Dedicated to: PearlGiftyQuansah

"When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place on the floor. It's to enjoy each step along the way."
-Wayne Dyer

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Both were abruptly awoken by a sharp knock on the door.
"Your highnesses, are you ready? The competition starts in 25 minutes."
The voice was familiar. It was that girl from the desk

What is she doing here this early? What is she talking about, 25 minutes? Thought the sleepy hero. She rolled over and looked at the clock beside her bed. "Crap!" She heard Toxic’s voice cry out from the bedroom beside hers as he realized the exact same fact. It was 5:30 in the evening! She jumped out of bed freaking out.

"Here, put this on!" Toxic rushed through the curtain and shoved a large bundle of pink chiffon fabric into her hands. Her eyes went to his body; he was wearing only black silk pajama bottoms, and suddenly heat rushed to her cheeks. It was the first time she had seen him without his clothes on. She caught herself quickly and tried to focus on the bundle in her hands. It was actually a big, poofy, full length dress, and the last time Andromeda had worn something like this was... never.

After dressing up, they both dashed for the bathroom. Toxic was putting on an all-white tuxedo, which she found kind of ironic. He shoved a tube of mascara and eyeliner into her hands. His own no doubt; and then he quickly splashed some water onto his curly black hair as she tried to concentrate on putting on the makeup. Toxic and Galaxy Girl raced for the door, she clutched the big puffy skirt in her hands, and right as they reached the doorway, the excruciatingly wound up hero realized she wasn't wearing any shoes.
"Toxic, my feet!" She cried, sticking out a bare foot and wiggling it. "Oh right!" He dashed back and within a few seconds, he was back with a pair of rhinestone encrusted silver high heels. The girl in the dress that resembled cotton candy took a loud gulp.
Toxic may have been her real life nemesis, but that type of footwear was the often klutzy and off balance.

"But, I, I..." she stuttered. “No buts, we don't have the time!" He knelt down and grabbed her foot, shoving it inside the shoe. Galaxy Girl nearly toppled over. Soon they were racing to the elevator. She was tempted to fly, rather than deal with the excruciating pain of running in that ridiculous footwear, but with a quick glance around, she was promptly reminded of the many cameras that lined the hotel hallway. The elevator door dinged shut, and she noticed that Toxic’s hands were surrounded by his emitted radiation.

"Toxic, your hands!" She gasped, pointing at them. "My gloves! I left them!" He slapped his forehead.
Galaxy Girl looked up at her villain with worry. How nervous must someone with iconic memory be to actually forget something? Toxic himself was left stunned, first her shoes and now his own gloves? It was the first time it had ever happened to him. How could he go from a completely flawless record to forgetting two things in under two minutes?

"We have to go back for them!" She reaches over to change the elevator course but he batted her hand away. "There is no time!" He shouted and shoved his hand into hers. "Whatever you do, don't let go!" Without a second to spare, the elevator door slid open with a ding and they found themselves in a dimly lit ballroom, with a humongous crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling.  A live orchestra played a soft foxtrot to which a couple with matching white blonde hair floated seamlessly across the dance floor: gracefully executing each step as if it were a walk in the park. At a table on the other side of the room sat three judges, one of them was the tall brunette woman who had shown them in from the airport yesterday. The other two were men, one a sweaty, slightly heavy set man with a dark toupee, sitting atop his head. The other was a much younger man in his late 20's, sporting a military cut to his brown hair, dressed in a finely tailored suit. Galaxy Girl felt her stomach doing backflips.

Toxic immediately noticed the deer in headlights expression glazed across the face of his rival and squeezed her hand, which oddly gave her reassurance. The couple on the floor finished their dance and bowed to each other, then took notice of the young pair standing by the elevator, and strode arrogantly over to where the supposed Baron and Countess were standing.

"Ahh look, now isn't it that cute little couple that nobody's ever heard about, from that tiny little island that no one has ever heard about either?" The snooty woman said to her partner. Galaxy Girl summed up her accent to be Scandinavian, the arrogance in the woman’s voice immediately pressing a lot on Galaxy Girl’s buttons. "Where is everyone else?" She managed to choke out politely, as it was taking a good deal of self-control not to let go of Toxic hand and throw her into the next country over. "Gone, it's down to just you and us now." She replied, not even looking at Galaxy Girl, instead sizing up Toxic like a hungry cat... "Good luck, you will need it." The tall blonde's equally arrogant partner snorted sarcastically.

"Now for the final remaining pair. The team Dumas of Vanuatu, please grace the stage." A voice on a microphone called. Thankfully, before the hero could offer those people a piece of her mind, Toxic pulled her towards the stage, and she tried her best not to trip during the walk to the center of the hardwood floor. The faux royals took their painfully practiced starting position.

"Smile." He hissed through his teeth, as he wrapped his other hand around her waist. Never in all the wide world of sports had he ever once thought he would find himself in this type of crazy scenario. They stumbled through the routine, trying their best not to fall. Toxic's stomach grumbled loudly halfway through, a reminder that neither of them had eaten in over 18 hours.

Toxic did his best to remain composed and dignified, gracefully floating through every move while Galaxy Girl just tried to keep upright. The music came to a close and now came the time for the duo to bow to each other. For Toxic, it wasn’t much ado, he did so flawlessly, but his nemesis was not so lucky. With one  hand in his and the other gripping tightly to the skirt of her dress, one of her heels caught on the pink fabric and she fell flat on her face, landing with a thud at Toxic’s feet. His hand still in hers, he quickly yanked her back up. Both looked around, it was dead silent, even the orchestra had stopped playing, and then as if on cue, the whole room erupted in laughter. Galaxy and Toxic watched in mortified horror as the judges, still laughing, held up the score cards. The first held up a white card with a number 4 on it. The supermodel-esque female judge rolled her eyes and displayed a 2, and Galaxy Girl's heart sank when the final judge held up a 0.

"That's bad isn't it?" she asked as they walked back over to the competitors’ corner. "About as bad as the time I tried to fill an inactive volcano with vinegar and baking soda" He said disappointedly, quickly shoving his hands into his pockets before anyone could notice the glow.

"You call that dancing? A pirate with a peg for a leg could do better box steps." The stuck up Norwegian man insulted. Staring intently at the man, Toxic’s eyes suddenly lit up, and a mischievous grin made its way to his lips. "And with a very large lead, at a total 27 points, the winners of the Waltz are Team Autumn of Norway. Congratulations; Lord Ande and Lady Dara." The voice on the loudspeaker confirmed.

Galaxy Girl didn't think her heart would sink any lower, but at that announcement, she was proved wrong. All of that ridiculous dancing... it had been for nothing. "Team Dumas is now eliminated from the tour." The announcer confirmed the obvious.
The hero now realized she had to go home and think of some way to explain this all to her father.

"I object." Toxic’s hand shot straight up. The judges table again erupted in laughter again. "On what grounds?" The third judge leaned over and asked into the microphone that jutted out in front of him. "I contest, under the grounds that Lord Ande Autumn is taking illegal performance enhancement supplements." All eyes fell on the Scandinavian Lord, who instantly turned bright red. For the first time all day, Galaxy Girl smiled, knowing what had happened: Toxic was reading the Lord’s guilt.

"Is it true your lordship, have you taken steroids?" The female judge questioned. "How, how dare you make such an accusation?!?" Lord Ande huffed in feigned anger. "If my sources are incorrect, then a simple blood or urine test should clear this up." Offered the empathic supervillain.

"I... I..." He stuttered, and it didn't take superpowers to see he was clearly guilty as charged. His wife stood there, shaking her head in annoyance. "I do not have to take this from the likes of you, I withdraw from the tour!" He grabbed his lady by the arm and stormed out.

The hall remained quiet. It was just Toxic, Galaxy, the judges and the orchestra in the huge ballroom now. The judges murmured amongst themselves as the nervous hero's grip grew tighter and tighter around Toxic’s hand. He winced in pain. She loosened her hold, the muscular girl often forgot how much stronger she was than him, powers or no powers. "Under the circumstances, we declare team Dumas of Vanuatu moving on with the Tour De Dance." The loudspeaker announced.

"Yes!" She fist-pumped in the air, and Toxic did something completely unexpected, he pulled his hero into a much unexpected hug. Her body tensed at the sudden action.
"Just go with it, remember act human." He whispered into her ear.

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A/N: Happy Saturday guys!
Hope you enjoyed.
Bonus chapter will be posted later on today, but in the mean time, please dont forget to vote and comment.
:)