Dia quickly and easily convinced the event organizers to slide in the surprise event. They had been worried that things were growing stale when the tournament had just begun and any suggestion from the top Beauideal was welcome. As they rapidly rearranged the schedule, Fiona and Harlan were positioned in a bland, grey hallway that led to the arena.
They sat on the ground with their backs pressed against the wall. On the outside, a concert-match was already underway, and a combination of singing and explosions echoed to the duo. Across the boring hallway was another Beauideal who was initially scheduled to go on in the next match.
Harlan expected the star would have been upset with them taking her spot, but instead, she sat on the ground with an expression of relief. The girl was a Hobusian-Bentalousian hybrid with short stature. She had ears on top of her head, and the crown seemed to grow around like a hard shell. The Zenotote scientist, despite being a fan of Beauideals, did not recognize the one in front of her. She could only figure the hybrid girl was a new star that was still getting the hang of things.
Fiona sat with her arms crossed and head hanging low. It may have seemed like she was worried Dia or Harlan would talk about her scar, but she wasn’t too concerned about that. As far as the blue princess could figure, Harlan wasn’t one to blab, and Dia could be told to be quiet after they beat her in the coming fight.
What weighed on Fiona’s mind more was the old memories that had been dredged up. She typically went through life keeping the spot out of sight and out of mind.
Harlan looked to her companion and frowned. She wasn’t good with comfort or sympathy, though she felt both for Fiona. The tip of the scientist's green tail flicked while she tried to think of something to say to the princess. No words came to her lips, and she remained silent.
Cheers could be heard outside the hall as the music came to a halt with a precisely timed crash. The fight was over, and the battle with Dia was next.
An announcer's voice echoed as the beauideals exited the stage. The crowd could be heard murmuring as odd news was given.
“Next up, we have a special event! The beauideal Dia Mond will challenge two unknowns in the singfighting world!”
Fiona and Harlan made their way out to the arena. As they exited the hallway, a combination of sunlight and arena lights overwhelmed their eyes. Harlan was the first to adjust, and she took in the sight of the giant arena.
It easily bested any arena on earth in scale, with a wide oval section for the fighting to occur, making Dia, on the other side, appear like an ant. The stadium seating stretched high in the sky as if it wanted to reach up and block out the sun. The green Zenotote had some idea of how big it was, but knowing the dimensions and seeing it in person was entirely different.
The duo stood on a pad marked ‘stand here.’ They had been instructed not to move off it until the music started. As the announcer continued to shout words to the crowd, the floor in the arena began to move. Sections rose in some places and dropped in others. Trees seemed to shoot out from the ground, and water filled the holes. Holograms of grass and rocks began to morph the flat landscape into a lush hilly terrain.
Harlan examined their fighting arena closely. The special arena could make any landscape, to an extent, and was supposed to be chosen randomly. However, she could only see clear advantages for Dia littered across the whole place. Some trees stood out, but other than that, no cover remained for the duo who would be confined to the ground. She shook her head.
“It won’t be a fair fight; they don’t want the star to lose,” she said to Fiona.
“I guess we’ll have to disappoint them,” Fiona replied in a neutral tone. She was determined to beat Dia and have her stay quiet. Harlan found Fiona’s odd demeanor uncomfortable but didn’t know how to say anything to cheer her up. She wished for the skills of Odell or Gwyn, who always seemed to be able to handle the blue princess in stride.
Dia smiled and waved to her fans, who shouted out with joy at the sight of the star. Harlan also attempted to wave, but it was awkward and mostly ignored by the fans. Fiona followed along with a better but equally ignored wave.
After the announcer finished setting up the match, there was a loud crash that resembled one from a cymbal. Music began to consume all other sounds in the arena. Dia held a hand over her heart and sang:
“♪Sweet opponents, how must this fight go? We have so much to talk about but so little time. So our fists and rhyme must be what we use in these moments.♪” She took the sky—spinning and dancing in the air like she was carried by a gentle breeze—as she sang.
Neither of the duo had been given lyrics to sing; the people running the show hoped to make them look like fools. Nevertheless, Harlan knew enough of what was going on to reply.
“♪Our battle will not be easily forgotten; today is the day the mighty star will fall, and her attitude will be brought in.♪”
“Are we supposed to sing… and rhyme…” Fiona asked; her voice was amplified to mix in the loud music, and her face grew flushed as the crowd and Dia laughed.
“♪Rhyme is up to you, but we will sing loud is what we must do,♪” Harlan sang. Fiona was surprised at how nice her voice sounded.
The blue princess shook her head and slapped her cheeks. She looked to their opponent, who fluttered around in the air.
“I’m not much of a singer, but fighting I can do,♪” she replied. After her earlier confusion, the crowd was surprised to hear how nice, awkward as it was, Fiona’s voice sounded.
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.
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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.
***
Each side traded blow after blow. Dia kept the show of the battle in her focus, but Harlan and Fiona were quickly defaulting to standard, unappealing brawling techniques to try and get the upper hand.
Fiona’s teleporting kept the green beauideal from claiming a quick victory. She counted on taking out Harlan first and then finishing off the princess. However, since Fiona could also move Harlan, the star could not catch either one.
To make matters worse, Harlan had not used her ability during the fight, as far as Dia could tell. She did not know what to expect from the Zenotote scientist but assumed it might be something that could one-shot her if she was not careful.
Fiona and Harlan had hoped that two-on-one would be an advantage, but Dia continued to show her prowess when put in a concert-match fight. Every move they made was countered elegantly, and her singing didn’t miss a beat even though most of it was improv.
In a private section of the viewing seats, Kitten and Scarlet had watched the match with bated breath.
“I’d hate to admit it, but she’s not number one for nothing….” Scarlet muttered sadly.
“Don’t talk that way!” Kitten shouted back. Her pointed ears hung low, betraying her attitude as she watched the match.
Fiona gritted her teeth as she zapped next to Harlan for what felt like the hundredth time in the match. In the last attempt to attack the star, Dia had landed a blow on the covered scar on Fiona’s back. It hadn’t hurt, but the princess was again reminded of unpleasant memories. She shook her head.
The winged Aqueenian was fighting her mind as much as her body, and the princess felt a toll.
Harlan looked around at the crowd. She was trying to keep the many eyes staring at her out of her mind, but the more they shouted and cheered, the more they weighed on her mind. She squeezed her forearm tightly with her free hand in an attempt to draw some of her attention to something else.
Dia smiled as she stared down at her opponents from the air. She could tell the public battle was beginning to drain them. Her eyes moved in an odd way which was unnoticed as she remained far away from anyone.
I would wait after a couple more lines… give them some time to try one last counterattack to make sure there are no more tricks. X echoed in her mind.
Dia’s eyes darted around again.
No, waiting is best, X confirmed in reply to her rapid eye motions.
Every experienced beauideal, and warrior for that matter, eventually learned that nonverbal communication with their Needaimus was critical in a battle. Each came up with a technique in tandem with their partners for crucial moments. Some moved fingers, some had a series of hums, and many more methods for communication existed.
X’s advice was something Dia ordinarily took lightly in most situations, with the exception being battle. She had never gotten bad advice from her partner and hung in the sky to continue singing.
“♪Poor, poor souls. Your misfortune will be for all to recall and see. Your final moments will be engrained in their memories.♪” she sang to chide the duo into action.
Harlan looked nervously around at the crowd and then to Fiona, who clearly held a lot of tension in her back. The Zenotote scientist was out of options of what to use her ability on in the mechanical arena, save for herself. She took a deep breath and sang out to her teammate.
“♪Fiona, my ally, please get me up high, then this opposing beauideal will be plucked from the sky. Her wing will be clipped, and she will be brought to her knees.♪”
The crowd gasped at her declaration as the blue princess tilted her head to the side. Harlan pointed to the Needaimus on her scaly leg, and Fiona’s eyes lit up.
In a flash, the blue princess was in the sky again. She boldly sang with the music.
“♪The time has come for you to get taken down!♪”
Fiona kicked at Dia, and the winged Aqueenian spun in the air to dodge. Harlan took a deep breath and let her ability tear through her body as she was enveloped in a teleporting flash.
The time between Harlan’s disappearance and reappearance seemed much longer than it actually was for the winged Aqueenian. She focused carefully on every spot around her in preparation for the attack. All the while, Fiona sang.
“♪You see, Harlan is more than she seems; she’s got a secret move; like a flower, she can bloom!♪”
As if Fiona planned it, a moment she would never be able to repeat, Harlan reappeared and kicked Dia in the back on the word ‘bloom.’ The force from the blow was enough to send the winged Aqueenian crashing into the ground below. She managed to twist her wings in a manner to soften the crash but rolled several times before regaining her bearings.
Harlan landed on the ground with a thud while Fiona flashed next to her.
“♪Here she is, Blossoming Harlan!♪” Fiona said as she gestured to her teammate. The crowd cheered. “You look so cool, Harlan!” the blue princess added while forgetting to sing.
The Zenotote scientist had deviated far from her original species. Her scales had melted away into soft but tough green skin. The sharp teeth in her mouth had dulled some save for a stubborn one that seemed to stick out on one side. The frills on her head had grown long and split into fibers that resembled hair more than anything else and hung well past her waist. Instead of her face becoming more elongated, it had become flatter and sculpted. Much as Harlan wanted to deny it, she resembled a Netzian or an Aqueenian more than a Zenotote when she entered the form her ability granted. Her slitted eyes looked shyly at the ground.
The crowd was in awe. While she seemed to have deviated far from a Zenotote, she didn’t resemble any customarily seen hybrids. She didn’t have the gleam of an Aqueenian or the mammalian nature of a Netzian that they would look for. For everyone in the crowd, it was like seeing a new species for the first time.
Dia found her footing and stared at the new form of Harlan. She rubbed her back as the blow from the modified scientist still stung.
“♪You forgot to sing,♪” Harlan replied to Fiona. Her voice had changed to a deeper but gentle tone that, with a slight whisper, caused the crowd to shiver.
Harlan faced her opponent as the countdown for her change appeared in the corner of her field of vision. She didn’t have much time in the form, and ugly as she saw it, she needed to use it effectively while it lasted.