Dia crossed the field in no time flat. Her large wings spread wide over the arena, made to give her every advantage possible. As she flew in the direction of the duo, she sang:
"♪My dear opponents, my dear rookies, it would be best to give up now, to be free from looking like a fool. ♪"
"♪Fools we may be, yet it will be fools to best this self-proclaimed beauideal queen.♪" Harlan shot back. Dia's face turned dark momentarily as she swooped in to strike.
Fiona and Harlan disappeared in a flash of light as the green beauideal was left to punch empty air. Before Dia could react, the duo reappeared in a flash above her. Fiona kicked her in the back while Harlan struggled to get her bearings from the sudden shift in space. Dia landed on her feet and stumbled a moment to regain her bearings.
"That was a great line!" Fiona said to her Zenotote companion.
"♪Make sure to keep your words in song, ♪" Harlan replied. She struggled to project her voice, which came off as soft and gentle. The manner would have been awkward given the loud and blaring music, but the audio mixers knew how to adjust volume, and Harlan's tone seemed to provide a soothing contrast. She was quickly garnering fans, and she shuddered as she felt more eyes focused on her face.
Dia, who had spun around as soon as she was kicked and shot her opponents a proud stare. Harlan leaped back, and Fiona zapped away, but both moved as the beauideal predicted.
With a spin, she quickly grabbed Harlan by the tail and flung the unsuspecting scientist across the arena. Afterwhich, she ducked to avoid a punch from the suddenly reappearing Fiona. Dia grabbed the princess by the arm, intended to punch her, and flipped her like a ragdoll. Both opponents were thrown farther apart from each other.
Dia focused on Fiona first and closed the gap between them with a large flap of her wings. As she came in close to the princess, she kicked. Fiona zapped away but was caught a second time as she reappeared.
"♪Predictable moves, predictable blues, ♪" the beauideal star chided as she threw Fiona on her back. "♪A newcomer might be surprised by your trick, but it soon falls away.♪"
Fiona grunted.
"♪I can- uh- do better than that… you know, ♪" she replied in more of a chant than a song. Her voice surprised the crowd with a pleasant tone, though her lack of improv skills was clearly evident. She matched Harlan's shudder as she felt the eyes behind her watch her back.
"♪How could you,♪" Dia said as she took to the air, "♪You can't even reach my heights! ♪" Dia plunged her fist into the ground where Fiona had just laid. The blue princess zapped away at the last minute possible and out of Dia's reach.
She reappeared next to Harlan, whose slitted green eyes examined the whole stage for some living animal to use her ability; without something to transform, the power could be considered useless. Fiona held her hand to her back where she had landed. Her Zenotote companion wanted to try to relay a plan to her, but with their voices being amplified for all to hear, she saw no point.
She realized that Dia had thought out her challenge before issuing it. The beauideal star knew all the ins and outs of a public fight. It had to be a show as well as a brawl, and the duo was ill-experienced. Harlan found herself clenching her teeth as she pondered if they really had an advantage as she supposed when the challenge was issued.
Dia danced in the air a moment before flying around the stage. She circled the duo like a vulture as she sang.
"Poor little Aqueenian girl, all sad and full of strife. Cut short before she could reach her full heights! Poor little Zenotote girl, cold and alone. Isolation is a better comfort than a warm home!♪"
Fans around the arena, not realizing that the fight was atypical of a normal one, began to jot notes on what was said. Many believed that the words would be important to the overall beauideal lore.
Fiona gritted her teeth and, in a flash, appeared behind Dia. She attempted to grab onto the star's wings as she had done in Quenth, but the green star expected as much.
Dia spun in the air so that her metal wing smacked Fiona aside like a ball off a tennis racket. The dazed princess crashed to the ground and rolled several times before coming to a stop.
Harlan could only stare at Dia as she circled in the sky like a vulture.
"♪A star that flew too high does she fear facing an opponent on the ground?" Harlan tried to aggravate her opponent, but a smile was the only response she got.
Dia continued to dance in the sky to the amusement of her audience. Fiona began to push herself up and shook her head. She could tell she wasn't in the right headspace to be doing battle, but they didn't have much choice. The blue princess focused on her companion, and in a sudden flash, Harlan was over the head of Dia.
Neither the beauideal nor scientist saw the move coming, but they managed to strike at one another midair after quickly regaining their bearings. Several blows were traded, but Harlan continued to fall back to the ground, and Dia let her descend.
Fiona ran across the arena and zapped Harlan to her side before the scientist crashed into the hologram-covered ground.
"♪She's tough, I have to admit! ♪" Fiona said.
"♪I suspect we won't be beating her anytime soon, ♪" Harlan replied.
"♪Foolish dears, your hope of victory will soon be dashed. I already see your loss in the future! " Dia chimed in.
She swooped in low to strike at Harlan. Fiona moved her partner out of harm's way, and Dia headed back into the air. They stared at each other as the music loudly shook the arena. Dia had expected Fiona's ability to be an issue, but she had no idea the princess had improved enough to teleport others in such a short time. She wanted to end the fight soon and take a relaxing bath.