"You were right, Asa..." Sora said, his voice tingled with sadness despite being amazed by Uta's performance.
No matter how astonishing Uta appeared, Sora, as someone with slightly more knowledge about human psychology than others, saw her as nothing more than a flame burning too intensely.
To him, Uta was akin to a mere dazzling firework, sending the best scenery that will forever mark its way to your memory before fading away.
---
Meanwhile, Usopp found himself immersed in his own body two years ahead in the future.
Unlike the present, he felt vigor flowing through his muscles even without asserting any strengths.
'Oh, Nami and Zoro are there!! Hiek, a skeleton!! is he going to join our crew?!' Usopp thoughts in disbelief.
'A weird raccoon, skeletons, and the coolest cyborg ever! It clicks right to me that this is the kind of crewmates Luffy would gather.' Usopp chuckled to himself.
'This journey is going to be much fun...'
Usopp's soul narrated to these thoughts as his movie's counterpart continued preparing for the barbecue.
Usopp didn't dwell too much on Asa and Uta's argument. Unlike his unpredictable captain who made you want to lend your hand the impression Asa gave to him was that of a stable person who could handle anything.
- A Lonely Singer's POV -
Unable to accept that Act was inside Luffy's body and powerless to change it, I argued with him.
'I still believe my thoughts right. I'm doing everyone good by eliminating their problems. Look, by the end of this concert, everyone will live here happily ever after!'
Overjoyed at the sight of myself speaking with Luffy in the future yet, dejected by the presence of a stranger whom I didn't like inside him, I was torn.
'Oh, you clearly haven't watched a movie before. Congratulations; spoiler alert, your plans will fail miserably,' I rebuked.
'What do you mean? Can't you see that everyone here is happy? They're willing to stay here in Elegia forever! Or are you blind?'
What even is a movie anyway? Why does he refute the fact that everyone here is content?
'You're the one who is blinded. Your loner aura is so strong that I can sense it from here. You're "assuming" everything. It may be fun for a delusional person like you, but honestly, it's nothing but a nuisance to the victim of your delusions.' Act responded.
He said I was selfish and that I wasn't trying to understand everyone.
That, I am a loner... That, I'm having fun... why?
Why why?
'Why are you so mean to me even the first time we met? Stop calling me delusional! Is it so bad to try my best on my own!?' It hurt more to hear those insults directly.
I couldn't understand why someone who called me 'friend' could be so cruel.
rstanding and supporting? Why does he deny my goal?
Isn't a friend something more unde
'That is because you're a fucking idiot, a stubborn woman who can't discern what's good and bad, what is possible and impossible.'
'And it's a friend's job to stop when his friend is doing something stupid beyond his tolerance.'
Did he read my mind? How? Why?... What is a friend?
An awkward silence fell between us.
'That's it. I'm done bickering with you. Since talking with you is pointless, I will show you through action. Throughout this experience, I will prove that I was right all along, that only my method, can save everyone. But, mark my words... no matter how much you apologize, I won't forgive you, I-I hate you!"
My voice trembled since it was my first time actively declaring my hatred since I was left alone here.
'Tch, I'd say the same to you, you unintelligent wonder. You may feel confident now seeing how happy your audience is, but that's because you haven't told them the crucial part yet.'
- Back to my POV -
I continued.
'Your method is dumb; it won't work... heck, even Luffy could think of something better than this. Throughout this experience, I'll prove that you were wrong all along. But mark my words, I hate you too! I am your first hater! Are you happy now?'
I mimicked the Lonely Singer's speech to further provoke her, knowing her childishness made her easy to rile up.
As expected, her soul sulked, refusing to talk to me anymore.
It was ironic how the Lonely Singer's movie counterpart was happily conversing with Luffy while I deemed "similar in character," with Luffy continuously infuriating the Lonely Singer.
'I hate you!'
'I hate you too.'
Our conflict quickly devolved into a mere childish spat as I matched her tone.
'Uh, uhm everyone... I think we shouldn't fight...!' another voice from within the Lonely Singer spoke up timidly.
Thank god. I was wondering how much longer I'd have to keep this up., I thought surprised that another soul similarly entered Lonely Singer's body.
And that the identity of the soul was the previous girl who tried to save me.
'We, we should calm down a-and find a way to escape from this place!!' The girl stuttered trying to meditate us.
She must have mustered up her courage just to say that. I speculated
Having targeted girls like her in my previous life, I understood her better than I did the A Lonely Girl without using Omniscience.
A weak girl like her had always been my favorite from the past to the present since they were the easiest to manipulate.
'Don't worry about it. The black box is my doing, you were just involved in this experience for trying to save me. You'll be released from this place soon. I am safe, but thank you for worrying,'
Hyper-aggravated from the conversation against the Lonely Singer, I was speaking more than usual, more active than before.
'So it was just my unnecessary worrying... thank God...' the girl sighed in relief.
I want her in my posse—no... I shook my head, unwilling to repeat my past mistake.
'So... The souls are automatically assigned to the person most similar to yourself. So do you do like, drugs or are you just incomprehensibly stupid like the other person with you?' I explained and asked the girl.
'No! I've never taken any drugs in my life and I have no intention of doing so!' the girl refuted.
'I'm not stupid!' said the Lonely Singer but the scene transitioned to the outside world where the Lonely Singer was consuming Wake-shrooms madly.
She slowly grew more and more unstable as insanity consumed her.
"Just wait a bit, everyone... The new world is soon..."