The crappy chupacabra show [Side Story 7 End]

Heads turned as Mimoko entered the theater clad in her Bella Badbitch outfit. "Well? More stylish than the shorts and sports bra, yes?" she smirked.

"Uh? The hell's with the overdressing? We're just getting shave for the role," the bald girl snarled.

"Says the one that's already bald. Himari Ozuka, was it? Why are you even here? If memory serves me, you put forth a horrible audition," Lydia scoffed.

"I DON'T want to be here, but fucking Squidbeak-"

"MAKEUP! Turn her into a fucking Chupacabra!" Squidbeak barked.

Himari was quickly whisked away to a chair where she was tied down and caped before FX makeup was applied to her.

"Alright, now we cape n' shave you all, lifecast ya, then get the makeup on for the show tonight!" Squidbeak barked.

"TONIGHT!? But we've barely practiced or rehearsed!" Mimoko cried.

"Uh, that's the challenge. Think the director said your role is just having latex slapped over your mouth," Stephanie shrugged.

"Alma-chan?"

"She speaks true. Tis a challenge to greats like us! Fear not, I'll carry this show for us all," Alma proudly declared.

"No, I will," Lydia glared.

Within minutes, everyone was shaved bald and coated in alginate. Once the headcasts were done, everyone was allowed to move around again before being called back to the makeup chair a few hours later for the Chupacabra makeup. Once the makeup was applied, everyone quickly realized the latex prevented them from either speaking properly, or speak entirely. And worse, an audience had appeared.

"Showtime in 5, so get out there and don't flub your lines!" Squidbeak hollered.

From the audience, Daria along with Mimoko's friends watched anxiously as the curtain rose. "She never told me it would be today, but the alert we all got said it was the case. I still haven't heard from Penny or Sandra. Are they out of the country?" Daria thought as Mimoko and Alma walked out, both decked in Chupacabra makeup.

"Ngh mmph ngh," Mimoko groaned.

"Haa? Wha agh ayingh ngh mmph?" Alma responded.

"Mmph I ngh, NGH!" Lydia fumed as she stormed out onto the stage.

"Ngh, mmph?" Stephanie shrugged as she joined her.

Finally, there was Himari, who just walked out with moaning a word and flipped everybody off. The curtain quickly closed as an applause track was played.

"Uh, what the fuck was that? I had a date going with Oki-kun, and it sure as hell wasn't worth it to cut it short for this," Iori cringed.

"I thought you enjoyed this kind of humiliation," Yuusuke snarled.

"You forgetting we had to pay 10,000 yen each to get in!? Shit's a scam!"

Upon hearing those words, Daria instantly rose and began running towards the lobby. There, leaning up against a post with a devilish smile on her face was Oma.

"Dari! I heard my favorite niece was starring in a show. I miss anything?" Oma smirked.

"Yes, the whole thing. It was a disaster. Your most vile scam yet."

"Ah, so you think I orchestrated all this. Guess paranoia's got ya, cuz you're right. No one else but me could pull off something this complex. So Dari, figure everything out? Start to finish, or was it just some girl saying "scam" that made you think this was all one of my projects?"

Daria scowled and curled her lip.

"See! You always were the dumbest of the lot. Well no hints," Oma grinned as lightning flashed, temporarily cutting the power.

When the lights flickered back on a few seconds later, Oma was gone.

"Inoue-san, was something the matter?" Okisato asked as he exited from the doors to the stage.

"No, the menace has fled... And I still have no idea what she has planned."

...

Mimoko glared as she walked out of the theatre with her friends surrounding her.

"Mimoko-nee, how should I put it, the show was bad," Noa nervously smiled.

"As if. Mimoko-sama's presence makes it better than that Citizen Cane flick some of my family's aristocratic house guests would talk about," Utami scoffed.

"Maiden, do not demean one of humanity's greatest cinematic masterpieces simply to glorify your idle. This was a blemish to the world of theatre. Poetic my head is shaved as I would have shaved it in repentance immediately after had I still had hair," Alma glared.

"If you want to regrow your hair-"

"Nay, for this failure, I want to keep my head shaved for no less than a week. Then I shall grant you the authority to restore my hair. Farewell. We'll meet in a week, maybe sooner," Alma waved.

"Ah, your girlfriend's mad you flubbed the show," Xiu taunted.

"If we're going to blame anyone, it should be Squidbeak-san. She made unreasonable demand after demand, and didn't tell us a think about this," Mimoko glared.

"And it might have all just been one of Oma's scams," Daria sighed.

"Oma? Okaa-chan, you mean-"

"I saw her gloating in the lobby. I guess this could be considered her formal greeting to you. What I don't get is why? Why go through all the trouble just for this? But I guess I've never been one to understand that madwoman."

...

As rain began to pour down, Mimoko Tanabe smiled and hummed as she sat on a bench and held her umbrella while peeling off the beauty cream from her head and face with her free hand. "The day they turned me into a fucking Chupacabra. Embarrassing at the time, but a lovely memory to me now. Time really can be so cruel. Ah, aunt Oma, I wish I had thanked you for organizing that play for me," she thought.

...

In an alleyway, Squidbeak angrily grabbed her "hair" and threw it to the ground, revealing a bald squid-shaped head.

"Didn't the government tell you not to let the humans learn of the aliens among us?" a voice cackled.

"I'm fucking human! My head's always been deformed like this since I was born! Now where are my shrooms!?" Squidbeak fumed.

A woman shrouded in a black cloak with her face hidden behind a pitch black veil slowly hovered over, extending her hand and a bag of magic mushrooms to Squidbeak. "Do dig in. They are best when wet and fresh."

Squidbeak scoffed, yet did exactly as she was told. Later, her corpse was found lurched into a nearby fountain with the bag of mushrooms still in hand. Her death was ruled as an overdose from the drugs, however, some were baffled as to how there was not a single eyewitness report of her approaching the fountain, nor security footage despite there being a nearby security camera. All the footage showed was an empty fountain one frame, then Squidbeak's corpse the next.

The news eventually reached the ears of Mimoko and co. Though Daria dismissed the incident as nothing more than fallout from one of Oma's petty money-making schemes, she couldn't have been further off from how big a conspiracy this small incident was truly a part of.

[Side Story 7 End]