"Now let's begin our second round matches! Starting off with PRINCESS AKARI's team VS. AYAKA!"
Dachii and Akari went up to the stage, just as Ayaka did the same. She bowed to them before taking her spot.
"May the best dancer win, Princess!"
"Same to you."
"Ready? 3...2...1...DANCE!"
Akari stepped forward, and the bell rang. Right on cue, she began doing an elegant but methodical dance, using her arms, legs, and hips to full effect.
"Look at the Princess go!"
"She's gonna slay this thing!"
"She literally IS the team, forget that HUMAN!"
After a few more moments of graceful moves, the bell rang and Ayaka began.
"Wow, Princess, you're even better than I thought!"
As her turn began, she slowly got herself into position, taking a deep breath. She began stretching, and then she began an acrobatic dance, which comprised of smooth moves, cheerleader-style rhythm, and numerous handsprings and flips, culminating with her doing the splits.
Dachii just watched with his mouth open. "How can you ladies MOVE like that?"
"It's just natural," Akari answered.
The bell rang and Ayaka stopped, beginning to sweat. Akari nudged Dachii. "Your turn."
"WHAT?"
"Go up there and show her what you're made of. You got this!"
Akari stepped back, leaving Dachii to face Ayaka, who stared at him with an amused look on her face, lifting an eyebrow.
"Uh..."
Dachii looked at the crowd, who watched in silence. In the front, he could see Hikari, Luca, and Marachii giving him optimistic looks. Then the bell rang, and Akari patted him on the shoulders.
"Okay. Now dance."
Dachii looked around one more time, then he reached into his pocket and pulled out some HEADPHONES. He took his phone out of his other pocket, hooked up the headphones, and put them in his ear.
"Let's go."
The crowd all gasped as Dachii clicked his phone a few times, and then began bopping his head.
"What is that human DOING?"
Even Akari, Hikari, and Luca all seemed confused, but Marachii laughed. "Ooh! I can't wait to see this!"
Dachii stood in a T-shape, with his arms outstretched, and then he began moving them in a "wave" formation, back and forth as the entire crowd watched without a word.
"Smooth moves, Dachii, smooth moves!" he told himself. He then began to LEAN, and his body began to glow gray.
Ayaka's mouth was wide open. "How are you—-?"
Dachii leaned so far down his body was nearly touching the ground, and yet it was still STRAIGHT, and his feet were still on the ground.
"Yes! It worked!" Without missing a beat, he leaned the other way as the music sped up, and he got up and did a handstand with ONLY one hand, as his body's glow got stronger.
The bell rang, and Dachii fell to the ground face-first. "Oof."
Akari helped him up, stating: "See? That wasn't that bad."
Hikari slowly clapped, along with Luca and Marachii. "Go, Dachii?"
Ayaka shook off her confusion and prepared herself as the bell rang again. She got in position and put one hand on her hip, while she twirled her other arm and body at the same time, establishing a precise rhythm.
Dachii watched as she back-walked towards him and then slid right back to her spot, and then soon after, her turn was over.
"Please tell me I won, please tell me I won!" she blurted out, jumping up and down. Makoto walked up and the holographic scoreboard appeared, showing the score.
"Well now, we have our winner! Ayaka has 60 points, and Akari's team has 62 points! PRINCESS AKARI'S TEAM IS GOING ON TO THE FINALS!"
Akari shook Dachii back and forth. "Nice job! Now we can beat Arata."
"Why are YOU so happy? You find this fun?"
"I find a LOT of things FUN, Dachii. Now let's go win this money." She walked off the stage, and he followed her back to their seats. Hikari wrapped an arm around both of them.
"I'm surprised, but Dachii pulled through! Good work, team!"
Marachii and Luca also gave Dachii praise, but Arata walked up, arms folded. He pointed at Dachii.
"I see you made it out the second round, human! Guess this time I can crush you again and show that Princess what a REAL champion is!"
Akari didn't even look at him. "Go away."
"Oh, I'll go away! With tons of money in my hands!"
"Next match, ARATA vs. NATSUKI!"
Arata got up on stage along with Natsuki, pointing at him and laughing. "Look at you! It's like you don't even wanna be here!"
"Sure. Meathead."
"Is that disrespect? Start this thing up!"
"You both ready? 3...2...1...DANCE!"
Arata began stomping on the dance floor, doing unorthodox slides and spins. "Easy...I DO THIS, CHUMP!"
Then he sat down and began shaking his shoulders to the beat, yet again making everyone cringe. The bell rang and his turn was over, and he got up, laughing.
"Beat that, if you're so good!"
Natsuki just took his spot and began a simple dance. Dachii and the others drank their water as they watched. Jun walked past them, a menacing look in his eye.
"Watch your backs."
Akari looked back at him, expression unchanged. "What was that?"
"...Nothing."
Hikari waved him off. "Ignore him, he's just jealous. But, as for our strange guy, I didn't see him during that last match."
"Well, I doubt he'd be dumb enough to stand around long after talking to Dachii. We need to stay alert, just in case he IS trying something."
"Yeah, I know."
"Well, score is up, and ARATA moves on to the finals!"
"YES! MONEY, MONEY, HERE I COME!"
Meanwhile, in an unknown room...
"Please...someone help me..."
Shizuka's daughter was busy sitting in a cold, dark room, writing on a piece of paper.
"Please, Squad S-1! You have to run! It's not safe! They're hunting you! They're after you! They want to use me to get one of you! They want—-!"
Before she could finish writing, a dark blast of black energy came from the room, hitting the girl and making her drop to her knees and scattering the table.
"Now, now, Saori," a dark voice remarked from the corner. "What you're doing is BAD. You wouldn't want to be a BAD girl, now, would you?"
"No! No, please! I'll stop!"
"That's better. If you obey and be a GOOD CHILD, your life will be spared. Sound okay?"
"Y...yes!"
"Here. Take this to our friend outside. Make sure no one spots you, and make sure you come RIGHT back."
Saori nodded, a terrified look on her face. From the darkness, a black crystal slid across the floor to her. It glowed with a purple hue, and when Saori picked it up, she noticed it was cold and made her shudder.
"Now do your job...girl."
She hurried out of the room, opening the door, and she also graded a small robe on the way out, wrapping it around her.
As she stepped into the alley, she was a bunch of people out in the streets, walking around, shopping, and doing other normal tasks. She took a back way around the alley and made her way to her destination.
Meanwhile, back at the Asuka Festival...
"Now, we will soon start our Finals! As with every finals, there will be longer dancing periods, more points that can be earned, and this time, the beat will switch and get even CRAZIER every time!"
The entire crowd cheered.
"Go get him, Princess!"
"Yep, she'll humble him just like she did in the Tryouts!"
"She's a legend! She's got this for sure!"
"Now, our finals: PRINCESS AKARI'S team vs. ARATA!"
Akari and Dachii walked up to their spots, and Arata basically jumped up to his. He watched the two with a smug smile on his face, making a cutthroat gesture.
"It's over, chumps!"
"Okay." Akari simply stood there, expression unchanged.
"Let's start it! 3...2...1...DANCE!"
Arata didn't even wait before he began busting out his moves, forcefully sliding and walking towards Akari and Dachii, before shimmying right in front of them.
"Haha!"
Then he bumped into them, knocking over Dachii, and did a couple more powerful dance moves, right in front of Akari. As the music sped up, he did some heavy stomps and a spin and finished just as his turn was over.
Akari sized him up, and then the bell rang, signaling her turn. "Come on, Dachii. It's time."
"For what?"
As he got up, she only said one line: "Just stand behind me."
She immediately began moving even faster than any of her previous rounds, twirling high and low, moving her hips in various motions, and moving her arms in tune with the beat, as it sped up more and more.
Arata just scoffed as she began doing even more acrobatic moves, then in the midst of it, she looked at Dachii, and she danced her way over to him, whispering in his ear.
"Okay, now throw me."
"What—-?"
"Throw. Me."
His body began to glow gray and he took a deep breath before taking her by the arms and tossing her in the air. She began spinning like a top, and she turned upside down and continued to spin, just as she passed over Arata's head, winking at him before landing on her feet.
The crowd gasped and roared, just as the bell rang. She slowly walked around Arata, standing next to Dachii again.
"Oh, you think you're tough? I got a trick for you!"
Arata clapped his hands, and Jun jumped on the stage, with Ayaka in tow. Dachii pointed at them. "Hey, wait! Isn't that cheating?"
"Suck it up, chump!"
Akari smiled, shaking her head. "I figured this would happen."
Makoto had a shocked stare on his face, as did the rest of the crowd, but the bell rang, and the three took their positions.
"Sorry, Princess! I was basically FORCED," Ayaka said, looking a bit guilty.
"You thought you could beat me and get away with it, fools? Now, we dance as one!" Jun commented, hands on his hips as he prepared himself.
Arata stood in front, only saying one thing: "LET'S CRUSH THEM!"
Immediately, they all began to move in sync, tapping their feet on the ground. As the beat got faster, they switched feet, and each of them put a hand on their hip.
Marachii looked at the stage intensely, watching as Arata and his group began to all turn to the side and shimmy.
"Wow, I wasn't expecting THAT."
Luca yawned, pulling out some beef jerky from his pocket. "Yep."
Marachii looked to his left but didn't see Hikari. "When and where did she go?"
"Oh, she's a MASTER of stealth. Just like me," Luca replied, mouth full of beef jerky.
Arata and Ayaka smoothly switched places, and while Arata and Jun began doing the same aggressive and low dance, she began to do a more feminine, stylish dance as the crowd watched in awe.
Then she backflipped and perfectly landed on the ground, doing the splits.
The bell rang, and their turn was over. Dachii grabbed Akari by the shoulders. "What do we do? They're too good!"
"Oh, trust me. I've planned for this."
"Planned how?"
Immediately, the crowd gasped as another figure landed next to Dachii, dressed in a pink version of a dress that looked similar to Akari's.
"HIKARI?"
"Yep! Finally get to dance a little! Isn't that great?"
Makoto scratched his head. "Well, damn. I never expected we'd have a three-on-three for the finals."
Marachii just blankly watched. "HUH? When did she get the time to change into that?"
"Royalty," Luca stated.
The bell rang, and Akari whispered something to both of her teammates. Arata folded his arms and dismissively waved as Dachii stood in front, and Hikari and Akari stood on opposite sides behind him.
"Look at you clowns. What are you gonna do?"
Dachii just stood still as Akari and Hikari began to dance behind him, moving like graceful professionals. They twisted and dropped low, jumped high, and put both hands on their hips as they moved forward and backward.
"Uh...the HELL?"
As both girls began to speed up with the beat, Dachii started to glow gray again and he leaned back and forth, close to the ground, and then forward and back.
"LEAN! Watch me LEAN!"
As he stood back up again, both Hikari and Akari approached him, and he tossed them into the air at the same time, and they grabbed each other and spun around, before landing back on the ground.
Then the bell rang. Arata, Jun, and Ayaka stared at them, dumbfounded. A moment of silence occurred before the crowd cheered much louder than it had done before.
The scoreboard appeared, showing the final scores. "Well, the scores are done! Arata's team has gotten 139 points, and Akari's team has earned the FULL 140 points!"
Marachii and Luca both stood up and clapped for the group, and Makoto walked onto the stage. "Well, Princess! You and your team have won the Grand Prize!"
He walked up and held Hikari and Akari's arms in the air, walking right past Dachii. "Anything you girls wanna say to the crowd?"
"Oh. I love dancing," Akari said, resuming her indifferent look.
"This was fun!" Hikari exclaimed, with a bright smile on her face. "Can we do it again?"
"Now let's get you girls your prize!"
Dachii waved his hands in the air. "Wait! What about me?"
"You...just wait here! We'll be right back!"
Despite the girls' protests and surprise, Makoto dragged them off the stage and away from the area. Dachii slapped his head. "Well, I guess these people still don't like me that much."
Marachii and Luca came to the edge of the stage. "Nice job, brother! You won! Even though Akari did most of the work!"
"Yeah, yeah. It feels good, though!" As he took in the victory, he heard arguing.
"Why didn't you dance harder? You cost us the match!"
"ME? I allowed you to be on my team, chump! You lost first round!"
Dachii watched as Arata and Jun yelled back and forth at each other. Jun eventually turned his attention to Dachii, storming towards him.
"You! Brat! You think you won? There wi be more competitions, and I will crush you human—-!"
But clapping was heard behind Dachii. When he turned around, he found Omari walking toward him, a smile on his face.
"Great job, I knew you could do it."
"Omari? I thought you left."
"I told you, I'd be back once you're done."
As he came closer, something about him felt different to Dachii. Sure enough, when Dachii took a closer look, his eyes WERE WHITE.
Jun pointed a finger at Omari. "Are you another human? Get out of here! I already don't have any more patience for any more humans—-!"
In that moment...
...a sharp bone pierced through Jun's chest, as people screamed in horror.
"Shut it, scumbag. I wasn't done talking."
Jun coughed blood, and Dachii, in shock, looked to see the bone coming from OMARI'S back.
"O...mari?"
As Jun fell to the ground, Omari took off his hoodie, revealing black lines all across his body.
"Now, Dachii..."
His eyes glinted with a malicious white glow.
"You're coming with me!"
And right after, a massive wave of sharp bones erupted from his back, destroying the entire stage.
—-