Splatoon Manga: Stardom

Prologue V: Dance Challenge!

💫Prologue V: Dance Challenge!

Emperor and Rider stared in disbelief as the crowd cheered loudly.

They could finally-

"However..."

The crowd fell silent. What was wrong? Were the judges trying to trick the contenders? Murmurs spread though. The squidbeak, initially excited, were now worried.

"However...the other team has also had an equal score. So we must settle this with a tiebreaker. This time, something easier."

A projector paper thing like the one from earlier slowly unscrolled in the back of the stage. The idols parted to the sides so the teams could see it. On it, an image of a sea bunnyling appeared. The eel got a microphone from the table the judges were at. They then began slithering over to the two groups.

"Instead of original dances, we'll play a dancing game and see who scores the highest. May the best player win!"

The two quickly scurried to their places as the music began. They guessed they had to follow the sea bunnyling on screen. They started off easy, only swinging their arms from side to side, switching sides every so often. They then began waving their arms over their heads. Again, this was slow and easy. All of them were anticipating a twist, however.

They were now swirling their arms about, in a circular motion. The duos wondered if they needed to remember these smaller moves in order to combo later. The other team seemed anxious as well. Rider and Emperor noticed that there were indeed, numbers on the top of the screen that they assumed were their score. Right now, the other team was ahead, despite the fact Rider and Emperor were doing a decent job.

The sea bunnylimg then began swinging their arms up, and the group of four followed. They were doing well until the sea bunny suddenly struck a pose. Rider and Emperor, who hadn't seen the symbols in the corner indicating the movements, posed too early, causing the other two to pull ahead in score. The two saw this, and glanced at each other worriedly. Was that it? Had they failed?

Luckily, they didn't have to answer. The sea bunny began waving to the crowd, and the two realized it was a cutscene. The music began speeding up, and the two panicked. They looked over to the side, only to see the other two panicking as well. When the short cutscene was over, they started off again with the first set of arm waving from before, side to side. It was just a bit faster.

Then came the up and down, but it switched a little more rapidly at the end. Luckily, Rider and Emperor had gotten the hang of it by then, and were ready when the circular swirl began. The sea bunnyling changed directions halfway, but Rider and Emperor caught on. They couldn't look at the other team or their scores now, they had to remain focused. They had the hang of this.

The last move was coming on, and the two had a feeling that the pose would be up soon. As they swung their arms from side to side, they eyed the symbols in the corner that told them when the next pose was coming up. They were a little scared when they saw different symbols pop up other than just the one pose. However, judging by their spacing, the duo guessed it was only more poses. They got the first pose when it happened, stumbled a little on the second, and missed the third. The two scores were neck and neck now, both at around the same number.

The next few moments were just combinations of the previous moves mixed with the poses. The duo was now prepared, having learned from their mistake. They were easily able to follow through with the last parts, this time catching the poses at the right time. The song ended and the screen went black. Tensions rose as the two groups awaited their score.

The results were in, and the numbers of the players was shown on the screen.

"Well folks, we have our results. Looks like the non-twinklings WIN!"

The crowd cheered, but not as loudly as the squidbeak within them.