Twisted Wonderland Book 5: A Beauitful Tyrant

Chapter 4: An Enticing Prize

A few days later...

Briar and her friends have finished class and are walking into the cafeteria.

Grim whines, "Myah, I'm starvin'! It feels like we gotta wait YEARS for lunchtime to roll around on days with morning P.E."

"What's P.E. got to do with anything?" Ace questions.

"Yeah. You're always hungry," Jasper says.

Serai turns her head and replies, "Hm? What's going on over there?"

Deuce notices it as well, "Huh. There's a crowd gathering near that wall."

"I wonder what's going on?" Tanzanite asks.

"Let's go find out," Briar says.

The group walks towards where the crowd of people are to see a black flier on the wall.

Deuce looks at it, "Let's see." and reads, "'Song & Dance Championship...' '...Now accepting auditions'?"

Then Deuce remembers, "Oh, that's the music showcase event at the culture fair."

"I see it on TV every year. Never knew the competitors on there had to audition, though." Ace says.

"Does the flier say anything else?" Sereia asks.

"Let's see," Ace says, and continues reading, "'Dancers! Singers! Come one, come all! This is your shot at the big time!' 'Outshine the rest and be a star!' 'If the team representing your school makes it to the final round...' 'Each member will receive a share of the fifty thousand thaumark prize.'"

"Fifty thousand thaumarks?!" the group exclaims in surprise.

Suddenly, Crowley's voice comes in, "That's right! Isn't it just a fabulous prize?!"

The group screams in fright, "GAH! You scared me!" And turn to see Crowley.

"I know it's a running gag at this point, but could you PLEASE stop popping up out of nowhere, headmage?!" Ace shouts, still acting up from the fright.

"Oh, I beg your pardon. I never meant to frighten you," Crowley replies.

Then says, "There's a reason this Song & Dance Championship has such a tantalizing pot up for grabs. There are a number of businesses sponsoring it, you see. SDC is nothing like the Pop Music Club contests you're used to. The finalists get swamped with offers from all manner of entertainment agencies and labels. It's entirely possible to rocket from obscurity to the ranks of the top artists in the land. This isn't merely a matter of school pride—it's a high-stakes music battle with the entrants' future success or failure riding on the outcome. And if we want to attract more elites, we need a sufficiently enticing prize.

"Ah, I get you. If the sponsors can net a star that lets them basically print money... Fifty thousand thaumarks is a small price to pay," Ace says.

Then Grim happily says, "With fifty grand, I could load up on fancy three-thaumark canned tuna!"

"Here you go again with food involved," Jasper says.

But Deuce says, "Hold on. It says that the prize is split amongst the team. So if there was a four-member group, each member would get...uhhh... fifty divided by four... Ten... Thirteen..."

"It'd be 12,500 thaumarks. Which would net you over four thousand cans of premium tuna," Ace says.

"Daaang! Four thousand!" Grim says, amazed.

He turns to Briar in excitement, "Ooh, ooh! Briar! I want in on this competition!"

"Well, I don't see a problem with it, but you'll have to make it through the auditions first," Briar says.

Then Crowley says, "Some schools select representatives from their Choral and Pop Music Clubs... But here at Night Raven College, we scout talent from the entire student body via audition."

So you gotta duke it out and claw your way to the top!" Deuce says, sounding confident.

"Of course, the most serious students have been preparing or this since last year... But as I see it, everyone always has the right to dream of stardom," Crowley says. Then asks with a smile, "Well? What do you think? Aren't I so very kind? Anyone has the right to audition, as long as they are currently enrolled here. I, for one, simply cannot wait to see who will represent us this year!" and walks away with a smile.