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ika tako gamer: They do! I won't tell you which chapter they learn it in, but as of the current chapter, they do know that Alexis is Agent 4. And once again, I am assuring you that I do not get annoyed by these reviews. Me and many other authors love getting them! So, don't be afraid to leave them. (And thank you. I appreciate it. ^^)
Now, for the story. In case you're wondering where I get lyrics for official songs from, I get them from Inkipedia! Only songs by the Squid Sisters and Off the Hook have them, though. If you ever want to surf through the Splatoon wiki, maybe you could take some time reading them.
Yuri's PoV
"And that concludes the dancing portion!" exclaimed the student council president.
Perry returned from the bathroom, hands in his pockets. "What did I miss?"
"The singing part's gonna start now," Yuri replied. "Hopefully, my singing's as good as my dancing."
"Once again, we'll go in alphabetical order," Ariel continued. "Starting with..." She held the paper out in front of her. "Jellio Aequorea."
The jellyfish that had done a Keeplier dance earlier walked onto the stage once more, stretching their leg tentacles so that they can reach the microphone. They pulled out a phone and played Acid Hues, where they started to jiggle along to it.
After the song finished, they returned to their normal height and stared at the judges once more, awaiting their scores.
"Uh..." Ariel pushed the microphone out of the way and started to whisper to the teachers. After they conversed, she grabbed her microphone and said, "You tried your best. Six out of ten."
"I didn't feel like you put enough effort into it," Mr. Nema remarked. "Four out of ten. But don't give up on your singing career just yet!"
"If they pursue one, that is," Miss Rosetail commented. She cleared her throat and gave a score: "Six out of ten, for you."
"I'm being forced to be nice to you," Ms. Gong grumbled, "so I have to give a four out of then as well."
The jellyfish stared at them for a few more moments before walking off the stage. If the previous round told Yuri anything, it was that Roy would go next, and then Octavia. He hoped they were prepared, Roy especially. He had been busy with baskfishball practice lately, especially ever since he was voted as the star player of the team. Other than for the sport he played, he never knew Roy as one to prepare for things. The red-haired boy tended to act on impulse, just like a few other people he knew.
"Roy Blacktip," Ariel called, her voice remarkably calm.
Once again, the tan-skinned inkling made his way up to the stage, adjusting the skull bandana he currently had tied around his head. After that, he took a deep breath and rubbed his hands together, then cracking his knuckles.
"Alright," he breathed, only audible thanks to the microphone. "Here I go."
He pulled out his phone, and immediately, the intro to Metalopod began to play. "Ohhhh yeahhh!" he screamed into the microphone, startling most of the crowd, himself included. Even Geneva seemed rattled by the sudden volume of his voice. After the brief interlude, Roy began to bark out the lyrics, befitting of the heavy metal song.
After the song finished, Roy's shoulders relaxed, and he stared down at the judges, who all had wide eyes.
"My poor ears!" Ms. Gong complained. "Two out of ten!"
"That was intense!" Mr. Nema commented. "Ten out of ten!"
"So loud!" Ariel exclaimed, though she did not seem impressed. "Five out of ten!"
Miss Rosetail snickered. "Quite contrarily... I liked that. Eight out of ten."
The red-haired inkling thinned his lips. "Alright... I'm going now." He walked off the stage, back to the crowd. "I'm not winning this," he whispered as soon as he reunited with the Rainbow Squids.
"Maybe you'll surprisingly win?" Yuri tried to cheer him up.
He blinked. "I highly doubt it."
"Octavia Bobatal," Ariel called.
Via walked up to the stage, placing her hand on her chest. "You won't be disappointed!" she asserted. "Now, ahem..." She pulled out her phone and started to play Maritime Memory. "Tyurirurimyohe wiru-wini..."
In response to the song, the lights in the gymnasium dimmed, and some jellyfish staff grabbed a light to shine it down on the bronze-skinned girl as she did a little dance while she sung. Yuri looked behind him to see phone flashlights waving around to the pace of the song. He had to admit, Octavia was a good singer. Knowing some of his peers, he had a good feeling that several boys would be attempting to ask her out later. And knowing Octavia, every single one of them was going to get rejected.
She finished, and the song faded out. The lights turned back on, and her orange eyes looked down at the judges, beaming with pride.
"Wow..." Miss Rosetail muttered. "Ten out of ten!"
"Magnificent!" Mr. Nema exclaimed. "Ten out of ten!"
"I loved that," Ariel said. "Even more than that dance you did. Ten out of ten."
"Eh..." Ms. Gong crossed her arms. "Six out of ten."
"Good enough," she beamed, putting the heels on her feet together. "Thank you!" She marched off of the stage, a huge smile on her face.
"Giovanni Briareus," called Ariel.
Gio walked one stage once again, his phone already in his hand. "I hope you like this song." He began playing a techno beat and started to sing as soon as someone started to clap to the beat. The lyrics of the song were...not very school-appropriate, but for whatever reason, the judges didn't comment on it. Ariel was even bobbing her head along to it. However, Giovanni did not happen to be a good singer at all—he was off-key at some parts, and he struggled to reach the higher notes. At least the song was still a bop.
After he finished, the green-haired octoling started to scan the crowd of contestants. Whatever he was looking for, he didn't find it, as a frown crossed his features.
"So... Giovanni," Ariel started. She cleared her throat, and continued, "Any reason you chose that song?"
Immediately, he became flustered, "I..." He turned away and crossed his arms, lowering his head in an attempt to hide the blush that had bloomed on it. "It is a secret! I am not telling you the reason."
The tan-skinned girl smirked. "Ooh... I have an idea of what the reason is now." Regaining her composure, she told him, "Your score is four out of ten, by the way. If you want to impress some girls, go take singing lessons."
"I agree, go take singing lessons," Miss Rosetail continued. "Also, the song's inappropriate. Three out of ten."
Gio sighed. "That is what I figured..." He put a hand on his chin, deep in thought. The microphone picked up on his musings, though Yuri couldn't understand a single word he was muttering. He figured he had switched over to his native tongue.
"What did he say?" Perry whispered to Yvonne.
"Nothing," she replied with a shrug. "He was talking how 'he' would like the song he did the singing."
The purple-haired boy smirked. "Guess 'he' is his crush. But eh, if he doesn't want to tell us who, he won't tell us."
"Even I am not knowing who he is," she noted. "It is a secret of the great!"
The judges continued to give their scores. "Five out of ten," Mr. Nema rated him.
"One out of ten," Ms. Gong growled. "Seriously, what even gave you the idea?"
A blush still on his face, Giovanni walked off the stage, allowing the next contestant to take his place. As more and more contestants went, Yuri only grew more nervous. He was able to overcome his stage fright to dance, but singing? That was a whole other story. He did consider himself decent, but he only really ever sung to himself in private or with his friends, not to an entire crowd of people! While he knew the song he picked pretty well, he worried that he was going to stumble over his words or falter in the middle of the song. If he did that, then he would simply embarrass himself.
"Yuri Gahhm!" Ariel called with more enthusiasm than she had when calling the other names. Taking a deep breath, they yellow-haired boy pushed his way out of the crowd, up onto the stage. His tank top was stained with sweat from breakdancing earlier, so he already lost a few points because of his appearance. He wiped his forehead, staring down at the judges.
"Please, continue!" Mr. Nema urged. "I wonder what you have in store for us."
"Ahem." He pulled out his phone and scrolled through it, trying to find his selected song. As soon as he found it, he pressed the play button, allowing a pop tune to play. "N-Nasta! Riva! Heire! Terakonide!"
The instrumentals of Ebb and Flow rang through the gymnasium as Yuri sang, though he struggled to sing both Pearl and Marina's parts. Whenever they both sung, he just chose whoever was most dominant at that point of the song. He wasn't good at singing scat either, so his attempts to mimic Marina's scat fell flat.
Regardless, the crowd seemed to like it. He opened his eyes to peek out at it, and he spotted some jellyfish jumping up and down in the corner, an inkling dancing alongside them. He closed his eyes and smiled. Maybe this wasn't so bad after all!
"Bitinnu woahhh!" he finished as the song faded out, striking a pose. He opened his eyes, looking at the crowd. Applause rung through the room, easing his worries. Everyone liked it! Now he had to see what the judges would say about his achievements.
"Nine out of ten," Ariel scored. "Your singing isn't the greatest, but everything else was good!"
"Eight out of ten," said Mr. Nema. "Fantastic job!"
"Nine out of ten," Miss Rosetail announced. "I do like a good Off the Hook song every once in a while."
"Two out of ten," Ms. Gong stated bluntly. "You suck at singing."
Yuri frowned. No use trying to impress her, he thought. He had gotten his hopes up when he saw the manatee give a few high scores, but maybe it was better to have them lowered. It didn't hurt to be optimistic, though. Accepting that he wasn't going to win, he walked off the stage, back to the crowd.
"Ya sang Ebb and Flow?" Perry commented after he arrived. "Fresh. Makes me wish that Pearl and Marina were here to see this."
"Pearl especially, right?" he teased.
"Yeah..." A dopey smile appeared on the pale-skinned boy's face as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Geneva Gonati," called Ariel's voice.
Geneva smirked. "I think you squids are gonna like this song," she told the Rainbow Squids before making her way out of the crowd, to the stage. She adjusted the microphone and pulled out her phone, playing a song. The song started with disc scratches and guitars before Geneva started to sing.
Yuri knew this song—it was a new song called Entropical, performed by SashiMori. The up-and-coming band had shot up to the top of the charts recently, to the point where they were going to have their songs played in ink battles soon. From research, he found out that much of their musical genius can be attributed to their new DJ, a ten-year old kid who went by the name PAUL. He had to say, he was impressed by this kid—for his age, he had talent!
...Geneva's singing was good, though. She did a lot better on the rapping parts than the actual singing, but she still predicted her getting a fantastic score.
The song faded out, and the green-haired girl struck a pose, bringing one hand to her chin, and the other arm was outstretched, striking a victory sign with her hand. After holding it for a few seconds, she stood up straight again, placing one hand on her hip as she swayed around, donning a poker face.
"Ooh, SashiMori," Ariel remarked. "Ten out of ten!"
"I love that band!" Mr. Nema added. "Ten out of ten!"
"My friend's friend is in that band," Miss Rosetail commented. "You could use some more vocal training, though. Eight out of ten regardless."
"No one appreciates the classics anymore, I swear," Ms. Gong groaned. "Three out of ten."
Geneva stepped off the stage, not saying another word to them as she returned to the area where the contestants of the contest were standing. As more people went, Yuri grew more impatient. He just wanted the contest to end already so he could get it done and over with.
Finally, Bonnie's name was called, and once again, she shuffled onto the stage, hands clasped in front of her. She pulled down the microphone and tapped on it, the sound ringing through the gym.
"Um..." She gulped and closed her eyes, and then she began to sing without any music backing her. "Yauna, minasta, minaozontoriju."
Into the Light! Yuri realized. But why isn't she playing any music...? I hope her singing makes up for it.
Geneva had a smile, crossing her arms. "This takes me back..."
"To June, you mean," Inigo deadpanned.
"Well, it's still been a few months since then," she snapped, her voice curt as she furrowed her brows.
The boy with the ponytail went silent, scooting a few inches away from her.
Bonnie finished the song, and once again, applause sounded. She opened her eyes, smiling. All that was left to do was to await her score.
"That song is better than most modern songs," Ms. Gong revealed. "Five out of ten."
"You don't sound too confident," Miss Rosetail added. "I think you should speak louder next time. Anyways, six out of ten."
"Good job, Bonnie!" Mr. Nema affirmed her. "Ten out of ten!"
"It was nice not to have anyone playing music for once," Ariel noted. "Eight out of ten."
Bon-Bon took their criticism better this time, simply nodding her head and saying thank you. She returned to the crowd, where Octavia comforted her once more. Yuri was glad she had such a good friend in Via. If she didn't... He didn't want to think of what could happen.
The next one out of the Rainbow Squids and Octa Prisma to go was, unsurprisingly, Oscar. He started to play Calamari Inkantation and pulled out a card, reading the lyrics without much enthusiasm. Of course, the judges were not impressed.
"You put effort into dancing, but not singing?!" Ms. Gong seethed. "Come on! One out of ten!"
"I'm sorry, but I have to agree," Mr. Nema followed. "One out of ten."
"One out of ten; seems about right," Miss Rosetail agreed.
"Then my score is two out of ten," Ariel concluded. "Just because you sang Calamari Inkantation."
Oscar rolled his eyes, not fazed by their remarks. He put his hands in his pockets and walked off the stage. When he returned to the crowd, he pulled out a lollipop and unwrapped it, beginning to suck on it as he clenched the wrapper in his fist.
"Yvonne Megale," called the student council president.
The yellow-haired octoling walked onto the stage, putting her hands on her waist. She pulled out her phone and set it on the ground, hitting the play button. A familiar jingle played, and she began to sing to City of Color.
"Fihananneni..." she sang as she began to mimic the Squid Sisters' dance to this part of the song, stepping up and down with her hands on her hips. "Fihananneni, nienoweni!"
She finished the song by jumping up and down to the 'heys,' striking the duo's signature pose at the end of it. Afterwards, the judges clapped.
"Wow!" Ariel exclaimed. "Ten out of ten! I like how you added a dance."
"I appreciate your energy, Yvonne," Ms. Gong remarked. "Six out of ten."
"It is splendid!" Mr. Nema chorused. "Nine out of ten!"
"Eh... Your singing could be better," Miss Rosetail commented. "Six out of ten."
"Thank you!" Yvonne skipped off the stage, clearly happy with the results. Well, Yuri rarely saw her upset, so he supposed that her expression wasn't a good indicator on how she truly felt.
Eventually, Ariel called, "Inigo Sable," after some more contestants had gone.
Inigo walked up on stage, his hands by his sides. He pulled up the microphone and took out his phone, playing his song of choice—Fresh Start. The Squid Sisters did their vocalizations, and as soon as they started singing, so did Inigo. While Perry was the better rapper, Inigo was the better singer overall. Yet, as with most guys, high notes proved to be his weakness.
He practiced at least, Yuri mused silently, comparing his dancing with the song he was singing at the moment. Who is he trying to impress? Naomi?
Naomi sounded about right, he figured. She should be in the crowd somewhere. He half-expected her to jump out of her seat, go up onto the stage, and kiss Inigo—it was a well-known fact that they were dating now, and the olive-skinned inkling had no problem showing off. Inigo, though? He wasn't sure how kindly he would take to that.
Inigo finished, and the audience clapped. Clearly, they liked it better than when he danced. The judges agreed.
"Wow, that was actually pretty good," Ariel admitted. "Nine out of ten."
"The Squid Sisters..." Ms. Gong sighed. "Two out of ten. Clearly you can't hit the same notes they can."
"I'm giving him a ten out of ten," Miss Rosetail countered. "He tried this time, and although he's not in choir, he did pretty good."
"Eight out of ten!" Mr. Nema scored. "Fantastic."
The indigo-haired boy grinned. "I'm glad you liked that." He walked off the stage, chest puffed up in pride.
"Now, next is..." Ariel looked at her papers again, reading the next name on the list. "Perry Sculpin."
"Ohoho," Perry snickered, rubbing his hands together. "I'm gonna blow the judges away with this one."
He walked up onto the stage, phone in hand. He pressed the play button, setting it down and gripping the microphone. As soon as the song started, he screamed into the microphone, revealing it to be a heavy metal song. Yuri searched his brain for the possible songs it could be. Soon enough, he remembered that Pearl was in a heavy metal band at one point. Could this be one of her songs?
A bleeping sound occurred in the middle of the song, causing Perry to go silent, but as soon as it ended, he started singing again, the song ending not long after with a crash. He picked up the phone and stopped the music, and he bowed.
"That, judges, was 'Dudes Be Sleepin,'" the purple-haired boy revealed. "Performed by the one and only Pearl Houzuki!"
"I see..." Miss Rosetail muttered. "Seven out of ten."
"One out of ten," Ms. Gong scored. "Heavy metal? By Pearl? How rowdy."
"Contrastingly, I like it," Mr. Nema revealed. "Seven out of ten!"
"I'm giving you a five out of ten," Ariel said. "Nothing special."
Perry shrugged. "Welp, I tried. See ya." He saluted goodbye as he walked off the stage, disappearing into the crowd and rejoining the Rainbow Squids.
"Joel Tetra," the student council president called. The clown triggerfish from earlier walked onto the stage again, the make-up he was wearing now smeared.
"This song is one I found on SplatCloud," Joel started. "It's called, 'I Love Pearl.'" He pulled out his phone and started playing trap music. "Yo, Pearl, this one goes to you," he started.
"Wait a second, that's Perry's song!" Yuri realized, speaking in a hushed tone. He turned to the purple-haired inkling, who was bopping his head along to the beat. "Hey, someone knows your song!"
"I know!" he exclaimed, putting his arms behind his head. "Isn't that superfresh? By the way, it's got six thousand hits now. Quite a lot, isn't it?" Perry winked, sticking a tongue out.
"Mhm!" He turned back to the triggerfish, who had reached the bridge of the song. "The judges better like it!"
A few minutes later, Joel finished, and Perry was the loudest in the crowd, cheering, "Woo! You go, Joel!" as he clapped his hands as fast as he could. Unfortunately, it garnered some strange looks from the people around them.
"What the heck was that?!" Ms. Gong complained. "One out of ten! That song is terrible!"
"I bet Pearl would hate that song," Ariel groaned. "'Don't be scared, you can be bared?' Seriously? One out of ten."
"Hey, Pearl liked my song," the purple-haired boy defended, crossing his arms.
None of the judges heard him. "Uh... Five out of ten?" Mr. Nema scored, unsure. "You did put a lot of energy into your rapping."
"The squid who sung that was one of my students, so I'll give you a few points," Miss Rosetail revealed. "Four out of ten."
Joel shrugged. "Hmph." He walked off the stage, allowing the next contestant to be called—Iris.
The poufy-haired octoling stepped onto the stage, eyes narrowed in a glare. Before the judges could say anything, she pulled out her phone and started to play Muck Warfare, causing a cheerful pop tune to play.
"Astafmeya dennuhi. / Irabi miya zurunadi," Iris sung. "Distikumiya yugannazui. / Deraestef panjayobi. / Sherauste..."
Some pink and teal lights began to shine behind the octoling as she sung, befitting of the artists of the song. Just like the talent show, Iris proved to be a good singer. In fact, her cover of the song seemed to be better than when she sung her original song back then. Clearly, she had improved.
The song finished, and she let out a sigh of relief. "What do you think of my song?" she asked the judges.
"Wow! You're a great singer!" Mr. Nema exclaimed. "Ten out of ten!"
"You could make a career out of it," Miss Rosetail agreed. "Ten out of ten."
"Yes, you did wonderfully," Ms. Gong complimented. "Ten out of ten."
The crowd gasped in shock. A perfect score from Ms. Gong? No one had gotten one so far. And Iris just did.
"Then I might as well give my score," Ariel said. "Ten out of ten!"
Some jellyfish started throwing golden confetti, marking Iris's accomplishment of getting a perfect score. Her mouth opened up in shock, eyes wide. She smiled, wiping a tear from her eye.
"Thank you, thank you very much," she blurted, grinning. She walked off the stage, allowing the contest to continue. All of the Rainbow Squids and Octa Prisma had gone, so now they waited for the end of the contest, so that the results could be given.
"And that's the end!" Ariel announced. "Now, please wait as we tally up the results."
"Ooh," Bonnie intoned. "I wonder who's gonna win."
"We have some candidates," Yuri pondered. "Via, Yvonne, Iris... Anyone's possible." While he waited, he started to tap his foot on the ground. It seemed like forever.
After the results were tallied, the student council president walked up on the stage, holding a piece of paper in her hand. "Quiet, quiet!" she requested, and the gym settled down. "We finally have the winner of this year's Senior Singing and Dancing Contest!"
The crowd cheered, and after they settled down, she continued. "And the winner is...Iris Thaumo! Come on up here!"
The octoling made her way to the stage, now crying. She shook her hand and rung a golden medal around her neck. Iris wiped her eyes and displayed the medal off to the crowd, who proceeded to applaud her.
"And there you have it," Giovanni remarked, crossing his arms. "Octa Prisma wins once more."
"Just one octo, though," Perry jested. "You and Oscar stunk."
Gio made a stifled sound of disgust and placed his hand on his chest. "How rude!"
"Now, everyone, please return to your classes," Ariel announced. "The rest of the school day will proceed normally."
After she finished, everyone started to pour out of the gymnasium, and slowly, but surely, it emptied. However, the Rainbow Squids and Octa Prisma remained in place, talking to themselves. Iris soon joined them, babbling in Octarian about her medal.
Alexis joined them, too. "So, how'd ya like that?" she questioned.
"It was alright," Bonnie replied. "I didn't win, but at least I got to try it."
"We still don't know who entered us," Roy grumbled. "That's what frustrates me."
"I don't think we'll get an answer any time soon," Inigo pointed out.
"Well, I do," Alexis interjected. The group of inklings turned to face her.
"You do?" Octavia blurted. "Who?"
"Me." The short-haired inkling smirked. "I entered you all in."
"Huh?!" Yuri bleated. "Y-Ya know I don't like performing, Alexis!"
"Yeah, why'd ya do that?" Roy demanded, crossing his arms.
"Because you squids gotta stop treating me like a kid," she answered, now more serious. "I'm 15. I turn 16 in December. You all were 16 when you let me join you! That isn't fair at all!"
"Alexis..." Via frowned. "You're still my little sister. I can't help it."
"Yeah, I get big brother instincts around ya," Yuri defended.
"I may be younger than you, but that doesn't mean I'm naïve," she continued. "I've grown a lot in the past year. With, uh, you-know-what." She extended a hand, expression stern. "So if you squids promise to stop treating me like that, I won't do that again."
Via reached out a hand, hers hovering over her sister's. "Promise?"
Alexis nodded. "I promise."
The wavy-haired girl nodded as well, placing her hand down. The other squids followed suit, until everyone's hands were in the circle.
"One, two, three..."
They shot their hands up, reaching up towards the sky.
"Go Rainbow Squids!"
A/N: Well, that's the end of the singing and dancing contest. Who does Giovanni have a crush on? That's to be revealed in the future. The next chapter... Ooh, I think you'll like the next chapter. Branchwing, out!