The next day, I woke up to the TV playing some music.
"Turn that off, Kyabe," I grumbled sleepily.
"C'mon, Hana! This is so much fun! There's a new show where you dance along to the music and a crazy guy tells you how to dance!" Kyabe exclaimed, jumping up and down, trying to dance to the music.
"YEAH! WORK IT, BABY! SHOW ME THOSE FUNKY MOVES!" a guy with an afro said on the TV.
"Turn it off! I'm trying to sleep!" I shouted over the shouting guy.
"You're no fun, Hana! You could use some exercise!"
"I've had enough exercise trying not to die, thank you very much."
Beep. Beep.
So much for sleeping a little longer. I got out of bed and got ready. Today's going to be a long day, isn't it?
"Bye! I'll be back later!" I called to the dancing Kyabe.
All I heard was, "WOO! DANCE TO THAT FUNKY MUSIC!"
I sighed. What has the world come to?
The walk to school was even stranger. I kept passing people dancing in their yards or the streets. What the heck? When did people catch the dance plague? I made it to school, only to find my class dancing to the afro guy's music. When Mrs. Sakura arrived, I expected everyone to stop dancing, but…
"Alright, class! Today's lesson is how to dance! Everyone get your dance shoes on! It's time to boogie!" she shouted as she turned on the afro guy.
"YEAH! LET'S GET FUNKY!" the guy shouted with enthusiasm.
Everyone got up and started dancing like the weirdo. What the heck? I was the only one that wasn't dancing.
"C'mon, Hana! You need to participate! This is worth a grade, you know!" Mrs. Sakura scolded.
"I'm good. I don't feel like dancing."
"Suit yourself!"
Something about this whole thing was bothering me. When did everyone suddenly start liking "funky" music? It couldn't be! Not again! If that's true though.... I jumped up and walked up to Mrs. Sakura, who was doing a disco dance.
"Hey, Mrs. Sakura?"
"Yes? What is it, Hana? Have you finally succumbed to the music?"
"No. Who is that guy?" I asked, gesturing the dancing guy on the screen.
"That is DJZ. He's the best, isn't he?"
"Uh… sure? Anyways, where is he dancing at?"
"The new recording studio downtown. Why? Are you thinking of getting an autograph? He probably won't be able to see you."
"I'm sure he'll make an exception," I said gravely.
"Huh?" Mrs. Sakura asked, confused.
I was already gone.
I ran downtown to the recording studio. I never heard of it before. Was it built overnight? I ran inside and walked over to the receptionist.
"Where can I find DJZ?" I asked frantically.
"I'm sorry. He's not taking autographs right now," the dancing receptionist said, sounding disappointed herself.
"Tell him 'Hana Kojo is here.'" I instructed.
"Ok, but don't get your hopes up. I doubt he remembers all of his fans' names."
The lady picked up a phone and dialed a number.
"Hello, Mr. DJZ. I have someone in the lobby for you. She said her name is Hana Kojo."
The receptionist listened for a moment.
"Oh! I'll send her in right away," she said into the phone before hanging up. "He said you can go see him. He's in room twelve B on floor two."
I just nodded and sprinted for the elevator. I kept jamming the up button until the doors opened. I jumped inside and pressed the two-button repeatedly.
"C'mon! C'mon! Hurry!" I mumbled impatiently to the elevator.
The doors finally opened so I jumped out and ran into the hall, looking for twelve B. When I found it, I slammed open the door and hurried inside.
"WELCOME, MY FUNKYLICIOUS ADVERSARY! ARE YOU READY TO BOOGIE WITH ME, THE BOOGIE KING?" DJZ shouted at me.
"What are you talking about? I'm here to stop you! I know you're up to something!"
"YOU DON'T THINK I WANT TO CHEER THIS GRAY WORLD UP WITH MY FUNKY MOVES? DO I LOOK LIKE SOME GANGSTA OR SOMETHING? HUH, FUNKY GIRL?"
This made me stop for a minute. Was he really a bad guy or was he just misguided? DJZ's next move erased any doubt. He moonwalked toward me and kicked me.
"OH NO! LITTLE SPICE GIRL FELL DOWN! SHE NEEDS TO PRACTICE MORE IF SHE WANTS TO BEAT THE KING OF FUNK!"
I got up and glared at the psycho dancer. It was time to bring out a friend. But who? Thankfully, I had the forethought to bring the Pocket with me. If I hadn't, well, that would have been a huge mistake. I reached into the Pocket and grabbed a random seed, hoping for the best. I pulled it out and saw that it was long, skinny, and yellow. I took a deep breath and threw it up. The seed sprouted into a crazy-haired blonde girl.
"Wow! This place looks like so much fun! Did you invite me to a party?! I'm so excited!" the girl exclaimed, bouncing around.
"Um… no. See that guy over there?" I asked, pointing at DJZ. "He wants me dead. Could you take care of him?"
"Ooh! I see! A fight!"
"YO YO YO! WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE? ANOTHER SPICE GIRL HAS SHOWN UP TO BOOGIE WITH THE KING! CAN SHE KEEP UP? WHO KNOWS?" DJZ shouted, noticing the girl.
"Ooh! A dance fight! This is going to be so much fun!" the girl exclaimed as she started dancing.
"YOU'VE GOT SOME MOVES, YELLOW SPICE! CAN YOU KEEP UP WITH ME THOUGH?" DJZ shouted as he moonwalked over to her.
"Ooh! That's so cool! Can I try?" she said as she quickly moonwalked away.
"WOWZA! THIS GIRL'S ON FYAH! CAN SHE DO THIS?" DJZ asked as he started to do a really complex dance move I've never seen before.
"Ooh! Fun!" the girl exclaimed as she copied DJZ, moving faster than him.
"WOO! THIS COOLIO SPICE GIRL IS KILLING IT! YEA!"
DJZ danced toward her and tried to kick her. She danced out of the way and started to glow. The air suddenly felt charged. Then, the girl shot a bolt of electricity at DJZ. He barely managed to dodge it.
"OOH! LITTLE SPICE IS GETTING SPARKLY! CAN SHE SURVIVE THIS?" he asked as his hands turned into megaphones.
The room suddenly got ten thousand times louder. I covered my ears and screamed in agony. The girl didn't fare any better. DJZ went over to her and kicked her down with a smug look on his face. I had to do something! I uncovered one ear and reached for the Pocket. As soon as I did, a wall of sound hit my exposed ear. I screamed again but kept reaching for the Pocket. I reached into it and pulled out a fuzzy green seed. I threw it up quickly and covered my ears again.
It sprouted, revealing a green-haired girl. Surprisingly, she was unaffected by the noise. She looked at me curiously and noticed the other girl being beaten by DJZ. She nodded and walked over to them. When she was behind the psycho, she created a vine whip. I got shivers remembering the beating that Shimogoe had given me with a vine. She raised her whip and quickly brought it down on DJZ's back. His mouth opened in pain. I couldn't tell if he screamed, but he probably did. Suddenly, the noise stopped. I cautiously removed my hands from my ears.
"WOWZA! THERE'S ANOTHER SPICE! CAN SHE KEEP UP OR WILL SHE TRIP OVER HER OWN TWO FEET?" DJZ exclaimed, seemingly unaffected by the wound now.
The new girl said nothing and raised her whip, preparing to strike again. Her whip lashed out, barely missing DJZ.
"GOTTA BE FASTER THAN THAT, GREEN SPICE!" he called as he danced away.
While they were fighting, I ran over to the blonde girl.
"Are you ok?" I asked as I bent over her.
"I've been through worse. I gotta help Yoko. She can't beat him alone," the girl smiled weakly.
"You need to rest."
"I'm fine! Just a little bruised!" the girl said as she jumped to her feet. "Get out of the way!" she instructed as she started to spark.
I quickly jumped out of her way. A second later, a bolt of lightning hit the distracted DJZ. Right after, Yoko's whip slashed his face, making him bleed. He laid there for a minute before speaking.
"YOW! THAT WAS SOME FANTASTIC DANCIN' SPICE GIRLS! I GOTTA BOOGIE ON OUT OF HERE! CATCH YA ON THE FLIPSIDE!" DJZ shouted as he quickly moonwalked out of the room.
After he left, the blonde girl collapsed. Yoko and I both ran over to her.
"I'm fine. Just exhausted. I'm gonna leave now, alright," she said before turning into a seed.
I picked it up and put it back into the Pocket. Then, I turned to Yoko.
"Thanks for your help, Yoko. If you hadn't been here, she might have died," I said sincerely.
"Akino," she said quietly.
"What?"
"Her name's Akino."
I nodded. Then, she nodded and turned back into a seed. Can my life get any stranger?
. . .
"Zatsu failed, sire. It seems we thought wrong," Kagaku said into the darkness.
"You thought wrong, you fool!" the light growled.
"Y-yes, of course, sire. I'm but a fool compared to your wisdom."
The light scoffed.
"Send that annoying little urchin in. Maybe he can stop those foolish girls."
"Understood, sire."