"Yes, it's me." Imai said with a smile.
"What are you doing here?" Brulee asked with a shaky tone.
"I heard that there was a world famous singer coming here, so here I am at this concert. It'd be a shame if our precious singer got hurt." Imai replied.
"Tsk…" Brulee thought about retreating, but what would Big Mom say to her? "That's too bad, we'll have to take her! We're pirates after all!"
"Then stop being pirates." Uta said.
Imai glanced at Uta, surprised at the words Uta said. She chuckled slightly, it was one way to stop all the crimes in the world. But it wasn't going to work.
"I'll forgive everything you've done up until now, so give up on your dreams of being pirates and join me in a world filled with tons of fun." Uta said.
"Tons of fun?" Imai murmured. She looked around and realized what she was talking about. Though what did she mean by joining her?
The pirates started laughing, they couldn't believe the words that came out of their mouth. Quit being pirates? Joining her? In her dreams!
"There's no such thing as peace, girl."
"Keep yapping and I'll slide your face up."
"Hold on, she's mine!"
Imai's hand went to her blade but was stopped when Uta grabbed her wrist. She glanced at her in surprise and Uta shook her head.
"You can easily defeat them, but let me take care of it. I'm strong too." Uta said.
"Okay, the stage is yours anyway." Imai replied as her hands went into her hoodie's pocket. It was kind of chilly.
"Bahaha! Without her fighting, you're doomed!" one of the pirates yelled.
"I'll give you one last chance, quit being pirates."
"You'll die before that happens!"
"Then I'll make a song out of you." Uta said with a sigh.
Suddenly, Uta's appearance changed. Her headphones started glowing and a virtual microphone appeared out of nowhere too. She had a crown, a rapier, a shield, and golden steel boots.
The stage's appearance also changed, there were blocks of music everywhere, special effects, and random characters that were dancing. The special effects had also distracted the pirates and allowed Uta to sing.
"Now, let worry fall away. No fear allowed to stay." she sang, her melodic voice echoed through the stadium.
The pirates all jumped around her to stop her from singing, but a forcefield bubble was formed, and repealed the attacks.
Imai looked at the forcefield in admiration. She wondered if her devil fruit ability allowed her to do that. That's when she realized she didn't know much about Uta's devil fruit abilities.
Oh well, she thought. It probably wasn't much of a big deal anyway.
The forcefield seemed to be able to withstand all attacks, it could probably defend Imai's devil fruit abilities, and stop her sword too.
The bubble was that strong.
Suddenly, the bubble expanded, and repelled the enemy pirates.
Oven recovered quickly and ran towards Uta. Imai was about to protect her, but a blue ball suddenly appeared, and shot him away.
Once again, she glanced at her in surprise. She confirmed that it was part of her devil fruit's ability. But if it could do that and much more, wasn't it a little too overpowered?
"I'll always protect you."
Uta's heavenly voice rang through Imai's ears, it gave her a flutter, and a few butterflies in her stomach.
She formed notes out of nowhere and wrapped it around the pirates causing them to become cocoons. They couldn't escape them and became vulnerable as they were immobilized on the ground.
A golden light erupted from the center of the stage. As it dissipated, Imai noticed a figure zipping around the stadium, and giving high-fives to everyone.
"What the hell is with that ability, she can like too?" Imai muttered to herself.
Imai also noticed the pirates that were struck by the cocoon were now stuck onto a wall of notes. They weren't able to get out of it, it was as if they were super glued to the notes.
"Yep, her devil fruit ability is definitely overpowered." Imai said, realizing Uta's devil fruit potential could be better than hers.
Though that was a good thing, she needed Uta on her side. No matter what.
"You make me invincible when you're here by my side." Uta sang, as she stood on the center of the stage.
The audience clapped in awe at how Uta easily took down the pirates. It was as if this was her world and she was the main character of it all.
The same could be said for Imai, she didn't even need to do anything. She was definitely Shanks's daughter with how unique she was.
"Strong with you by my side."
Uta sang the final lyric and the audience's applause synced with her. Uta was shining, literally.
"Okay! Now that the pirates are gone, you can all relax now!" Uta said with a wide smile on her expression.
The crowd cheered for her and Imai clapped.
"You're strong, really strong!" Imai yelled, hopefully Uta could hear her through the crowd's noise.
"Thank you, but we all know how easy it would've been for you." Uta replied.
"Ahaha, maybe not as flashy as you, but sure." Imai said shyly. Her pinks were slightly pink when she looked at Uta, she looked quite handsome, and seemed like she could be Imai's knight in shining armor.
"Imai? Hello? Are you there?" Uta asked, her hands were waving in front of Imai's face.
"Sorry, I must've gotten lost in thought. Anyway, what is it?" Imai asked.
"Can you turn those on? There's something I need to say." Uta replied.
Imai walked over to where she was pointing and clicked the button on the snails, it seemed like a projection of some sort.
"This is a message I have for the pirates, the navy, and the people at the world government. Do not try to stop this concert. Everyone is looking for fun and things to make them happy. If you ruin that, there will be consequences."
Imai stared in awe as Uta continued her speech.
"I'm Uta, the woman who's going to create a new age. And I'm going to make everyone happy with my songs." Uta said.
The crowd clapped, but Imai felt as if something was amiss. She was obsessed with making everyone happy, but was she happy herself?
She had a question that lingered in her mind for quite a while now, she felt that she needed to ask.
"Hey Uta…"