Chapitre 11: Chapter 10

I was listening to Stronger than You while writing this chapter, if you're curious about it. This was the first time I wrote a "battle" and "dance" scene, so it might not be the best read, don't expect much. I also came to let you know that my vacation ends today, so the frequency with which I'll post chapters won't be as good, I'll try to make the chapters longer to compensate, but I'm not making any promises, okay?!

ASS: ANARCHIE.

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Michael didn't originally plan on doing something as risky as what he was about to do.

But since things have turned out this way, then why not give it a try?

Before he could continue, however, he felt a punch hit him in the back of his neck that drew a gasp of pain from Michael's mouth as soon as someone tried to push him away.

When he turned to see who it was, he noticed March 7th trying to drag him by the collar.

"...What are you doing?"

March 7th: "You idiot! I'm trying to save you, okay?! Why do you think the Doomsday Beast, of all things, would accept a dance challenge? If that thing doesn't stomp you to death, that'll be good enough!"

"Uh... But it seems it accepted the challenge, though?"

March 7th: "What?!"

In fact, turning to face the Doomsday Beast, the Astral Express crew noticed that it had stopped attacking them, and instead stood solemnly beneath the platform, waiting for Michael.

March 7th: "How is this possible...?"

March 7th, who looked perplexed, loosened her grip around Michael's collar, who took the opportunity to escape from her hands and slowly approached the Doomsday Beast.

He didn't know if this thing could understand him, but it was better to act as if it could. Michael turned his gaze to the group behind him and calmed them down.

"You don't need to worry, but it's better if you guys move away a little."

Stella: "But... What if you lose?"

At Stelle's question, Michael gave a calm and confident smile, taking off his shoes and folding the edges of his pants before raising his head to face the Doomsday Beast.

"Nah, I'd win!"

Stelle and the others didn't know where Michael's confidence to face the Doomsday Beast alone came from, but there was an unshakable certainty in his tone that left them at a loss as to how to convince him to stop.

Faced with her unwavering determination, they chose to take a step back and observe how things would unfold, though Himeko was already preparing to bombard the Landing Zone with her satellite if necessary.

Michael, in the other hand, raised his palm, solemnly declaring: "The judge of this dispute shall be the Monarch of Eternal Bliss — Aha!"

Michael was not sure if HE would respond to his words. The Aeons were fickle and their line of thought could not be assumed, but he felt that Aha would do something, because this was the mission HE had assigned.

And as expected, within seconds of Michael's declaration, a hundred of distinct laughs echoed throughout the Landing Zone, echoing strangely in a euphoric melody.

As laughter filled the Station, a semi-circular red platform rose beneath his feet, resembling a dance stage, with the Elation acronym emblazoned on the floor, surrounded by twelve red, cup-shaped pillars.

Raising an eyebrow, Michael couldn't help but think that Aha seemed to have some sense of aesthetics.

'This platform, however... There's no way the Doomsday Beast could climb up onto it with its gigantic body.'

And as if waiting for such a thought to cross Michael's mind, the Beast's enormous body began to be forcibly compressed. Its immense metallic armor slowly shrank amidst uncomfortable scraping sounds; it was as if the Beast was destroying itself from within to assume a more compact form, and indeed, this was something he could imagine a Destruction's lackay doing.

Within a few minutes, the Doomsday Beast's form had shrunk enough to fit atop the platform, though its body still towered far above Michael, at least double or triple his size.

"For the music, it will be decided by the Station's chief researcher, Asta!"

Michael was almost certain that Asta was watching them through the security cameras, and in fact, not only her, a few hundred other researchers were staring at the expanded viewing screen in the Main Control Zone, watching as Michael challenged the Doomsday Beast—the same beast that had left them panicked and hopeless, the one that had easily torn through the barrier around the Station, in a dance battle.

Without letting him wait too long, a music began to play through the speakers installed in the Landing Zone.

It wasn't a particularly memorable song, just a generic electronic beat that was popular on the internet.

Michael sighed and took out a coin from his pocket, staring at the Doomsday Beast in front of him with a solemn expression.

Although they were going to have a dance battle, this was far from something normal.

Michael tossed the coin to the air, and it began to spin before slowly giving in to gravity and falling towards the ground.

As the coin dropped, Michael removed the white mask at his waist and hesitantly placed it over his face.

'System, can you release me from the mask control just when the music ends?'

[Sure, Host! You can count on me!]

With the system's last words in his vision, Michael happened to check the Doomsday Beast's attribute window before his consciousness was filled with a bright red.

'Why this thing have a higher dance stat than me?!'

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March 7th: "Miss Himeko... Are you sure everything will be okay?"

Despite Michael's confident words, none of the Astral Express members expressed any optimism about his situation.

Himeko: "Trust him, March. Although he may not seem like it, Michael is not someone that simple..."

Himeko: "Of course, it's best if we're prepared for any situations, so be prepared to help him if necessary."

Himeko decided not to interfere for now. She didn't know why the Doomsday Beast had accepted something like a dance battle, but that was the least of it; seeing how Michael had managed to get a response from Aha so easily filled Himeko with certainty that he was a Mourning Actor or, perhaps even more so, an Elation Emanator.

You have to understand that receiving an Aeon's response was not something that ordinary people could do, and for the Pathstriders, receiving just HIS gaze could already be considered a fortuitous event.

Michael's act of calling out for Aha and receiving a response so casually left her with doubts regarding his identity.

Himeko: 'I should ask Asta later what she knows about him...'

Stelle: "Hey, look. Something seems to have changed about him."

At Stelle's call, Himeko and March 7th turned their gazes to the platform.

Michael looked abnormal, all his normally serious and composed atmosphere had disappeared; his lips were stretched into a wide smile and his entire persona seemed more casual and carefree.

When the coin hit the ground, Michael's body moved with deceptive agility, he somersaulted in the air and landed upside down with a single hand on the ground.

Demonstrating a flexibility that his body didn't seem to have, Michael spun around on the stage, and his bare feet filled with a strange energy, but one that resembled the power given to the followers of Elation, blowing in a red-rosed color. Himeko could recognize it after paying a little attention to that.

As Michael's spins became bigger and faster, that energy spread out like a pulse and struck the Doomsday Beast, pushing it back a few inches.

Without letting itself be shaken, the Doomsday Beast moved towards Michael with long strides, its metallic body moving in a strange and destructive rhythm, each step breaking the platform beneath its feet and making the air pulse, giving meaning to its existence as a messenger of Destruction.

Its dance looked like a mix of Tango and Waltz, moving alone on stage with Destruction as his partner.

Michael, on the other hand, was much more freedom in his moves. With his breakdancing skills being leveled up to the maximum efficiency, Michael moved almost as if he were defying gravity, with flexible, agile, and spinning movements that made March 7th's head start to spin in confusion.

This was no simple dance battle to begin with. Both challengers moved with the raw intent to destroy each other, only then could a winner be declared.

Himeko: "I couldn't expect anything different from the Doomsday Beast, which is a Beast made for mass destruction... But Michael, on the other hand, shattered my expectations..."

March 7th; "What do you mean by that, Miss Himeko?"

Himeko: "... I don't know if it's just my impression, but as Michael dances, it seems like he's incorporating the essence of the Doomsday Beast into himself."

Dan Heng: "No, I think you're right. I... I can feel it too..."

Dan Heng pointed out. Far from their visions, they could not imagine what was going on deeper in the "dance" between Michael and the Doomsday Beast.

Although the Beast was artificially created as a pure machine of destruction, the desire to destroy itself was an emotion, and the characteristic of the mask over Michael's face was precisely to absorb these emotions.

The longer the dance dragged on, the less "desire" the Doomsday Beast felt, and the more destructive Michael's movements became.

Apparently sensing this, the Beast's sway became more hurried and pronounced. Its steps changed from solid strides to mechanical arrests and turns.

His instincts screamed that continuing such a "dance" would be extremely dangerous, but Michael would not let him go so easily. The soles of his feet slid across the stage floor, igniting with an incandescent flame that propelled him even further, barely dodging the Beast's "sway".

His legs crossed over each other, the sound of Michael's leg bone cracking was audible, but the smile on his face didn't even waver. Taking advantage of the situation, the sole of his foot shot out a jet of fire that drowned the Beast's chest and core in a blaze, throwing it across the stage.

The "dance" was not over yet.