Dynamite Blue story · Pocket Stories
Spooky Special
The fearless #1 streamer's only weakness is ghosts. A live broadcast chasing footsteps in an abandoned theater, and a curtain call after 12 years.
16 scenes, 273 lines
1. Scene 1
11 lines[LIVE] Persa's Game Stream
See that, nya?! A no-death clear, even on a horror game, nya!
[Chat] it's just a game lol. bet you couldn't handle the real thing
[Chat] do the abandoned theater in Mid next. they say you can hear footsteps on the stage every night
[Chat] wait is the number one streamer actually scared?
...Wh-who said I can't, nya?
[Chat] your voice just shook
[Chat] clipped it
I wasn't shaking, nya! My mic is just Worn, nya!!
[Next Stream Preview: Summer Chills Special - Footsteps in the Abandoned Theater]
After posting the preview, Persa barely slept for three days.
2. Scene 2
14 linesThe day before the stream. The Dynamite Blue agency.
A back?
Somewhere to hi- I mean, it's for the framing, nya!
Persa. Your heart rate is forty percent above your usual stream.
N-no scanning, nya!! That's a likeness violation, nya!!
Heart rates don't have likeness rights.
The number one streamer has no data on being scared, nya!
An abandoned theatre. Sounds like a job for a man of the stage.
Who knows. The stage may call.
(quietly) Statistically, Sean Terry's jokes are more dangerous than ghosts.
What was that?
Just kidding.
3. Scene 3
6 lines[LIVE] Summer Horror Special - 80K Viewers
Ping and Pong, the camera drones, hover at Persa's left and right.
An old lobby. Dusty posters. A notice for the last show, the numbers torn away.
Muyeong Theatre Company - farewell performance: "Curtain Call"
Run stopped (torn) years ago. Closed ever since.
G-going in, nya. Everyone be quiet, nya.
4. Scene 4
12 linesWorn ticket booth, tucked in a corner of the lobby. Just as they go to walk past it...
Rrrattle.
A single ticket slides out of the booth window.
Eeek!!! A-a ticket came out, meow!!
Farewell Performance "Curtain Call" - 1 Admission Ticket, Valid Today
It's not a malfunction. There's a record of it being issued.
...A ticket, issued for the first time in 12 years.
Ru. Save that kind of info for somewhere with the lights on.
Persa spends three seconds debating whether to take the ticket, then crams it into a pocket.
I-I'm only taking it 'cause it's free, meow. Not 'cause I'm scared, meow.
[Chat] ur literally the loudest one here
[Chat] lmao look who's hiding behind the drone
5. Scene 5
24 linesPersa walks with Ping and Pong held out in front like shields.
I'm not hiding, nya! I'm framing the shot, nya!
Just then. From deep inside the lobby.
Clomp. Clomp.
!!!!!
Persa silently slips behind Sean Terry. Very fast.
You're behind me right now...
It's a formation, nya. Diamond formation.
[Chat] formation LMAO a formation of one
[Chat] Viewers just passed 150K
The footsteps fade away down the hallway past the lobby.
Ping's light sweeps the floor. In the dust: footprints.
Round, flat, and evenly spaced.
...You know that makes it scarier, right?
We can hear footsteps, but there are no legs.
Here's one. What do you call a leg you thought was there, but isn't?
I-is this really the time for a quiz, nya?!
Phantom limbs.
[Chat] a dad joke just dropped my heart rate wtf
[Chat] Sir Fear-Breaker
6. Scene 6
13 linesThe auditorium. In the darkness, only the stage is faintly visible.
Ping's light slowly sweeps across the seats.
Empty seat. Empty seat. Empty seat.
...A seated silhouette.
!!!!! Th-there's someone sitting over there!!!
Everyone freezes. Ping's light shakes as it moves in.
...It's a mannequin dressed in a stage costume.
The lead's costume from the farewell performance. Dead center of the audience, the seat with the best view of the stage.
It's a mannequin. Why it's in the audience... I don't know.
...Someone must've sat it there. Since there was no audience.
Don't go making it sad right now!! This is scary enough!!
[Chat] the mannequin got the best seat
[Chat] getting chills for two different reasons
7. Scene 7
30 linesBOOM.
The stage lights turn on by themselves.
EEEEEK!!
...The power to this building is cut. So where is the electricity coming from.
THAT'S what you're wondering about right now, nya?!
...Huh.
The empty stage. Footsteps walk across it from left to right.
There's no one there.
[Chat] streamer's the most scared one lol
[Chat] why are you standing on a chair tho?
[Chat] 400K viewers
Wh-who says I have to get down, nya?! The camera angle's great up here, nya!
Persa hops from seat to seat, this way and that. Still undecided on which way to run.
You know, pacing back and forth like that...
Know what it's called with a king on each side?
Shut up, nya!!
A stalemate.
...!! Why does this keep getting less scary, nya?! Take responsibility, nya!!
[Chat] the dad jokes are doing the exorcism lol
The footsteps stop at center stage. Then comes applause.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
One person's clapping echoes through the empty seats.
...Pong. Are you getting this, nya?
Pong sways its whole body side to side. Like shaking its head no.
Film it, nya!! I pay you, don't I, nya?!
Sean Terry stares at the stage for a long time.
(quietly) ...What a fine stage. I'd love to stand on it.
(quietly) That's the scariest thing I've heard all night.
8. Scene 8
20 linesThe dressing room. A broken mirror. A dusty vanity.
Something is written on the mirror. Traced by wiping away the dust.
Check cue sheet / 5 minutes to curtain
This was written recently. There's no dust on the letters.
The strokes are too even. That's not human handwriting.
Th-then who comes here every day to write it, meow?
Or maybe it's always five minutes to curtain. For someone.
Don't say creepy stuff like that so calmly, meow!!
Just then, static crackles from the speaker.
(Voice) Robot: [Five minutes to curtain. Actors, please proceed backstage.]
(Voice) Robot: [Today's audience count... zero. The opening is postponed.]
(Voice) Robot: [Five minutes to curtain. Actors, please proceed backstage.]
(Voice) Robot: [Today's audience count... zero. The opening is postponed.]
The same words, repeating over and over.
The sound's coming from backstage.
Y-you are not saying we go backstage, nya?
We have to.
Why would you say that like it's nothing, meow!!
I have no data on fear.
That's MY line, meow!!
9. Scene 9
12 linesBackstage. Darkness. Ping's light cuts through the dark.
And then. Something moves in the darkness.
AAAAAAAAAGH!!!
Worn and two-legged, a robot turns to look.
A rag on its arm. It was wiping down the props.
Round, flat feet. The footprints from the lobby.
(Voice) Robot: [...Are you an audience member?]
Eek... N-no, meow... Wait, yes, meow...?
(Voice) Robot: [Current location: Backstage. This is not the audience seating.]
(Voice) Robot: [Unable to count. Continuing service.]
With that, the robot goes back to wiping.
Each prop, one by one, with great care.
10. Scene 10
20 linesIt was Sean Terry who broke through Persa's panic.
Settle down. Know what you call people whose whole job is waiting?
Is this really the time for that?!
Waitstaff.
...And this one's been waiting for twelve years.
It began as a joke, and ended up somewhere that was no joke at all.
It's a stage-management robot. An old crew model.
Lights, sound, props, front of house. It runs a whole theatre on its own.
Sometimes it even walks the stage in place of people.
Ru crouches down in front of the robot. Eye to eye.
...Then everything that scared us back there, all of it -
The footsteps on stage are rehearsals of the actors' blocking.
It walks their paths every day, so the show can start the moment the actors arrive.
The applause is a speaker test.
This model saves the applause from the final rehearsal.
The writing on the mirror is its pre-show checklist, and the ticket prints automatically when someone walks in.
We're its first guests in twelve years... so it printed us a ticket?
...Yes.
11. Scene 11
23 linesSean Terry peers at the old log display on the robot's arm.
Audience Recruitment Attempt #1204
Target: Mannequin (Costume: Lead Role)
Result: No vital signs. Cannot be counted.
...A mannequin in the audience.
So it sat that thing there itself, just to meet the audience rule.
And every single time, it marked it "cannot be counted" itself.
Persa goes quiet. So does the chat.
It's an outdated Protocol.
The show can only start if there's at least one person in the audience,
and only once the show has ended can it finally stop.
(Softly) It reads less like a command and more like a promise.
So until someone shows up, it's five minutes to curtain every single day.
...Every day, for 12 years, nya?
...Yes. Every day.
[Chat] footsteps = rehearsing alone
[Chat] applause = recording from that day
[Chat] mannequin = 1204 failed tries at making an audience
[Chat] ok suddenly it's not scary, just sad
I'm still scared, nya. Not taking that back, nya.
But waiting 12 years must have been harder, nya.
...If we sit in the seats, it'll count us as an audience, nya?
...Yes. That's the rule.
12. Scene 12
14 linesPersa comes out from backstage and walks down the aisle. And then, from overhead.
Thump.
AAAAAGH!!! S-something fell, meow!!!
A bouquet. Artificial flowers, a faded bouquet for a curtain call.
It had been hanging on a ceiling wire. It just came down.
Because someone who could be its audience headed for the seats.
After 12 years, it's finally moved on to the next step.
Ru carefully picks up the bouquet and holds it close.
Footsteps. Applause. Writing on the mirror. Tickets. Mannequins. And now, flowers.
Everything that frightened them comes down to a single reason.
For 12 years, this theater had been ready for a show.
And the one who got it ready was a single Worn robot holding a mop.
13. Scene 13
21 linesPersa doesn't stop walking. Her legs are still shaking.
Still, Persa keeps walking.
Front row. Persa sits. Sean Terry and Ru sit down beside her.
Your audience is here, nya.
Persa takes the ticket out of a pocket and holds it up.
Persa turns the stream camera to face the stage.
And behind us... a million, nya.
[Chat] one million watching
[Chat] everyone quiet. the show is starting
(voice) Robot: [Ticket verified... valid.]
(voice) Robot: [Today's audience... counting.]
(voice) Robot: [...Vital signs: two.]
...There's three of us, nya?
(voice) Robot: [...Audience requirement met.]
(voice) Robot: [Total curtain postponements: 4,383. Ending postponement.]
(voice) Robot: [Today, the curtain rises.]
A tomorrow put off 4,383 times had finally become today.
14. Scene 14
24 linesFollowing a 12-year-old cue sheet, the lights come up one by one.
Across a stage with no actors, only the lights walk.
Sean Terry reads the lights. Through the eyes of someone who's stood on a stage.
...That's the lead's entrance. Three steps in from the left.
That blue light is where the song goes.
And that one... is where you bow to the audience.
At center stage, the spotlight waits for an actor who isn't coming.
Sean Terry stands up.
Can't stand to see an empty stage.
Sean Terry steps onto the stage. Right inside the spotlight, exactly on the mark.
For the first time in 12 years, the light falls on a person.
The one who'd been cracking jokes nonstop for two hours since walking in didn't crack a single one.
Just like an actor would. A deep bow to the house.
Ru walks to the front of the stage and lays the bouquet, twelve years in the waiting, upon it.
The lights turn red. Time for the curtain to fall.
(Voice) Robot: [The performance has ended. Thank you to our audience.]
Worn and faded, the curtain slowly comes down.
Persa. Do you know what a curtain call is?
It's a stage made not by the actors, but by the audience.
No applause, no curtain call.
Persa stands up.
On legs that were shaking, she claps louder than anyone.
Ping and Pong flash their screens in place of applause.
The chat floods with clapping emojis.
15. Scene 15
19 linesAmid the applause, the falling curtain pauses for a moment.
One spotlight slowly turns out toward the house.
The light settles on Persa's face.
It was the lights, bowing to their audience.
(voice) Robot: [...Shutdown condition met.]
(voice) Robot: [You all did well. Powering down.]
The light in the robot's eyes slowly goes out.
Ru walks over to the robot.
Broken things get fixed. That is what Ru is for.
Even so, Ru did not take out any tools.
(quietly) ...You did well.
Ru? What did you just say, nya?
Nothing.
The speakers fall silent. This time, nothing repeats.
...Farewell, nya.
Persa. I'm detecting tear duct activity.
I said no scanning, nya!! The lights are just too bright, nya!!
[Chat] blaming the lights lol
[Chat] cries scared, cries sad, cries at everything
16. Scene 16
10 lines[Horror Special Replay - #1 in Views]
Top comment: "No ghosts showed up, but everyone cried"
Alright! To celebrate the horror special being a huge hit, I'm taking requests for the next special, meow!
[Chat] Abandoned hospital, go
[Chat] Under's underground waterway, go go
[Chat] Graveyard at 3 AM
[The stream has ended.]
[Chat] LMAOOOOO ran away
[Chat] Such a scaredy-cat
[Chat] But you're totally going. We know you.