Batty was having a bad day. He had let two unknowns slip past him in the hallway, and as hard as the collective army of guards tried, they had not found the intruders in the network of hallways that made up the backstage. He had received a verbal lashing from his boss and was demoted several ranks in the Order of the Guards as a result.
He had hoped the surprise concert-match with Dia, pictured on the buttons that adorned his chest, might cheer him up.
It didn’t.
Had he not sat in a chair to watch the fight, he would have fallen over when Dia’s opponents came on the stage. The two that had slipped past him were dressed in beautiful outfits and ready to battle with his favorite beauideal.
He could do nothing but watch as the two sides clashed in the arena. However, it quickly became clear to him that Dia was not in a tough position. She seemed to take every attack the duo threw at her with grace and confidence. Batty relaxed as his favorite beauideal lived up to her image.
The guard had relaxed until Harlan’s transformation. The entire crowd became tense at the sight of an unknown ability creating the ‘Blossoming Harlan’ dubbed by Fiona.
Dia flapped her wings and attempted to climb back in the air, but Harlan quickly closed the gap between them. The modified Zenotote punched at Dia’s chest, and Dia spun to avoid the strike. As the fist flew next to her body, the green Beauideal shuddered. It seemed like Harlan had enough force to break through a wall.
She instantly focused her ability on the modified Zenotote. X allowed Dia to be the best at a selected something than everyone else in the ‘room.’ Immediately, she produced more brute strength than Harlan. Dia punched back at her opponent, which echoed as it landed squarely on the Zenotote’s face.
Harlan was unfazed. Her ultimate form was created with three primary improvements in mind—strength, defense, and speed. It took years and several iterations to reach perfection, and it was an uncharacteristic brute force approach that she frowned upon, but she figured the form would have a time and place for use. She responded with a punch to Dia’s stomach, at which the Beauideal gasped. With a flap of her wings and hands held on her stomach, Dia quickly retreated to the air. It was unbecoming for beauideals to simply duke it out.
“♪You’ve done well, I see. An ultimate form granted by your ability? Unfortunately, it will be nothing.♪” She sang to her two opponents on the ground. Her singing did not falter, and the crowd began to cheer their star on.
Dia quickly communicated to X:
‘We are in a bind, aren’t we?’
You shouldn’t have challenged them so recklessly… yes, we are. It seems that form prioritizes attack and defense, and we can only become better than one of them.
‘Can you estimate how long she will have that form?’ The Beauideal realized she would have to stall to win in the end.
In response to Dia’s request, a countdown appeared in her vision. Unbeknownst to Harlan, the green Aqueenian’s Needaimus had accurately predicted when the transformation would end within several milliseconds.
Dia quickly switched from being the best at attacking to the best at defense as Harlan jumped off the ground. The modified Zenotote made a powerful uppercut while her dress and long ‘hair’ flew wildly in the air.
Dia spun in the air but quickly moved her wings to regain control. She smiled at her falling opponent.
“♪I’m afraid I can no longer feel the pain you give!♪” she happily sang. The green beauideal planned to wait out Harlan’s ability before finishing the fight.
“♪Fiona, the time is now!♪” Harlan replied.
The modified Zenotote disappeared in a flash and reappeared over Dia’s head. She kicked Dia in the back, but the beauideal felt nothing but a tickle. Fiona joined in and tried for a kick, which was equally ineffective.
Another flash moved Harlan to the front of Dia, and another blow was hardly felt for the winged beauideal.
Fiona gritted her teeth as she saw no way to take down the winged beauideal. Her ally’s confidence and powered-up form were all the blue princess could find trust in. She moved Harlan behind Dia and zapped in front of the winged Beauideal while preparing to make another strike. Dia smiled as she planned to take the harmless blows.
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Before either of the duo struck, as the Zenotote scientist was behind Dia, Harlan quickly reverted back to her normal scaly body. The beauideal was unprepared as two kicks hit her from the back and front. Her defense remained the best but was now back to its original state, and each blow was given with as full force as the other girls could muster.
Harlan thought to begin singing, and Fiona joined in with rambling, incoherent words in an attempt to follow along. The three of them fell to the ground.
“♪Dia the star, with wings so wide it only makes sense you would be ranked so high. ♪” Fiona quickly zapped next to the green Aqueenian and grabbed her wings. “♪Now bested by two strangers, what will come? ♪” Dia gritted her teeth and forcefully moved her wing to throw Fiona off, but it came too late, and she only succeeded in adding a little softness to the impact. Dia hit the ground hard but quickly began to push herself up.
Harlan finished as she used the fall to drive her scaly elbow into the grounded Dia. Fiona appeared next to the two and helped her teammate up.
The crowd was silent as they waited for Dia to get up. It took the announcer far longer than it should to give the final conclusion:
“D- Dia has lost?” he shouted. The music played for a minute longer to wait for a moment where stopping wouldn’t be so abrupt, then the crowd cheered with mixed emotions. “That means… her winning streak has finally ended?” the announcer gasped at the realization.
From inside the private viewing booth, Kitten jumped with joy, and Scarlet held hands over her mouth in surprise. In the seats, Batty could do nothing but let his mouth hang open.
Dia slowly began to push herself up from the ground. She had quickly broken out of her unconscious state, but it was not fast enough to prevent a declaration of her loss. The space slowly began to flatten into a plain arena as Dia stood up.
Harlan stood with her arms crossed. Upon seeing it, Fiona followed suit.
“I suppose that’s a loss….” Dia said once she was sure their voices would no longer be amplified to the crowd. She smiled and walked to the duo. They flinched as she pulled them in for a hug. “Fortunately, this match was unofficial. So, I remain undefeated technically. That being said, it was wonderful to have some opponents take me seriously!”
Harlan and Fiona squirmed at their opponent’s unexpected hug.
“We made a deal before the match….” Harlan managed to say. Dia released them from her hold and stepped back. She winked and held a finger to her lips.
“Such things are best spoken about in private quarters! Why don’t we go back to my room!” The winged beauideal spun and waved to the crowd. They cheered and wept for their star. “We can also discuss the details of our next match! Now that I know your tricks, I won’t be trounced next time!” she added as she turned back to the duo.
Fiona, unsure of what to think about Dia, looked to Harlan. The Zenotote scientist shook her head.
“Very well,” she replied. Dia made a smile that was somewhere between friendly and dangerous and waved for the others to follow. She took several steps, then suddenly was thrust back from a blow to the stomach. Anyone familiar with sniping instantly knew the winged beauideal had been shot. As Dia fell to the ground, the crowd gasped.
“Fiona–“ Harlan shouted as she tried to move, but she was cut short as another shot ran through her leg. The green Zenotote fell to her knees and held her wound. Fiona gasped and zapped before the next shot could hit her.
From the seats, Batty leaped into action. He quickly ran through the bleachers as Fiona zapped Harlan back into the tunnel they had entered from. The beauideal who had waited at the start with them had a look of horror as Fiona set Harlan next to her.
“Look… look after her…” she said as she turned back to Dia. Batty began applying pressure to the wound as the green star looked at the sky in a daze. Fiona tried to extend her ability to the two in the field but found she was prevented from teleporting them.
“Get out of here… she’s going to attack again… can’t have a fan get hurt,” she hazily said to Batty without looking at him.
The guard gritted his teeth as he gently scooped Dia up. Another shot hit him in his right shoulder from the back. Batty smiled.
“Fool, now I know where you’re attacking from!” he grunted as he turned his back to the sniper and began to walk Dia from the center of the arena.
Another shot hit him in the leg, but the guard kept going. Dia began to weakly wave to her fans as if to tell them she was alright.
Batty kept walking but could feel his strength failing. He looked ahead to where Fiona stood in the tunnel, and their eyes met. He swallowed his pride and nodded to the princess, indicating she should support them. Several flashes of light moved them across the arena, and to the surprised—that her ability began to work—blue princess’s side. Batty fell to his knees as he gently set Dia on the ground. She had fallen unconscious and was breathing unsteadily.
Several more guards rushed from inside the tunnel to their aid as Batty finally collapsed.
From atop a building far outside the arena, Sabia sighed. She was laid out on the roof with her long Needaimus pointed to the arena. A scope sat in front of her left eye, and her nonbonded hand sat next to a bag full of what looked like metal thorns wrapped into a small sphere.
She had overheard Dia’s plan to reveal their secrets, which was something that could not be allowed. As soon as the trio of fighters left, Sabia emerged from her hiding place. She quickly left the arena to the best vantage point and set up to watch the match. Had Dia won, the Aqueenian sniper would have done nothing.
The loss meant that the beauideals usefulness had simply run out.
Sabia stood up and sent out a message to her teammates with her Needaimus.
‘Dia has been taken down. I suspect she will end up in the hospital.’
A reply came in an instant from their leader. The words flashed in her vision.
‘A shame, but no matter of concern. I suspected we would need to do that much for the next phase. All agents are to return to base at once. We will discuss our next steps immediately.’
Sabia packed up her supplies and quickly left the roof. The rest of the beauideal matches were canceled for the day, and a political battle rose to keep the news of what happened from spreading too far and too fast.