Magical Savior Shihoko
in:
Dance Revolutionary

<music: ‘Feels Like Heaven’ - Cam Tyler>

    “Baby, every night it feels like heaven,” Xander sang as he tapped out the rhythm on the DDE machine. With him that day were Kintara, Tsukiri, and Maximillion, the catgirl joining him on the machine for a Saturday afternoon’s worth of the dance game.
    People were crowded around the machine, many of them ‘ghosting’, or mimicking, the two dancers. Those who knew the songs and the steps by heart would occasionally take over if one of the dances was either lost or exhausted and couldn’t go on.
    “Another tie,” Marissa, the assistant manger for the Digital Dreams arcade, said, clapping for the two experienced dancers. “Who wants to see another song?”
    “Can we even dance another song?” Tara moaned as she leaned against the back bar to catch her breath, “Dunno about you Xan, but I’m beat.”
    “I think I’ve got another song or two left in me,” Xander replied as he clicked through the song selections. He raised an eyebrow when he spotted several with ‘new’ tags flashing. “Those weren’t there earlier.”
    “Software must have auto updated,” Marissa said, “for the tournament that’s happening next weekend.”
    “Whaaaa?!” Tara squealed, losing her balance and falling off of the machine. As she sat up she asked, “Why didn’t anybody tell us about this?!”
    “They’ve only had the flyers up for the last month,” Tsukiri sighed as Max helped the catgirl to her feet, “How could you not see them?”
    “You know me,” Tara giggled, “not too bloody observant sometimes. Ya know.”
    They heard the telltale sound of a song being selected, and turned to see Xander starting one of the new tracks.
<music: ‘Blue Impulse (for Extreme)’ - Naoki>
    For a new song Xander felt comfortable enough to dance it on the standard level, his feet flying across the panels to clear arrows from the screen. About halfway through he began to throw in turns and spins, keeping his combo high while free styling like someone dancing on light or beginner. He ended the song facing away from the screen, the final double hold arrows vanishing behind him.
    “Woah,” Tara gawked, “Xan, when did you become so... so... awesome?”
    The elf shrugged as he snapped back to reality. “Dunno,” he replied, “I think I lost consciousness halfway through.”
    “You’re a bloody natural,” Max said, taking Xander’s hands. “Please, let me be your pupil. I want to learn to dance like that.”
    Someone near the door applauded, and heads turned to see a young man of Xan’s age standing against the doorframe. His brown hair was cut short, the bangs slightly longer and dyed blond. The light reflected off of his glasses, which he adjusted as he smiled.
    “Very nice, Dark Star,” he said, “I’m impressed you could handle a new song like that with freestyle.”
    “Nice to see you too Falconor,” Xan said, leaping over the back bar to embrace the newcomer. When he felt multiple sets of eyes upon them he blushed and turned around. “Guys, this is my dance mentor, Mik.”
    “You’re Mik?” Tara asked.
    “Yup.”
    “The Mik?”
    “Uh-huh.”
    “The same Mik who has been chatting with Xan for who knows how long and has been training him in the online dance studio?”
    “The one and same,” Mik replied, “and I’ll guess that you’re Kintara.”
    Tara blushed and nodded. “Yes,” she replied, “has Xan said good things about me?”
    Mik nodded. “That he has,” he replied, “and you’re as bubbly and energetic as I imagined. Now, I’m going to guess that the two of you would be Max and Tsukiri.”
    “You’d be one hundred percent correct,” Tsukiri replied, smacking Max upside the head to get him to shut his mouth and stop drooling.
    “You’ve got a free song coming if you want it,” one of the groupie girls called from the game platform.
    Mik looked at Xan, who blushed to the tips of his pointy ears. “Shall we?” he asked.
    “Sure,” Xander replied, following Mik to the platform. “You want to select?”
    “Let’s try one of the new songs,” Mik replied, clicking through the listing. He stopped on one by one of Xander’s favorite groups. “This one?” he asked, hitting the start key.
<music: ‘Begin’ - BeForU>
    They moved smoothly; effortlessly; almost in perfect harmony as the arrows flashed up the screen. Mik took Xander’s hand at one point, spinning him around while swapping sides of the machine. Xander didn’t even bat an eye or miss a step, maintaining Mik’s perfect combo on a higher setting.
    He initiated a swap back, cartwheeling to his left while Mik slid to his right, landing on a double hold arrow for both of them.
    “Holy cheese,” Marissa said, fanning herself, “those two are going to set off the sprinkler system if they maintain that pace.”
    “Wow,” Xan gasped as they finished the song, “that was intense.”
    “And next weekend will be even more intense,” Mik said, “since I’ll be coming here for the tournament.”
    “Whaaaa?!” Tara squeaked again. “But you’re not a Digital Dreams regular.”
    “It’s ok,” Tsukiri said, “I heard about the arcade where Mik competes going up in flames, so the officials allowed the contestants to find other arcades.”
    “I do hope we’ll get to face each other in the finals,” Mik said, taking Xander’s hand to kiss the back of it. “Til next week.”
    As Mik left the arcade Xan’s smile turned to a frown as his temper took over. “Damn it!” he growled under his breath, “Now I’ll have to work twice as hard to even make it to the finals.”
    “Duck and cover,” Tsukiri and Tara said, both ducking behind Marissa’s counter as the elf ascended the dance platform and inserted several coins. “He’s gonna blow!”
    Xander clicked through the songs, stopping on another new tag, and hit the start key, his level still set to standard.
<music: ‘What Is Love’ - Haddaway>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Over dinner that night Xander’s boyfriend, Koichi, sat with his hands folded, his gaze upon the elf. Xan didn’t notice this until his third slice of pizza, and he arched an eyebrow, a strand of cheese hanging between his mouth and his slice. “What?” he asked, chewing on the cheese to separate it from the rest of the slice.
    “According to Tsukiri and Tara and Max, there was a cute guy talking to you today,” Koichi replied, wincing as Xander turned his head and spat soda onto the floor.
    “Where the hell did that come from?” Xander coughed.
    “Who was he?”
    “One of my rivals for next weekend’s tournament,” the elf replied between fits of coughing and sputtering, “and my dance mentor on top of that.”
    “Oh,” Koichi said, drawing the single syllable word out for a few seconds. “Sorry,” he said as he grabbed napkins to help mop up the spill. “Guess I’m still a little insecure.”
    “It’s alright,” Xander sighed, playfully mussing Koichi’s hair, “I’m sorry for worrying you.”
    “So he’s your dance mentor?” Koichi asked once things had calmed down once more, “What does one of those do?”
    “He monitors my progression via the internet,” Xan replied, “and sends me tips and suggests new songs to try.”
    Koichi paused, slice #4 halfway to his mouth. “Do any of the others have dance mentors?”
    “Not that I’m aware of,” the elf replied, “I think I’m the only one who is hardcore enough to need a mentor.”
    “Xan?”
    “Yes Ko?”
    “Will you be my dance mentor?”
    Xander giggled as Koichi blushed to the tips of his ears. “My dear,” he replied, “I’d be honored to be your dance mentor.”
    Koichi smiled. “And this will help with your training?”
    Xander blushed this time. “So... they told you that much too?”
    Koichi nodded. “Yup, and I want you to win.”
    Xander smiled warmly at his boyfriend. “You’re too much,” he sighed, “I don’t want to wear anyone out if I’m not even going to place.”
    Koichi reached across the table and flicked him in the forehead. “Stop with the negative thinking,” he said, “I’ll be cheering you on loudest, and I want you to do your best, so don’t give up before the fight begins.”
    Xander chuckled. “Ok,” he said, “I won’t give up, but you’d better be ready for a workout.”
    “Right,” Koichi said, pumping his fist in the air, “I’m ready to rock!”
    ‘And I’m ready to die,’ Xander thought with a sigh, ‘Oh well, can’t fault him for his energy.’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    In the palace of the dark kingdom, Soi Lecithin was unhappy. Two of her generals had failed to capture enough purity force from the locals of Earth to allow them to power one light, let alone a takeover of another dimension.
    “Mordred! Yuiren!” she bellowed, the two generals kneeling before her wincing from her shrill pronunciation of their names. “Your plans have ended in failure!”
    “Our apologies, my queen,” Mordred said, “we would have succeeded long ago if not for those magical girls and boys.”
    “They’re, like, a total thorn in our sides, your majesty,” Yuiren added.
    “Silence!” Queen Soi demanded, “I’ll give you tow screw ups one more chance to succeed in capturing at least a little purity force for our great kingdom.”
    “Yes, my queen,” the two generals replied in unison.
    Queen Soi nodded. “Now,” she said, “I have an idea you two can work on together. Supposedly in one week a grand tournament for a dance game will take place across the nations of Earth. If you can find some way to modify the machines...”
    “We can draw energy from people while they dance,” Yuiren replied, clapping her hands with glee, “Your majesty, you are, like, a total genius.”
    “I’ll also loan you two of our dark servants in case those blasted heroes show up.”
    “Yes ma’am!” Yuiren and Mordred said, saluting Soi.
    “Dismissed!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<music: ‘Ai Shoudou (cyborg trance mix)’ - Naoki>
    Xander closed his eyes as the song began. He’d been practicing for the past four days with Kintara, Koichi, Tsukiri, Max, and Reiko. His muscles ached, his head hurt, and he had blisters on both feet. On top of that his favorite sneakers had suffered a blowout, resulting in a mildly wrenched ankle but nothing that would keep him off of the machine.
    He glided through the steps, spinning around during the transition to a new part of the song. He thanked his stars that Marissa was an ace at braiding, and this alone had kept him from cutting his hair to keep it out of his face.
    His arms easily moved, almost independent of thought, as he lost himself in the song. His entire body became one with the game, his feet barely touching the arrows as he cleared step after step, beat after beat.
    Silence fell across the arcade as he danced, a few people openly weeping and whispering about the beauty of the dancer and the dance. Then, as if a switch had been thrown, cheering erupted as Xander completed the song and opened his eyes to check his score.
    “An S rank song,” Kintara cheered, “Xan, you rock!”
    “Thanks,” Xander sighed as he melted against the back bar, “though I can’t feel my feet any more.”
    “That’s no way to win,” Maho said, handing him a bottle of water, “you need to think positive.”
    Xander’s slump continued until he was seated on the dance platform. “Seriously, I’m positive I can’t feel my feet.”
    “He did clock a lot of songs already today,” Koichi said, “he needs a rest before he tries more.”
    “Don’t you people have jobs?” Marissa asked, “Like, you know, normal people?”
    “All of us managed a day off today,” Tara replied, her tail bristling slightly, “I’m free from the café, Xan’s free from the bookstore, Koichi’s off from the grocery store...”
    Marissa sighed and bowed her head in defeat. “I concede,” she sighed, “you win.”
    “I hope you’ll say that on Saturday,” Xan said as Koichi and Tsukiri helped him to his feet and over to a bench.
    “Can you really not feel your feet?” Tsukiri asked as Koichi went to get some snacks.
    “They tingle, and I’m drained,” Xan replied, “I think the dark kingdom is messing with us.”
    “Why here? Why now?” Maho asked, “We have silence for a week or two and BAM, they’re on a mission.”
    “Where else can they extract mass quantities of energy without anyone noticing?” Xan asked, watching two more people step onto the machine, “We just have to watch and see if it’s just one machine, or if they tapped the network and are doing random hits when they see a certain dance level.”
    Xan looked up as Mik sauntered into the arcade, the experienced dancer moving like poetry in motion. The crowd parted like the red sea as he stepped up to the recently vacated machine and inserted his coins.
    “Something’s on your mind,” Tara said, watching both Mik and Xander, “what’s going through that elven brain of yours?”
    Xander watched the soles of Mik’s sneakers as well as the dance platform. A soft glow formed where shoe met platform, and sure enough, after two songs Mik was apparently feeling winded.
    “Guess I’ve been training too hard,” he said, taking a seat near Xan and company. “How you doing?” he asked the elf.
    Xan nodded. “I’m still training,” he said, feeling the bracelet around his wrist pulse. He tugged on his shirt sleeve in an attempt to conceal the deep violet stone that housed his powers for the magic healer called Zandarius.
    Behind him Tara and Maho exchanged worried glances. They could tell the dark kingdom was up to something, but not the exact location unless Max was with them. The two girls looked over at Tsukiri, who was most likely talking with Lyssa, Reiko, or Max on his cell.
    He flipped his phone shut before tapping Xan on the shoulder. “Lyssa called,” he whispered, “there’s that movie she wants to see and it’s playing right now.”
    “What movie?” Mik asked as Xander rose to leave.
    “The Dark Knights of the Kingdom,” Maho replied, “very Indy. Only one theater in the area is running it.”
    “Sounds fun,” Mik said, raising an eyebrow as the four people he’d been talking to vanished like a fading dream. “That’s odd.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Outside and two blocks away Xander stopped running, their afterimages all melting way as he ducked into an alley.
    “Can we please do that again?” Maho giggled, “That was kinda fun.”
    “Later,” Tara said, flipping open her phone. “Max, you’re up.”
    “You’re right on top of the signal,” Max replied, “they should be in the basement or the sewers.”
    “You’re on your way, right?” Tara asked as her three friends prepared for combat.
    “I’ve got violin practice for another fifteen minutes,” Max sighed, his voice a whisper, “but I’ll be there fast as lightning. Trust me.”
    “Right,” the catgirl said, shutting her phone before slipping it into her pocket. “Ready troops?”
    “Looks like it’s just us four,” Tsukiri said, the gem in his bracelet glowing blue, the other three nodding in agreement.
    They thrust their hands aloft, their bracelets glowing the colors of their elements. “Transform!” they cried, white light wrapping around Tara’s body, changing her from ordinary catgirl to Magical Savior Shihoko. A bubble of darkness formed around Xander, vanishing in a flash of light to deposit Magical Healer Zandarius. Flames wrapped around Maho while water swelled up around Tsukiri, changing them into Mystic Fighter Sakura and Mystic Warrior Genrou.
    “Now for the fun stuff,” Zandarius said, bringing his hands together, index fingers extended. “Close your eyes,” he insisted, using the shadows around them. “Shadow walk.”
    They melted into the shadows as Mik rounded the corner to find them. He stopped and scratched his head before turning to run into one of the youma under Mordered’s and Yuiren’s control.
    “Your energy will be most welcome, little human,” the monster said, draining him before picking him up and teleporting away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    The four heroes reappeared in the shadows of the basement, Shihoko wrinkling her nose as various scents assaulted her senses. “Pheee - whew,” she muttered, “anyone ever hear of opening a window or three?”
    “Shh,” Sakura hissed, pointing towards where a glow was visible in the darkness.
    “They must be here and not the sewers,” Zandarius said, breathing a small sigh of relief, “thank the goddess.”
    Genrou poked his head around the corner, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise. “They’ve got a hostage,” he said.
    “Who?” Shihoko asked.
    “Mik.”
    Zandarius narrowed his eyes. “Then this fight is mine,” he said, drawing the no datchi sword that slept in the gem on his bracer.
    “No,” Sakura said, putting a hand on his shoulder, “it’s ours.”
    “What’s the plan?” Shihoko asked, finding three sets of eyes focused on her. “What? I have to think of all of the plans?”
    “We’ll do what we always do,” Genrou said, drawing his glaive from his own gem, “we wing it.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    In the other section of the basement Yuiren and Mordred chuckling with glee. Queen Soi’s monsters were the best, since one of them could hack the network to the DDE machines, and the other could create a machine of its own to keep them entertained while they drew upon the energies of thousands of players.
    “This is almost too easy,” Yuiren said, ripping Mik’s shirt open, her fingertips aglow, “and who knew so many people with pure hearts played the game.
    “I’m sure you’ve heard this before,” Mik said weakly, somehow managing to hold onto consciousness, “but you won’t get away with this.”
    “Trust me kiddo,” Mordred said as he zapped two more people, “if we took this global the world would be ours within a week.”
    “Is that so?” a female voice asked from the shadows. “Did you come up with this plan or did your leader do it for you?”
    “Queen Soi, naturally,” Mordred replied, suddenly realizing he wasn’t answering Yuiren but someone else. “Who the?”
    “You should know by now,” the voice replied, “I am the swift fist of love and justice.”
    “The healer of hearts.”
    “The mighty hammer of justice and fire of passion.”
    “The ruler of the turbulent tides.”
    There were two flashes of light and a blur of silver and another of indigo and black, Mordred and Yuiren falling over themselves trying to keep up with the motions of their attackers.
    “Magical Savior Shihoko.”
    “Mystic Healer Zandarius.”
    “Mystic Fighter Sakura.”
    “Magical Warrior Genrou.”
    The cables connecting them to the network fell apart, cut cleanly through by two sets of cat claws. That was when the two generals noticed that their hostage was now free from his bonds and in the hands of an elf in a suit of armor. Standing at the rear entrance were Genrou and Sakura, both with weapons drawn and ready to be used.
    “We can’t win like this,” Mordred said, drawing a glowing sword.
    “Couldn’t have said it better myself,” Zandarius said, handing Mik over to Shihoko before bringing his hands together once more. “Shadow Walk.”
    They melted into the shadows once more, leaving an abandoned basement and some second hand equipment in their wake.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    They emerged from the transport in an old construction site, the two generals sending their monsters to do their bidding.
    “Looks like tow rejects from a mecha anime,” Sakura remarked as she whacked one of the creatures with her hammer, “What makes them so special?”
    “Dance, little heroes,” the monster said, dance panels forming beneath each of them, “if you miss a step you get a shock.”
    “And we’re going to start you on the higher settings,” the other monster said, selecting as song.
<music: ‘Just Dance’ - Lady Gaga>
    For the first few steps there was nothing. Then arrows began to fly up in the air between the heroes and the monsters, Sakura and Genrou getting heavy jolts for not playing the higher levels.
    “That’s what you’re fighting us with?” Zandarius asked with a snort. “Don’t make me laugh.”
    Yuiren and Mordred looked a little worried as Shihoko and Zandarius both continued to clear arrow after arrow, the catgirl missing the occasional step while the elf began to free style.
    “A seven foot on heavy,” he declared as the song ended and he leapt off of the pad, slamming his foot into the monster that created the pads. He dropped onto his hands and turned, performing a sweeper kick that sent the youma sprawling onto its back. He stayed with the momentum, flipping back to his feet while drawing his blade from his gem.
    “Astral Drain!” he cried, slamming the sword into the youma. An energy transfer commenced, the youma’s energy flowing into his body before he sent it to help his friends.
    “That’s not good,” Yuiren said, “you, dance machine, hit him with some killer tunes before he kills us.”
    The youma nodded before clicking through its internal selection. “Try on this track,” it said, “it’s new!”
<music: ‘Pump’ - B-52's>
    “Tidal Wall!”
    A wall of water rose up in front of Zandarius, the barrier taking the brunt of the sonic attack while filling the air with the sounds of a roaring waterfall.
    “Ok, Miss I-don’t-know-how-to-plan,” Sakura muttered to Shihoko, “what do we do now?”
    Shihoko looked around, an evil grin crossing her lips. “We’re lucky we’re in an open area,” she said, the gems in her bracelets glowing, “don’t you think?”
    “No way,” Genrou said, “too risky for you to landscape, though letting off some steam sounds like a plan.”
    Sakura thought for a moment before the head of her hammer began to glow. “I like how you think.”
    “Just keep in mind we have an innocent with us,” Zandarius said, looking around for Mik. “Now where did he go?”
    “He’s over here,” Koushiro called from the entrance, “we’ll leave the rest of the fight to you four.”
    Zandarius smirked. “Alright,” he said, giving the archer a thumbs up. “Sakura, would you do us the honor of leading off this combo assault?”
    “My pleasure,” Sakura replied, spinning her hammer above her head. She vaulted into the air as Shihoko and Zandarius boosted their speed and broke to the left and right to surround their target. Sakura swung her hammer as she began her descent, the weapon smashing into the ground, flames leaping forward. “Dragon Rage!”
    Flames spun up in front of her, creating a dragon’s head. The dragon reared back before belching flames upon the youma and the two generals.
    “Obliteration Blast!”
    A flash of white light released a wave of raw energy that combined with the Dragon Rage, boosting its strength to the degree that sand began to turn to glass.
    “Darkness Claw!”
    An X-shaped blade of darkness cut through the air, slicing through the youma before breaking into smaller blades to attack the generals.
    “And now for the coup de grace,” Genrou said, the water wall rising to several stories in height. “Tidal Wave!”
    The wall crashed down upon the youma, destroying it utterly while shutting down the powers of his teammates. As a bonus it picked up Yuiren and Mordred, washing them towards the bay and any sewers in their path.
    “And that, my friends, is how we take care of business,” Shihoko said, hi-fiving her teammates, “Rock!”
    “So what happens now?” Sakura asked, “We can’t exactly de-power here. Mik might see us.”
    Zandarius tapped his chin in thought before bringing his hands together. “I can take us on one more shadow walk before I’m out of power for the day.”
    “That will have to do,” Genrou said, returning his glaive to his jewel. “Ready.”
    “Shadow Walk.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    They reappeared across town, one alley down from where they’d made the initial leap. Once there they powered down, Koushiro landing behind them. “He’s back at the arcade, resting with Reiko and Lyssa watching over him,” the archer reported.
    “Shouldn’t you still be at your lesson?” Kintara asked as the archer bounced back up the walls.
    There was a flash of lightning, a deafening crash of thunder, and Koushiro was gone. “Guess that answers that question,” the catgirl muttered as they headed back to the arcade to check on Mik and finish training for the day.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    “We are so toast when we get home,” Yuiren muttered as she and Mordred trudged through the sewers in search of somewhere they could use to teleport back to the dark kingdom.
    “I think not,” Mordred replied as he fished through his coat. He pulled out a shining globe, Yuiren’s eyes widening in amazement.
    “That’s... is that really a full crystal?” the female general asked in surprise.
    “Yup,” Mordred replied, “Snatched it before we had to take a runner. I figure all of our work shouldn’t go to waste.”
    Yuiren giggled and hugged Mordred. “Mordy, you’re the best.”
    “Precisely why I get the girls,” Mordred replied, earning a punch in the arm.
    They eventually reached a dry, unused storeroom, where Yuiren set to work in creating a portal. “What do we tell Queen Soi?” she asked once the portal was online.
    “We tell her there were some issues after we show her the crystal,” Mordred replied, “hopefully she’ll give us both another chance rather than a trip to the cooler.”
    Yuiren nodded, uttering the word of power to complete the portal spell. There was a flash of light, a bang, and they were gone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<music: ‘Begin’ - BeForU>
    Saturday morning arrived all too soon for Mik and Xander, both of whom arrived simultaneously at the arcade. They signed in for the competition, both looking at the crowds without speaking a word to one another.
    “Good morning Digital Dreamers,” Marissa announced, “and welcome to our guests from System Crash arcade. I’m your hostess with the mostess, Marissa.”
    “And I’m Kouji,” the arcade owner added from beside Marissa, “We’ll be starting momentarily with the tournament. But first, a word from our sponsors.”
    By the time Kouji and Marissa were done with their spiel half of the audience was catatonic and the dancers were growing angry and a little agitated. The minute the tournament was declared online the cheering was loud enough to deafen.
    “First up will be our hometown hero, Xander Kuronova. He’ll be facing off against longtime rival, Nene Sakuraba. Dancers, ready? Begin!”
    Xander’s first match flew by, with a landslide victory going to the elf. Nene simply shrugged and kissed him on the cheek before walking off, muttering about how she’d need to train twice as hard for next year.
    “Next up, guest dancer Mik Tachikawa will square off against our very own Leena Fujioka. Dancers, show us your hottest moves!”
<montage background music: ‘Flashbeagle’ - Peanuts>
    The second match went to Mik, who barely cleared the final song, his strength still not fully restored from the previous day’s events.
    ‘Not good,’ Xander thought as Mik ordered an energy drink. He looked around before walking up beside Mik, planting a kiss on the other boy’s cheek.
    “What the?” Mik asked in surprise as Xander walked off.
    “My way of wishing you luck,” Xander replied as he melted into the crowd. He’d used his Soul Kiss on a lower setting to restore some of Mik’s strength so they could face each other in the final round.
    The back and forth continued, with Xander and Mik each missing songs while clearing others without fail. After several hours of this they faced off for the final round, both still silent as Marissa prepared the machine.
    “For this final match you’ll have an additional item to be judged upon,” Kouji announced, “we’re adding points for how well you can freestyle, and there are your judges.”
    Kintara, Maho, Koichi, and Reiko gave sheepish waves and smiles to the two dancers, since they’d been selected at the last minute to be guest judges.
    “How is that even fair?” Mik asked, “They all know my competition.”
    “We technically know each other too,” Xan replied, his gaze on Marissa, “hit us with your best shot girlfriend.”
    Marissa nodded as the duo stepped onto the machine. She found a song with the ‘new’ tag still attached. “First song,” she said as quiet fell across the arcade, “Show us your hottest moves.”
<music: ‘See You Again’ - Miley Cyrus>
    Xander broke out with the freestyle from the first beat, performing motions that went with the lyrics while nailing the arrows. When the chorus hit he used the back bar to his advantage, his legs a blur as he wrapped around the machine like he wanted to make love to it.
    When the second round of the chorus hit Mik broke out of his astonished trance and commenced with his own freestyle, awing the crowd and the judges alike.
    “That’s amazing,” Maho breathed as the two dancers began to synchronize their steps.
    “They know each other’s style all too well,” Koichi said, “it’s an even match.”
    As the song ramped into the final round of the chorus Xander leapt into the air, flipped backwards, and landed in time to hit a long string of arrows.
    “The moonsault finisher,” Reiko gasped, “that’s only supposed to be a legend.”
    “History has been made,” Kintara remarked as the song ended, the two dancers leaning back to back.
    “Wow,” Marissa gasped, “that was... well, hot.”
    “Next song,” the dancers said in unison, neither ready to give up.
    Marissa looked to Kouji, who simply shrugged since ti was now out of his hands. “Right,” she said, finding another song with the ‘new’ tag. “Dance on.”
<music: ‘Party Join Us’ - Shin-chan>
    The crowd began to bop to the beat as both Xander and Mik glided through the opening of the song, the elf once again flying into some wild freestyle during the slower measures following the first chorus.
    By the end of the slowdown Mik was throwing in the occasional freestyle step, his attention more on the screen than on his opponent, who was far too hyper for his own good.
    With the end of the second chorus and the second slowdown Mik was beginning to loosen up, shaking his tail when directed by the song lyrics.
    Both dancers finished strongly, once again back to back as the final hold arrow flashed up the screen. The crowd was silent as Marissa blinked in awe at the scores, identical ‘S’ rankings on the screen. She looked at Kouji and whimpered, since the tension was so thick it could be cut by a knife.
    “Next song please,” Mik said, running the back of his hand across his brow. He raised an eyebrow when he saw he’d actually broken a sweat.
    Marissa stepped down as Kouji ascended the platform. “The final song,” he said as he clicked through the reel, “will be decided by roulette. Dancers, take your marks.”
    Kouji hit the ‘start’ key, the reel flying through the songs at warp speed. After a few seconds it began to slow down, clicking a couple of times before stopping on a new song.
<music: ‘Will’ - Naoki>
    Xander immediately launched into freestyle, his hands and feet independent entities. Beside him Mik began to freestyle as well, both dancers in perfect synch as they cleared arrow after arrow.
    “Damn,” Kintara muttered, “they’re both off the charts. I don’t know how to score for them.”
    Maho ducked as someone’s shoe flew past her head, taking out someone in the cheap seats. “You vote for the person who isn’t trying to kill you,” she replied, looking over her shoulder at the fan girl who was in unconscious ecstacy, one of Xander’s shoes firmly in her hands.
    “Think that will cost him?” Koichi asked when he saw the shoe. He looked back to the machine as the crowd began to cheer, his eyes widening when he saw Xander using his hands as well as his feet to finish the song. “Never mind.”
    The third song ended with Xander sitting down, his hands and one good foot on the last arrows. “Can I have my shoe back please?” he asked, his breathing heavy.
    “Can you do one more song?” Mik asked as he helped the elf to stand.
    Xan took his shoe from Koichi and examined the now broken laces. “Provided the shoe doesn’t take off again, I probably can. Why?”
    “Because you’re both tied and the judges can’t decide who should win,” Marissa said, “you can pick the last song yourselves, since I need an ice cream.”
    Xander clicked through the songs, stopping on an old favorite. “Think this one will tell which of us knows how to work the crowd?”
    Mik listened to the few notes the machine provided and nodded. “That one takes me back.”
    Xander checked his shoe, tying the remains of the lace around his ankle to keep it in place. He then hit the ‘start’ key, the screen clearing.
<music: ‘Move Me Baby’ - E*rotic>
    The rest of the lights in the arcade went out, a pair of spotlights illuminating the dancers, who began moving from the word ‘go’. Once the arrows started up the screen they threw their entire beings into their moves, showing the crowd why they were tops in the arcade.
    Off to one side a legion of fan girls began their own chorus line, getting sudden inspiration from the song. Up on the platform Xander’s hands were all over the place as he spun around, nailing arrows with precision. Beside him Mik was lost in his own world, the dance becoming the dancer, and vice versa.
    “They’re both maniacs,” Tsukiri remarked.
    “Don’t look at their feet, lest you go blind,” Max replied, his gaze firmly resting upon the dancers’ posteriors.
    The dancing duo ended back to back once more, their legs barely able to support them. They looked over to Marissa and the guest judges, who were conferring about scoring. After a few moments of deliberation Marissa stepped away and said, “The scores on the machine are tied, so it all boils down to your hottest moves. Were they hot enough for our judges? First, the scores for Mister Kuronova.”
    Tara, Maho, Reiko, and Koichi held up cards, upon which were posted scores from 1 to 10.
    There were three 10's and a 9.5 from Maho, who was still a little upset about the shoe that could have taken her head off.
    Marissa looked at the dancers, then at the judges. “And now the scores for Mister Tachikawa please.”
    There were three 10's, Koichi pouting before revealing a fourth 10 on his card. The duo on the machine let out sighs of relief and resignation as their legs finally gave out and they slid to the floor.
    “And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the end of the tournament,” Marissa announced, “join us next week for ‘Dancing With A Garbage Man.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Dinner that evening was bowls of ramen from the Kuronova noodle shop, on the house, as part of a victory celebration.
    “But I only came in second,” Xander protested as his mother gave him another bowl.
    “First for the arcade, though,” Tsukiri pointed out, “and you’re friends with the winner.”
    “And he gave me a run for my money,” Mik volunteered, “I didn’t realize you had come so far so fast, Xan-kun.”
    Xander blushed again. “It was a lot of hard work,” he said quietly, “not some overnight thing.”
    “True,” Reiko said, “though you were in the zone on the new songs. How did you do all the fancy moves when you’d never danced them before?”
    “Dancer’s Zen,” Mik replied, earning a few raised eyebrows. “It occurs when a dancer gets so lost in the song they’re able to see the arrows and hit them while also moving without really thinking about it.”
    Mrs. Kuronova appeared with a camera and insisted everyone pull together for a photo of the winners. As she pressed the button for the shutter Mik kissed Xander on one cheek while Koichi kissed the other cheek, the elf blushing to the tips of his ears. And all of it was caught on film for posterity’s sake.

-End

    “Xander here, reminding everyone to stay tuned to Magical Savior Shihoko, since we have no idea what will happen next. And I put the action in traction. So keep watching kids, or else Tara will really cause some trouble.”
    “What?!”

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