𝙊𝙉𝙀 𝙒𝙄𝙇𝘿 𝙉𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏

Road to Victory

The dance floor had begun to clear of party goers after the DJ had announced the semi-final round was to begin. Francis had not seen Ariel during the intermission between the rounds, but he had thought it was for the best. He simply wanted to focus on the competition and nothing else. The crowd had once again surrounded the dance floor, dancing to the music as they waited for the semi-finals to start. Francis had suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked to his left to see Drake, Sullivan, and Alex staring at him. 

"You can do this, man!" Sullivan says, giving a thumbs up to him. 

"Hell yeah, bro! Go out there and kick ass!" Drake says. 

Francis smiles under his mask. He took in a deep breath, feeling a wave of confidence well from within himself due to the encouragement of his friends. 

"It is now time for the Dance Off semi-finals!" The DJ says as the crowd cheers. "One song, thirty seconds each for the dancers. We start this semi-final off with our first match, Biggie C. versus Derrick!" 

Francis let out a nervous sigh. He didn't know if Ariel had advanced to the semi-final round for sure, but judging by her performance in the previous round, he was confident that he was set to face off against her. As he watched the first match that had commenced, he observed as the two dancer traded blows. Although they both appeared to be evenly matched at first, Derrick had begun to seamlessly combine various dance styles together, putting his superior skills on full display. Francis knew in that moment that Derrick was the one he had to defeat if he was to advance to the final round. As he watched, he had also realized that if he was to beat Derrick, he had to bust out a dance style that he hadn't practiced in years. He was fully confident to perform them. However, he understood that he had to choose the perfect moment to put them on display to secure his win. Eventually, the first match had reached its end. 

"That was match one, party freaks. Voting ends in thirty seconds." The DJ says, spinning the records of his turn style table and resumes the music as normal. 

After thirty seconds had passed, the DJ leans back into his microphone. 

"Voting is now closed. And our first finalist in this year's Dance Off with over 60% of the votes is... Derrick!" The DJ announces, the crowd cheering. "And with that, time for match number two. And as for our dancers..." Francis listened with bated breath. 

"...Ariel versus The Basketball Shuffle Kid!" The DJ announces, the crowd erupting with applause. 

Francis took in a deep breath and had stepped out onto the dance floor, watching as Ariel strutted out onto the floor with swagger in front of him, their eyes instantly locking together. Ariel had stood in her place, her feet placed together side to side as she had one of her legs slightly bent in front of her and keeps her hands on her hips, smirking to him. Francis had let out a gulp, doing his best to keep his head in the game. 

"Contestant two! Three, two, one, go!" The DJ announces as the track began.

As the DJ gave the countdown, Ariel had brought one of her hands up to her, curling her finger repeatedly towards herself to him. 

Francis chuckled. To start off his routine, he broke into a slow-motion walk dance move, keeping his eyes locked to Ariel. Although the dance itself was simple, the crowd erupted in applause. Ariel let out a soft chuckle as she watched him. As the main beat of the song kicked in, Francis then breaks out into side glides, sliding closer to Ariel, using his arms to perform Michael Jackson-esque movements. As Francis was about a few feet away from Ariel, he begun to circle glide around the fox. Ariel had watched him as he glided around her, her smirk still on her face and the crowd still roaring with cheers. As Francis glided back to the front of Ariel, he gave a few quick Michael Jackson style dance kicks before tapping the back of his mask, tilting his head down and begins to moonwalk back to his original spot on the dance floor, the crowd cheering intensely at the sight of the moonwalk. 

"Contestant 1!" The DJ then says. 

Ariel had started with a few hip bumps as the first verse of the song began before breaking out into a shuffle routine, incorporating leg kicks and glides into the dance. Francis watched her, still impressed as ever by the routine. He found himself tapping his heels to the music as he watched, captivated by the fox's performance. Suddenly, as the first verse continued, Ariel stopped her shuffle routine and twirled a few times on her toes before performing a Charleston towards Francis, the crowd once again cheering intensely. Francis chuckles under his mask, caught off guard by the display of such an old dance move, placing his hands into his jacket pockets. As Ariel was a few feet away from Francis, she stopped her Charleston before twirling around on her heels and faces her back to Francis, busting out into a fast-paced belly dance routine as the song built up towards the chorus. 

This was the kind of dancing that Francis had saw her doing the moment he arrived at the party. Smiling, his eyes drifting down her frame, watching the movements of her hips. She smirked as she looked back behind her to him. Seeing his eyes wonder, she turned her body fully around once before breaking out into a moonwalk herself, returning to her original place on the dance floor as the track approached the main chorus, the crowd roaring with applause. As her final seconds of her turn ticked away, she simply stopped her dance just before the bass drop of the song's chorus arrived, placing her hands on her hips and smirking to him.  

"Final turn, contestant 2!" The DJ says as Francis let out a chuckle under his mask. 

Francis then breaks out into another shuffle routine at the bass drop. But as he does, he transitions in and out of the shuffle and hip-hop style dance moves, switching between the two dances after every other measure of the song. About halfway through his turn, he breaks out into a pop and lock routine, his eyes locked at the fox in front of him, watching her smirk with her arms crossed. As he danced, he had a quick glimpse of his time, seeing a few seconds away from zero.  He then stopped in his steps and looks to Ariel. She had continued to smirk to him as she waited for her turn to officially begin.

"Final turn, contestant 1!" The DJ says. 

Ariel once again broke out into another shuffle routine. But Francis had noticed her routine was not as complex as all her others. Francis watched her dance, puzzled. Was she subtly conceding the match to him, or did she not know any other styles to show him up with? Francis could only speculate as he watches her shuffle dance for the remainder of her final turn of the match. 

"Alright, that concludes our semi-final round! Voting ends in thirty seconds." The DJ says, remixing the final thirty seconds of the song. 

Suddenly, Ariel had started to strut over to Francis. He looked at her with wide eyes. As she approached him, she reaches her hand out and places it on his chest and sets her other hand on his shoulder, leaning in close to the side of his mask. 

"Go get him, tiger." She said, leaning her head back and looked into his eyes, smiling to him.  

Francis smiled under his mask, giving a wink to the fox. As she smirked to him, she then leans in and plants a kiss on the side of Francis' mask before strutting off of the dance floor, watching her as he walked off himself and back towards his friends.