𝙊𝙉𝙀 𝙒𝙄𝙇𝘿 𝙉𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏

Round One Begins

Francis adjusted the hoodie after slipping it over his frame. Once doing so, he glances over to the mask as it sat on the countertop of the sink. He grips it from underneath and places it over his head, locking the chinstrap into place and thrashes his head around gently to make sure it was secure and would not slip off.  

"Seems good..." He mutters to himself before looking up to the bathroom mirror. He saw his eyes were the only thing that were visible. He took in a deep inhale and holds it for a second before letting out the exhale. 

Francis thought to himself for a moment, doing his best to shake off the jitters with a final self-pep-talk. He then looked down to his sneakers and stepped back from the mirror, doing a crip walk dance routine to get his feet used to the feeling of moving around like this once again. After doing a few sets of steps, he stops, places his feet together, and gazes back up to the mirror. 

"You got this." He says, feeling a surge of confidence suddenly rising within himself. 

Meanwhile, party goers crowd around and on the temporary dance floor, music filling the air. While most gathered around, others danced on the floor as they waited for the tournament to start. On the head of the DJ booth, a large flat screen TV showed a live feed of the dance floor area to allow spectators to see the action of the contest in case they could not get a good view from whatever part of the crowd they were in. Sullivan and Drake stood near the border of the dance floor in search of Francis within the crowd as Alex and Conrad stood behind them; Conrad seeming to be more alert but still looked as if he was on the verge of passing out. 

"Dammit, where the hell is Francis!?" Drake asked over the music, looking to Sullivan. 

"I don't see him anywhere! You think he could have bailed on the whole thing!?" Sullivan asks, still continuing his search. 

"I don't even know, man! Didn't Alex say that Party Pat wanted to talk to him!?" Drake asks. 

"That's what he told me!" Sullivan answers. 

As Francis stepped out onto the packed patio area of the backyard, he did his best to avoid the stares that were suddenly falling upon him as he navigated his way through the crowds. Party goers let out gasps and cheers at the sight of his mask as he weaved through. 

"Kickass mask, dude!" Francis hears a party goer say behind him before he then lets out a soft smile that no one could see. 

Eventually, Francis reaches the wall of spectators that surrounded the dance floor. Gently pushing past party goers, the gasps and cheers from those that saw him continued to sound off as he pushed through. Once reaching the other side of the wall, he coincidentally finds himself standing next to Drake, Sullivan, and the others. Francis looked over to Drake, noticing as if he was looking for someone. He then turned his gaze away, deciding to leave his identity a secret. 

As Drake searched, he finds his eyes falling on a person with a low polygonal fox mask and a black hoodie. Unbeknownst to him, it was the person he was looking for. He then leans in close to him, nudging his arm. 

"Hey, dude!" Drake says, watching as the masked person turned his attention to him. "That's a pretty rad mask!" 

Francis could not help but not grin ear to ear under his mask. He just simply nods his head to the beat of the music and gives a thumbs up to Drake before stuffing his hands into his jacket pockets.

"Also, you wouldn't have happened to see a black-haired human wearing a bomber jacket anywhere, have you!?" Drake then asks. 

Francis gives a simple shrug as he begun to tap his heel to the music. As Drake looked to him, he gazed into his eyes. Francis did the same, wondering if Drake could recognize him solely based on that. As Drake looked, his eyes begin to widen, slowly realizing who the person behind the mask was.