The mood on the base was tense. So tense, that you could cut it with the dullest knife in the shed. This intensity was for good reason too. After all, this was the only opportunity the girls had to answer one important question: which faction was the best.
Alec and Alexis gulped and looked at each other worriedly. There was no stopping this, the train already left the station and left logic behind. The fleet was committed to finding the answer, consequences be damned.
The couple could only hope that things don't get too rowdy, but even that was praying for too much. They watched two familiar faces take the stage, each one ready to begin.
The black-haired girl tapped a mic and spoke a single line into the device "are you ready?"
The question was met by a multitude of voices from behind Alexis and Alec.
Then, the white-haired girl tapped her mic and spoke a single line "I didn't hear you. ARE YOU READY?"
This time, the chorus of voices reached an almost deafening noise, the likes of which Alec had never imagined possible.
"Then," said the two together "time to begin… the first ever… Drinking Contest Battle Royale."
On queue, several lights came on and highlighted the two girls on stage. Hiryuu and Soryuu waved and greeted the girls from the stage while everyone in the fleet cheered as loud as they could.
"For the first time in forever, the factions will come together in the biggest brawl of the century to decide, who is the strongest," shouted Hiryuu.
"Although this was very impromptu, its great to see everyone gathering here so quickly under such short notice," said Soryuu.
"And without further ado, let's introduce the participants," shouted Hiryuu.
"First off, she may have the ears of a bunny but she's got a sailor's constitution, member of the Benson family and representing the Eagle Union, Laffey."
"Come on Laffey, bring this one home," shouted Hornet from the crowd.
"She once drank the whole maid crops under the table and you can't spell her name without a little lust, she's the namesake of her sisters and representing the Royal Navy, Illustrious."
"Take 'em down Illustrious," shouted Belfast while Curacao and Curlew were waving 'Illustrious 4 the W' banners wildly in the air.
"Next up, she's the terror of the tundra, the bear of big bottles, and starts her day with at least two vodkas, representing the Northern Parliament, Gangut."
"Whoooo, let's go Gangut," chanted Rossiya and the rest of the Northern Parliament girls.
"She stitches her own clothes and enjoys teasing a certain fox during her free time. Her fires burn hotter than a volcano and she's in it to win it, say hello to Taihou."
"You can do it Taihou," yelled Kaga "show them what you're made of."
"Also from the far east, she's gentle and gorgeous but can chug them down like a professional, representing the Dragon Empry, Yat Sen."
"Come on Yat Sen, you can do it," shouted Ning Hai and Ping Hai in unison.
"Our second to last entry: she may be the holy cardinal by day, but at night she's belting off tunes at the bar and downing shots like they were nothing. Put your hands together for Richelieu."
"Give them no quarter Richelieu," shouted Algerie, which only made Richelieu lower her head in embarrassment.
"And finally: a figure 8 beauty with hips that don't lie. She likes playing with her sister and teasing the people she loves. She's a member of the Hipper family and representing the Iron Blood: the odds on favourite to win: Prinz Eugen."
"Kick their asses sis," shouted Hipper, throwing her support.
"Now it's time we clarify on the rules," said Soryuu "each girl will use their shot glasses to take some of the content from the pot and drink it down. For every shot you down, you earn a point. Do note that you must completely empty your shot glass to get the point. Anything less than that and you're disqualified. You can win the game by either downing the most shots or being the last one standing. And now…"
"…Ladies," said Hiryuu, while a giant black pot was lowered onto the stage "it is time to begin the Kodoku pot. Bring out your weapons."
"Vodka," said Gangut
"Wine," said Richelieu
"Beer," said Laffey
"Real beer," said Eugen
"Sake," said Taihou
"Whiskey," said Illustrious
"Baiju," said Yat Sen.
Alec, Alexis and the others watched in shocked silence as the girls took off the tops of their respective beverage and began pouring it into the pot. When they finished one bottle, they reached back and brought out another. Each girl went through twelve bottles of their drink before the solution reached the surface.
Now, Hiryuu and Soryuu brought out a comically large ladle and began stirring it. Alec watched with growing horror as he could not imagine the result of blending all those horrors into a single pot. It was exactly like the Kodoku worm only for alcohol. Hell, it was even giving off an aura of death, a sign that would put off any mortal man.
The large crowd didn't have to wait for long as the two MC's lifted the ladle and found that half of it burned off. There was a pause, Alec thought that it was a sign that maybe the girls were re-thinking things.
Then, that went away when he heard them all cheering in approval.
"You've seen it with your own eyes ladies," declared Hiryuu "the pot is ready. What about the contestants?"
Her response was a confident nod from the girls.
"Then, I ask that you present your battle instruments please," said Soryuu and the girls took out customized shot glasses.
"And. Now. We. Begin," said the two sisters.
The first one was Laffey. She casually tottered over to the pot, took a swipe from the contents inside and gulped it down. She looked at the crowd and gave them a thumbs up. In response, the Eagle Union cheered for her as she stepped back and let Illustrious try.
This went on for at least thirty minutes. Each girl took their shot, downed it with minimal effort and the next one did the same.
Alec noted that at the 45-minute mark, something changed. And of course, it didn't surprise him who started it.
"Whew is it just me or is it getting hot in here?" asked Gangut, taking off her large white cap and placing it next to her.
"Indeed," said Illustrious, doing the same.
"You know," said Eugen, with a smile that proceeded a 'great' idea "I don't think it's fair that only the six of us get to enjoy this concoction."
"What do you mean?" asked Taihou, as she and the others came forward.
"Well," said Eugen coming close to Taihou. In response, the others also drew closer and heard what the Iron Blood girl had to say. When their conversation was done, they moved back and called over Hiryuu and Soryuu.
The two sisters listened, then were confused by the idea. Next, the looked at each other and reached the same conclusion.
"Are you sure?" asked Hiryuu.
"If you do this, then the competition is over," said Soryuu.
"Sure, sure," said Richelieu, with a casual wave and an inebriated smile "after all, its not fair we're the only ones getting to enjoy this."
Alec and Alexis watched as this group conversed and wondered what was going on. In fact, the attending audience were also wondering and asked the girls to clarify. However, no such answer came. All they got was Hiryuu going behind the stage and bring out what looked like a large hose. The crowd saw her connect the hose to the giant pot and Alec saw the warning bells.
"Ladies," said Hiryuu while Alec ducked under the table "don't let any of it hit the ground."
With the turn of a lever on the hose, the terrifying combination of national drinks that sat in the large barrel now shot through the hose and covered the audience. Those that were close and those that were far, none were spared as Hiryuu emptied the entire barrel with reckless abandon.
Then, when she noticed that the stream was getting weaker, she turned off the hose.
Alec, the only one that avoided the action now raised his head from under the table. He looked around, saw the girls drenched and could sense the incoming danger.
"Oh Alec," said Alexis in a slurry voice, followed by a hiccup. He turned and saw a very drunk Alexis inching to him while on the chair. She tried to reach him by tilting the chair, but lost her balance and hit the ground. Of course, that didn't stop her from continuing her advance.
"Alright everyone," said a now clearly drunk Eugen "time for a real drinking party. Whoever's the last *hic* one standing is the fleet's strongest."
Exactly how you have a drinking party without alcohol was a pointless question to ask at this point. Alec knew that and shifted his attention between the unruly mob and his drunk girlfriend.
"Come here you," she said, crawling to him while her eyes spoke volumes. S
"Um, listen everyone," said Alec, standing up and speaking "maybe we should take a moment before we do anything we regret."
In response, the audience and the participants looked at him with bored, blank expressions.
"Alright, I'll go first," shouted Enterprise, producing a bottle of beer from her pocket and chugging it down like it was nothing. Once complete, she tossed it aside and was met with cheers from everyone.
"I aint *hic* losing to you whipper*hic*… whippur*hic*… you arrogant brats," declared Friedrich, also downing a bottle of beer and tossing the bottle aside.
"Make way for the queen, you peasants," said Queen Elizabeth, holding a bottle of whiskey in one hand and a large glass jug in the other. After careful consideration, Queen Elizabeth tossed the jug aside and drank the whiskey right from the bottle. She was halfway done before lowering the bottle and falling to the ground.
"And we have our first one out," shouted Hiryuu while the crowd cheered
"Who's going down next?" shouted Eugen and was met with more cheers and drinking.
Alec meanwhile knew he had to bring some order before the girls got rowdy. And, the only way he could do that was by contacting James. He paused, realizing he was playing the role of the wet blanket in those movies where the kids have a party when the parents are away. He shoved the thought aside and told himself he was doing this for the greater good.
Then, he felt something latch onto his foot. He turned around and saw Alexis coming towards him.
"Come on *hic* sweetie," she said, closing the distance "why don't you let your hair down and have some fun?"
Elsewhere, Alec could hear "and there goes Cleveland and Graf Spee."
"Damn it, who let Yorktown near the bubbly?" shouted another before what sounded like Yorktown let out a loud and happing whooping noise.
As Alec struggled to do something to get her off him, his hand grabbed hold of some paper. He brought it to him and saw a single word written in big black letters.
"Vamos," he read to himself, unaware of the effect that word had.
As if hypnotized, Alexis and all the girls suddenly stopped what they were doing. Alexis, got off of Alec, stood with her knees slightly bent and one hand on top of the other. Alec scrambled to his feet and saw the others were doing the same.
He was unaware for what happened next.
Suddenly, he could hear a very catchy tune play all around him. This was followed by the girls moving in perfect synchronization, all the while singing the lyrics of some unknown song
"BEBE BEBE BEBE BEBE BEBE BEBE BEBE BEBE!
BEBE BEBE BEBE BEBE BEBE BEBE BEBE BEBE BEBE BEBE BEBE BEBE BEBE BEBE BEBE BEBE!"
"Uno! Dos! Tres! Fuego!"
"Salud bebe por ti"
"Salud bebo por mi"
"Y bebo por vivir"
"Salud, bebo por el amor"
"Salud bebe por ti"
"Salud bebo por mi"
"Y bebo por vivir"
"Salud, bebo por no morir"
"A ver ensename tu bola magica"
"Que yo le puedo dar bien al bate"
"Ent u lagar mas secreto Bang Bang"
"En el fondo de tu Corazon Bang Bang"
"Batalla de pasion"
"Hasta la ultima entrada"
"Estamos cerca del final"
"Bebe bebe"
"Muestrame lo que me puedes hacer aqui"
"Piedra, papel, tijera"
This strange ritual was followed by everyone once again taking out their faction's best drinks and gulping it down.
"Once more," shouted Eugen and the whole fleet started the dance from the top.
0000000000000000000000000
James wanted to believe that he was a lenient person. However, despite all that, a part of him knew that the girls could not fully cut loose and create a negative impression in his mind. Hence, they were always a little on guard with him.
He expected that when he and Akagi went on a date, the girls would certainly use this chance to enjoy themselves to the fullest. He did not however, imagine the sight that greeted him when he and Akagi returned to the base.
The buildings were painted with all kinds of graffiti some intelligible and others purely random. He could make out some sentences like "Essex wuz here," "Hipper is da best sistah," "Flat is Justice", and "don't poke the war corgi."
That aside, he noted the several rolls of toilet paper streaming down trees and down the buildings. Luckily, nothing was on fire and none of the glasses were broken.
Now, his attention turned to the root cause off this mess. The girls were scattered about the place, some holding empty beer bottles, others lying on tree branches, and a few dangling off the roof of a building. He also noted how Graf Spee and Hipper were sandwiched between Deutschland and Eugen respectively. There were also a few girls who had stripped off half their clothes while others were in their underwear, most probably to cool themselves down.
James and Akagi looked at each other, wondering where to begin. Then, they saw someone rise up from a pile of sleeping girls.
It was Alec, or at least someone that looked like Alec. His right sleeve was torn, he had all sorts of stupid drawings on his face and limped towards them. He also had several lipstick marks on his face, hands and chest. They were all in different shades.
The look on his face was that of a man that lived a hundred years in one night.
"Please don't ever leave me alone with them again," he said and grabbed both of James' arms.
"You don't know what its like seeing them go crazy like that," he said, shaking James a little.
"All those wild games and the drinking," he added "and the Vamos, DON'T SAY VAMOS, don't say Vamos."
"Don't leave me alone again," he said, this time hugging James and trembling a little.
All James could do was gently pat his friend on the back.
AN: None of the kids participated in this insanity as they are responsible girls that went to sleep at the right time.
PS: Time to get back to it