Quoted By:
>Star, Showtime with the Freedom Rangers. Audience is to be limited to 15 employees; no medical staff nor whoever fixed P's hypnosis. High mental protection employees should be kept nearby.
Hoo boy. Time to let this happen again. You tap your microphone to make the announcement. A handful of employees who fit the bill of "not mentally unsound" (B, C, R, U, Z) rush to be the audience, with O, K, Null, and D-C45P standing by in case everything goes FUBAR.
The food critic watches on with glee. Her smile widens to show all one hundred of her shiny pearl white teeth. "Entertainment before my meal? Fascinating."
The Rangers help carry Star up onto the stage. She looks out of it. The stars making up her face are remarkably dull.
<span class="mu-b">Smoke starts filling the area before Star rigidly stands up.</span>
<span class="mu-i">PUPPET ON A STRING, RING FOR THEE. PERFORM!</span>
ANOMALY:<span class="mu-s">WELCOME, AUDIENCE! IT IS TIME TO SHOW YOU WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A STAR OF THE CITY!</span>
RR: Blue, Green, Violet, the rest? Activate mental blockers.
The other rangers nod. They get into position as their eyes are tinted red and yellow.
RB: TODAY! WATCH AS WE PERFORM THE GREATEST SHOW IN OUR TWO YEAR RUN!
Rg: Prepare.
ANOMALY: <span class="mu-s">WATCH ME, MAMA!</span>
A discordant tune blares throughout the facility as four extra arms sprout out the back and sides of Star.
Your camera automatically censors what the arms are doing but a bright, alluring light surrounds the anomaly.
The audience starts to squirm as they watch, both in <span class="mu-r">pain</span> and <span class="mu-g">ecstasy</span>
<span class="mu-i">A PERFORMANCE ISN'T A MASTERPIECE UNLESS IT INSPIRES LOVE AND PAIN. IN BOTH AUDIENCE AND PERFORMER.</span>
The rangers are working as well but <span class="mu-b">the anomaly is clearly the one taking up most of the spotlight.</span>
The magician shudders. You swear you see something hooking onto her back. As the hook moves, so does his arm.
ANOMALY: <span class="mu-s">ISN'T IT LOVELY? AREN'T WE HAVING A GREAT, GREAT TIME- OUCH! ST-STOP PULLING! I'M DOING IT!</span>
You can already see the <span class="mu-r">anomalies squirming in their cells as the music keeps blaring.</span>
Most of your audience has already fell into a half-trance. Your mentally resistant employees move in just in case.
Something else hooks onto Star's leg. Despite how painful it looks, she doesn't stop.
The rangers are desperately trying to keep up, hoping their performance will weaken the negative effects.
<span class="mu-i">Showtime, baby. You gotta do what you gotta do, don't you know?</span>
<span class="mu-i">...yes. Th-the show must go on.</span>
The audience is completely out of it now. They're barely even awake at this point.
RB: One more minute, you can hold it on. Ready?
RI: Mmh.
Once the one minute specified passes, Star suddenly collapses to the floor in a heap.
<span class="mu-b">Fragments of stars fills the air around her, leaking from two holes on her body.</span>
ANOMALY: A lovely...performance...
The food critic claps, utterly unfazed by any mental effects. Your mentally resistant employees escorts the anomaly back.
