Into the World of Twisted Wonderland Pt 2

👑 The Beautiful Tyrant: Chapter 71 👑

"Coming to you live from the National Arcane Academy Culture Fair at Night Raven College...The Song & Dance Championship teams have all finished their performances!" The host announces. "Let's have all our entrants step out on stage!" They announces, with the sound of footsteps following, showing all the groups that performed during the day. Everyone looked at the audience, smiles on their face as they waved to the crowd, and the coliseum roared with life at the sight, with some people a bit more energetic than others at the sight of Neige and Vil on the same stage. The groups stood in their respective places, standing in the order of their performance, awaiting the host's next words. "The winning team is put up to a vote, and everyone in the coliseum gets to cast a ballot. Which team did the best job of expressing the world contained in their song through singing, dancing, and production? Every team put on an incredibly high-level performance...So all of you choose which team you think shined the brightest! Use the QR codes you were given at the gate to vote on your smartphones!" They announce, sending the signal for everyone to take out their phones and follow the instructions. Soon enough, the sound of beeping starts to fill the coliseum, with people putting their votes in with a chime. Angel and Grim submitted their votes on her phone, a bit sad that it was still one vote, but was content with her choice nonetheless. After a few minutes, the sound of beeping starts to slow down, getting the host's attention as the last few people put their votes in. "We have a real-time vote tabulation tool here...Brought to you by Olympos Inc., doing their part to support all our students."

"There, picked Night Raven College, and...voted," Epel says as he puts his phone away and sighs. "M-my heart's pounding outta my chest..."

"Vil was right when he said that it takes guts to vote for yourself," Deuce nervously states. "There were a ton of other really good schools."

"Agreed," Kalim nods his head. "And all of them out on fantastic shows. But...I'm still voting for the NRC Tribe!"

"Absolutely!" Ace agrees. "After all that hard training, I deserve that prize money!"

"Someone's getting ahead of themselves," Jamil sighs. "But we're definitely top contenders, both performance-wise and popularity-wise. Vote with your head held high."

"Yes," Vil states. "We've exerted every bit of power we have." He looks to the Neige and the group, seeing that they were smiling as they put their votes in. "This time, I'm going to be number one," he slightly glares as he puts his vote in. Rook quietly put his vote in, putting his phone away when he was done.

"Thirty seconds until the polls close!" The hosts announces to the crowd, with the last few people quickly putting their votes in. "Ten, nine, eight, seven..." The host countdowns. "Three, two, one...TIME!" A bell rings, signaling the end of voting time. The host look at their phone, seeing the number of votes coming in. "We are now getting the final tally..." They announce as everyone looks at the screen, awaiting the results. "...And the results are in!" They happily announce as the votes appear on the phone. "M-my goodness...Is this really possible?!" They say in shock. "Would you believe that the difference between first and second place is ONE vote?!" The revelation comes to a shock to the audience, with murmurs starting to erupt.

"A one-vote difference?!" Grim cries in disbelief. "If we lose this by one lousy vote, I'm gonna riot!"

"These highly talented students have gathered here from all over the country," the host states. "Each of them put on a performance that shone brighter than the most radiant jewels. I wish I could give every team here a winning trophy, but sadly, I only have on to give out," they sadly announce. "Who takes home the honor of being the world's greatest in this year's Song & Dance Championship? The winning school is..."

"Who's the world's greatest?!" Angel says in anticipation as they quietly await the results. Even though her words were loud, it wasn't any different from everyone else's thoughts as well, wondering who the winner of this deciding battle would be.