant depiction of true unity. All of the world united under Naomi's wings. All of the world at peace. All of the world as a single entity. A people... A family. We got this! I love you all. Now, I shall go and prepare the next step towards our future. There ain't no rest for the wicked, as they say!"
She spoke that last bit with a southern twang, but it didn't land well. The whole stadium starts laughing and Ashen does as well. She blows a kiss and skips off stage to a cacophony of cheers and whistles.
The announcer takes the stage once more. "And now... ladies, gentlemen and all Naomi! Let us welcome to the stage... MAGENTA-CITRINE!" The crowd goes completely fucking bonkers as the lights dim and electric guitars begin playing in the background.
Colorful lights flash on, as flames roar from all sides of the stage, revealing a woman with long, teased blonde hair. She is wearing sparkly pink shades with jagged rims. Her slender frame is poured into a sparkly purple bodysuit, to match her shades, with a pink lightning bolt running down the left side. Her feet dawn shiny purple boots and her hands are covered by white-sequined gloves. Diamond, crescent moon-shaped bracelets adorne her wrists and ankles. She begings to sing with a powerful and booming (and slightly deep) voice, holding a note for over ten seconds before rushing into a fast-paced first verse. The song is an electronic (yet classy) thrasher.
The whole stadium practically breaks out into a dance.
The following song is a ballad of sorts, accompanied by an entire orchestra and live choir for the chorus. Luna is amazed by the concert, moving her head side to side in time with the music. Every song seems to be another genre entirely but done with expertise and precision, and with an unmistakable flavor and lyrical choice that tied the whole set together neatly. The whole stadium breaks out into dance at the catchy and hypnotic melodies of each song, stopping only to sway along to the slower and more melodic tracks, waving their phones with the flashlight on to make the audience look like shifting stars.
Luna hears Angie speak to her, but she’s lost in the music and does not respond.
The concert goes on for almost two hours. At the end of her performance, MagentaCitrine gives an emotional speech about how much her fans meant to her and blew a kiss, similarly to how Ashen had done. She too skipped off stage afterwards.
Luna has a soft smile on her face as she zones back in. "that was incredibly cool. I might be a fan of magenta citrine now. You can learn a lot about people through the music."
Angie seems to be more worried about her mother. She starts involuntarily crying as Violet hugs her softly. Luna tries to console her, but Angie apologizes profusely, "Sorry. I didn't mean to ruin your night. This is something from the last universe. I had just hoped, I prayed... That the Reset would have fixed her." Luna smiles to her though, trying to be a light in the darkness, "Angie, you didn't ruin my night. My biggest goal is to help out all across the infinite multiverse. And as far as I'm concerned, that wasn't Ashen out there. I want to help y'all."
Angie, still holding Violet, reaches for Luna's hand. Luna takes her hand gently. "We'll get through this together, I promise. And I don't break those. Ever."
Angie squeezes tight. Luna does as well. Angie notices Luna's hand is rather warm. Not burning warm, but a soothing warmth. "Let’s head back home, Violet. I'm exhausted after all that."
"Sounds good to me. I could really use a nap after this." Luna agrees and gets up from her seat.
Violet adds, "Same. Shall we?"
They head back to the bus, where a familiar face awaits Luna, seated exactly where she was before. She blows a raspberry, kicking her legs excitedly. "Oh hey Coriander!" Luna waves with a smile, "Did you like MAGENTA-CITRINE's show? It was really cool!" Coriander bounces in her seat as she speaks, "OH MY MARA, DID I?!? She was so much better live! Like, how is that even POSSIBLE?!? I bet you're a fan now too, huh?"
Luna nods, "I think so."
"Yay!" She hugs Luna. "I have to show you all of her albums now! The older ones were the best, but her new ones are good too... Let me pull up her greatest hits on my phone..."
Luna hugs back gently. Inside of her mind, she cannot help but think about the hell she just got herself into, but seeing Coriander’s passion for MAGENTA-CITRINE catches her interest. You can learn a lot about a culture or a world just by their music.
Some time later, Luna notices they’re at their stop. "Oop, I believe this is our stop. It was really awesome to meet you Coriander, hope you have a great night!" Luna picks herself up and taps Violet on the shoulder. "Let's go." Coriander waves, then gets on her phone and forgets that the world exists.
A sudden flash of light overtakes Luna’s vision as she vanishes and appears closer to her Moonlit Bungalow. "Huh. That was different, guess I'm in a different place than Violet and Angie." She walks back inside to take a shower and a nap, then falls asleep. Her body disappears and returns to Fairview.