Well... last chapter. Yup. Probably not too sad, though, since a sequal is coming... and I'll probably get it going as fast as this one. The next one's going to be more exciting... but I'm not spoiling anything yet! And, look, this chapter's actually long! o: Rawr... I do have a few readers, I know that.. so... time for chapter 8, and I hope you enjoyed this story:D And sorry if it was kinda weird, or maybe even boring, but the sequal's going to be full of action and stuffs. :D Weeeeeee. But, even though this kinda probably isn't all that improtant, Bizz apologizes for only putting a disclaimer in the 1st chapter. I dunno, that fact just makes me.. feel weird. o.O But, as you all already know: Bizz does not own DDR or any of the characters or songs or... anything. Bizz only plays it. :D But, of course, Bizz's OCs and stuff do belong to her, though. So, if you want to use them, then ask Bizzy permission. Or else. o:

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Chapter 8- Farewells and Ice Cream

"Wait.. Astro?" Emi said, "How do you--" The boy, who was obviously Astro, cut Emi off again. "I've been doing research. Charmy and I have developed something that can you to different worlds. I was waiting for her over here. Her shift here at the pizza palace should be about done soon."

"You mean, you already know everything?" A bewildered Emi asked, Natsumi just standing confused and silent while the PiX was still hiding behind her.

"Well, I've been studying it... wow, I'm sorry if I startled you, but... wow!" Astro then turned to the direction of where the pizza palace was as the door opened, and a green-haired girl walked out, who was also wearing a peculiar outfit. "Hey, Charmy!" Astro called out to her from across the street, "Come take a look at this!"

Charmy, who had been the girl across the street, had looked at Astro and the others for a minute. Natsumi wondered if she had been as surprised as Astro just then, for she had stared for a while, but then eventually shook it off. Finding an oppritunity to cross the street, she walked up to the others, waving. "Hi!" She said with a smile. A 'charming' smile... "So, Astro, you really did find one?"

"Well, technically, I think Emi did," Astro replied, "She was just walking and... gah..."

"Isn't he done with his dramatic episode yet.. ?" Natsumi thought to herself. She didn't exactly want to say that to his face, but it annoyed her a bit how he was acting over discovering that a PiX was living in the town.. even though, when you thought of it that way, it was kind of a big deal, but it didn't have to bring such.. attention. "My head hurts..." Natsumi thought again.

"Can PiX ask what's going on?" Violet asked from behind the confused Natsumi. Astro turned to the PiX and smiled. "I'm sorry if I startled you. You see, me and Charmy here have a thing for.. well, outer space and such. So, we both like to research and heard rumors that something happened on a planet called Velocity, and three PiX were sent to other planets, one being sent here to Earth. But, I had no clue that you would be here..."

"Well, Violet the PiX can't exactly remember why she was sent here," Violet said, finally coming out of her hiding place, "All she knows is that Earth is a confusing place.. especially with love."

"Love, eh?" Charmy replied, interrupting whatever Astro was about to say next. Violet nodded, and Charmy laughed a bit. "Well, love practically everywhere is confusing. It's not really something that you can understand in one day, but feeling it is an absolutely wonderful thing." She smiled at Astro, who immediately turned red. Violet started jumping up and down impatiently. "C'mon, tell PiX how she can return home!" She shouted, which only made Charmy laugh some more while Astro was still in his speechless mode. "All right, all right," The green-haired girl replied, still laughing. She nudged Astro a few times. "Well?"

"... Eh, right," Astro eventually replied, still a little red, "Let's go." And along their way to Astro's house- which was where he and Charmy had studied most of the time- Charmy had said to the other three with a wink, "By the way, my name's Charmy Anderson, and Astro's name is really Kouru Mackenzie.. but we like calling him Astro, and, well, you probably know why." For some reason, this had made Natsumi smile, but probably because she had just met two more new friends. Emi had seen Natsumi smile and smiled as well. Violet, however, just looked up at the sky.

Sure enough, however, you could probably guess that they were to run into Bizz again, except this time she had been with Evil Zukin again. Evil Zukin hissed, and Bizz just started another familiar laughing fit. "Oh, I'm sorry! Heh, what a coincidence to run into you two times today!"

"Bizz!" Natsumi had said, "You seem better already! What happened?"

"Well, I guess I was just having a moment there. Heh." Bizz sweatdropped while Zukin just made a gagging noise and looked away. Bizz sighed, then continued the conversation, "So, how are you this evening? And who are these two?"

"I'm Charmy," Charmy replied with yet another wink, "And this is Astro! .. Or, at least, we call him Astro." She giggled and Astro turned red again. "Charmy, how do you always find all these ways to embarrass me?" He said with a groan.

"Oh, that's pretty cool," Bizz replied, "I'm Bizz. Or, if you didn't know, my real name is Marly Izu. But I like being called Bizz."

"Because you're so freakin' weird," Zukin muttered under her breath. Bizz had slightly heard her, but paid it no mind.

"Hey," Emi had suddenly broke in, her instinct of always gathering friends together showing again, "Would you and Zukin like to join us, Bizz?"

"Ooh, really??" Bizz had replied before Evil Zukin could protest, "For what?"

"We're going to bring Violet back home to her planet," Astro said, finally getting over his embarrassment, "I'm assuming that you already know that she came from planet Velocity?"

"PiX only told Emi and Natsumi, but she thinks that some others probably knew also," Violet told Astro.

"Well, I don't know, I think I kinda heard of it before somewhere," Bizz replied, Zukin then afterwards sighing and asking, "Can't we just go already, then?? I wanna get this over with."

"Zukin, quit being so rude all the time!" Bizz snapped, but Astro only said, "It's okay, we should get going anyways, since it's starting to get a little late."

So, the group continued on, though they did talk a little more on the way. When they finally reached Astro's house, he led them inside, then to his basement, where Charmy and him did their work on studying and inventing. Emi noticed a strange-looking machine in a corner of the basement room, but Charmy answered all her questions before she could even ask them. "Well," She began, "That weird-looking gizmo over there is what me and Astro have currently been working on. It has the power to bring you to other places. Even different countries, wrolds, planets... all that sort. We have tested it: we sent an acorn over to Astro's living room." Charmy started to giggle again, Astro remaining silent, and then continued, "So... if you want, me and Astro can start this thing up, and the PiX can return home.

"Wow... how do you come up with this sort of thing?" Natsumi asked, but Charmy only smiled and said, "Careful studying and planning, my friend."

"Well, Violet... what're you waiting for?" Emi asked the PiX who had now been on Natsumi's shoulders like always. Violet sighed and replied, "Violet wants to go back home, but will she ever see all of you again?"

"Don't worry about that," Charmy said, "You see, you'll be teleported to a certain secret area, like maybe under a certain bush or something. And, so, whenever this thing is on, if you return to that place that you came from, then you'll be able to return here. This machine uses the familiar ways of portal technology, as in, traveling through portals."

"... Well... okay..." Violet replied after a little hesitation, "But Violet the PiX wants you to promise to leave it on sometimes, like, just in case I miss you a whole lot and wish to return. Because Violet knows it will happen."

Charmy and Astro both nodded, and so, as they turned on the strange machine and a portal started to appear, Violet jumped off of Natsumi's shoulders. Astro said, "All you do is just name where you want to go, or think really hard of it, and it will take you there." And with that, the PiX shouted in first person, "Big strange machine-thingy, take me to planet Velocity of the Stellar Galaxy!" And jumped through the swirling, colorful portal, which glowed for a few seconds, then returned to normal. The group could hear the PiX's voice before she had left completely: "Farewell for now, friends from Earth! Especially you, Natsumi!" And even though Violet couldn't hear her, Natsumi had quietly muttered to herself, "And farewell to you too, Violet."

The next day, Emi, Rage, Bizz, Zukin, Alice, Natsumi, Akira, and Yuni had all met at that same arcade where Emi had brought Natsumi to meet her and some of the others. Charmy had to work, and Astro had said that he just had other things to do. Emi just assumed that he didn't like going places without Charmy around or something related to that, but she just shook that idea off as they had all did they thing they loved to do- play DDR. Even Bizz, who had already played it many times before. Afterwards, they met at the park that had been familiar to Natsumi, the one that she hung around after she was let out of the hospital. They had ice cream, which was mainly Bizz's suggestion. But of course.

Later that day, when Natsumi was at home, her friend Moe had called her for the first time since she had moved away.

"Natsu?"

"Yes, Moe?"

"... Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry that I haven't called you. Haha, so, how are you, whore?"

"Oh, I'm fine. Heh, I went to the hospital once, but it wasn't all that big, really."

"... Wow, what happened?"

"I was sick and pushed myself a little too hard. But, really, I'm fine."

"Well... okay, just wondering. Well, have you made any new friends? Me, Ri, and Kim have all been kind of worried about you, y'know."

"Well, it's okay, really. And heh, I've made a whole bunch of new friends. I mean, it isn't the same as having you and the others around... but, hey, I'm starting to have a little fun here, really."

"Heh... have you seen any hot guys yet?"

"Hahaha, there were a few, but they were all taken. But, well, I don't really care about having a boyfriend or anything right now."

"Heh, yeah, you've always been like that... oh, well, do they have DDR there?"

Even though Moe couldn't see it, Natsumi smiled. "Oh, yes, they do. Oh, do they ever..."

"Haha, excellent!" Moe had smiled as well, though Natsumi couldn't see it, either.

-The End-