Galaxy Girl let out a sigh of relief as he removed his gloves and long coat, revealing the tight fitting costume beneath.

It was a typical tight black tango shirt, encrusted in detailed rhinestones, with a front that revealed a good portion of his smooth chest, with black crushed velvet pants. Several others in the room wore something almost exactly similar, but in Galaxy Girl's opinion, he pulled it off better than any of the royals could ever dream.

She noticed a purple mark peeking out from behind what little fabric covered his pale chest. It was a mark she had given him.
"Hey, my eyes are up here."
He joked, easing the tension that choked the atmosphere around them. The hero smiled, and tugged him towards the stairs.

Her breath hitched as he pulled her into the impossibly close tango starting position. She took a deep breath, trying to remember every detail of what would be the last time they shared this type of intimacy. Little did she know he was doing the same thing?
The haunting march-like melody of the music began to fill the air and they started to move with it. They had no practice, no rehearsal, this was raw, and this was pure instinct. The duos alter egos took over. Moving with feline precision, bodies seeming more liquid than solid. It was breath-taking. The scene looked as though you couldn't tell where one ended, and the other began. This tango's wasn't hatred- like that of the Speeders', or love, like the German ambassadors, no this was about lust, plain and simple.

As it usually did, the crowd melted away; nothing was left but the music, the stage, and each other. The music gained momentum and so did they; twisting and entangling in ways that in only the tango are possible.

His lips grazed her neck as he dipped her, the music about to reach its climatic finale. "Galaxy..." He whispered into her skin, voice heavy like his so called non-existent heart. This whole guilt thing was actually a real pain.

"Yes?"
She asked after sliding under his leg.
"I lied."
He admitted pulling her to slide across the room. He didn't need to explain about what, he knew she would know just what he meant. He lifted and twisted her in the air, dropping her and catching her just inches from the floor as the music hit its final note.

"I know." She smiled ironically into his cheek. Still hanging onto each other, he stood up, pulling her up with him into a warm embrace.
"I'm so sorry." He whispered, glad to have her in his arms again, enjoying it as he realized that it would probably be the last time they experienced this soul-clenching memory.
"You should be..." she growled sarcastically into his shoulder, but residual anger still fizzled within her.

The siblings remained as arrogant as to be expected of them at a competition of this grand a scale. Noses turned up, so sure of their performance, so expectant of that win. Whispered arguing immediately seeped out from behind the judges table the second the performance ended, and in several different languages.

The arrogant smirk that was painted onto Cha-Cha's thin lips slowly started to fade.
Her grip on her brothers arm tightened just so.
Meanwhile, Galaxy Girl and her nemesis were still oblivious to the world.
"I know... and I do mean it." He stroked her hair sincerely.
"You didn't have to lie to me, I understand the situation just as well as you do." She pulled back and gazed intently into his eyes, both of them deaf to the polite quarrel overtaking the judges table.

"I and you... can't happen, I get it."
The arguments stop as the judges reach for the scorecards.
"I won't lie to you again, I promise." vowed Toxic.

Before they could reveal the score, a breeze whooshes across the room, and in the place of the sibling competitors, stood the world's deadliest set of speedsters; dressed in all the regalia of their matching black and yellow costumes.

"Here we go." Stated Toxic, quickly pulling her behind the curtain.
"Everybody freeze!" They heard the speedster twins cry out in unison.

"Costume?" Asked Galaxy Girl, as planned, he was supposed to have hidden it nearby.
"Right stage dressing room, top shelf." He responded. She jumped into the air and flew to get. He twisted a dial on his wrist, and in a burning flash of lime green light, he was fully dressed in his ensemble, right down to the black eyeliner.

Temporarily ignoring the chaos and commotion that lay just on the other side of the velvet, Toxic stared longingly at the refashionator on his wrist, something his father had given him when he started to help manage StockmanCorp at age 10.
Out of habit, he lifted up the device just enough to get a peek at the initials carved into the bottom, R.P. meaning, Romana Petrescu. Though this watch was clearly built by his father, it had belonged to his mother.
"Thanks Dad." He smiled slightly at the inanimate object.
Galaxy Girl zoomed to his side, landing at the edge of his radiation line and walking the rest of the way.

"I've missed seeing you in that." He looked her up and down, completely unbothered by the sounds of fear and confusion that now echoed throughout the ballroom. "The low-cut dresses were a surprisingly nice change, but this is still my favorite."
She rolled her eyes, sending him a smirk, playing her part; but truthfully her heart warmed at the Villain's sweet sentiment.

"You ready?" She asked, cracking her knuckles; peeking out from behind the curtain. He grabbed what looked like hair and pulled it back, it wasn't hair, but his camoflothe, under the stealth cover was the fully assembled ray.
"When am I not ready to fire a high powered lazer?" He smiled enthusiastically