58.) A New Recruit!

The group had gathered, and the festival was at its peak. Shiishii and the gang walked through the square, getting praise from all directions. They were taking photos with fans and handing out plenty of autographs. They were basically the talk of the town if you don't count the queen herself. 

There was a part of the festival within the capital that Amiyama herself wanted to go to. The group was quick to follow as it seemed to be a dance party within the festival itself. One thing one must know about Amiyama is... she loves to dance. And from the music they could hear, it was going to be a blast. *baDMMMMM*... *Tsssss* *Bmm* *Tss* *Bm* *Tss* *DA**da**Daaa**da* 

The drums sang loud, and the backup singers sang in perfect sync. It was a little funk jam with jazz being the lead. Everyone could be seen groovin' to the beat as the women's dresses fluttered, and their men were trying to hide the show. 

Amiyama: "Ooooo! They do have a central dance floor. Oh, you guys gotta sit back and watch me." 

Demetri: "Sis… you're really about to go out there and dance?" 

Shiishii: "Of course she is." 

Gaia: "You should know your sister by now." 

Kimichi: "Pssshhhh! I may just join her." 

Sonya: "I was just thinking the same." 

Miamori & Yolmi: "As were we."

Amiyama: "Okaaaay! Come on then, y'all." 

The women threw their hand bags at the men, even though they all could store them in the pockets of their dresses. Which are literal pocket dimensions… "The men stood in 'Awe' as they watched their girls go take over the center of the dance square. Amiyama goes up to the DJ booth and requests a certain song to be played. It was composed by the royal family's musician. It was inspired by the bliss sounds of norse-style symphonies and hip-hop. 

Amiyama: "I hope y'all remember that routine that I let you all see. It's what we're showing off right now. Let's give these people a show." 

All the girls: "WE GOT IIT!" 

The music began to play, and Amiyama took the lead as the beat started to rise in volume. 

*DAA* *da* *Da* *da* *Da* *DAA* *da* *Daa* *da* 

*DAA* *da* *DA* *Da* *da* *daaa* 

*DAA* *da* *Da* *da* *Da* *DAA* *da* *Daa* *da* 

*DA* *daaa* *DA* *Daaa* *da* *daaa* *di* *La* *di* *da* 

The drums began to flow in to add base and rhythm to the already flowing flutes. Amiyama started her dance by showing off fancy footwork,  one would only see back in medieval times. Her dance resembled that of clogging as she hopped slightly into the air every time the beat would go high. She was in complete sync with the song. 

Once the main symphony goes by, the other girls jump in and copy Amiyama's dance. They matched the beat almost as well as Amiyama. They continued that fancy criss cross footwork while waving their hands to hype up the crowd. It was like they were in full control of the crowd as they got hyped just in time for the beat drop. 

Shiishii: "It's about to get goood!"

Gaia: "No doubt." 

Amiyama begins to back up as their footwork gets a little more ecstatic as they sway their arms back and forth. Amiyama gets to the back of the dance group as the other girls get to the front where Amiyama is, all while keeping formation. They all swayed their arms to the left once more and began doing stutter steps with their right legs. While slightly spinning with each one, swaying their hips as they go. They perform a complete 180 spin and pause for a literal second. 

*BMMMM* *DAA* *da *da* *Da* *DAA* 

The four other girls do a quick hop spin and turn back around. They landed with their legs spread out slightly and their right arms bent and pointing up. They point straight ahead as if they're holding guns, then BOOM. Amiyama does a frontwards leap roll straight past the two girls in front, Yolmi and Kimichi. She rolls to her feet, then leaps upwards slightly as she extends her arms out and lunges head first towards the floor. She lands perfectly and smoothly bends her arms inwards as her head touches the floor and she begins to SPIN! 

It was a rapid spin that quickly turned into a classic ballerina twirl due to Amiyama rising to her feet during the headspin. The beat repeats the tempo, *BMMMM* *DAA* *da *da* *Da* *DAA* 

And Amiyama stomps to stop her spin when the bass drops again. She transitions into the jig they did at the start of the routine and ends that with a smooth, west coast style two-step. The crowd gets pumped as the other four girls repeat that twice along with the beat. The beginning, base symphony that played at the start doubled back, and the girls showed off the beginning of their routine once more, but with far more flare added. 

Shiishii: "This was quite wonderful to watch. Don't you guys agree?" 

Gaia: "Indubitably so." 

Dante: "That Shit was splendid Shii. Your wife is amazing as always." 

Demetri: "Yeah. Waaay better than their rehearsals. That's for sure." 

Kitiro: "That was a good show, mahn." 

The girls finish with a grand twirl and end it while pointing into the sky with their right arms. The crowd goes absolutely wild as they applaud and cheer for the women's performance. Shiishii and the others cheer them on as well, whistling and jumping about. They bow and give each other praise as they take their leave of the center floor. 

Amiyama: "You guys were great!" 

Kimichi: "Thank you, madame." 

Sonya: "That was great fun. You guys are very good at dancing." 

Yolmi: "You know it, girly."

Miamori: "That was quite the nice change of pace. Thanks, Lady Amiyama." 

Shiishii: "You were all wonderful out there." 

Gaia: "Indeed. But I'd say we should continue further into the festival and keep lighting up a few events. This could be great fun!" 

Amiyama: "You guys agree?" 

Everyone: "Hell yeah!" 

The group continues further down into the festival after that amazing performance from Amiyama and the girls. They exited the main square that sat in front of the castle and went into town to see what was going on. Shiishii and Demetri pushed open the gates to exit out, and right before them were a few game stands that were giving out great prizes. 

"Ooooooh, Shiishii, you should test your strength and win me and your wife some prizes." Gaia said in an exciting tone. Amiyama had a big smile that told you she was in agreement with the request. Shiishii let out a huge sigh and agreed hesitantly. 

Shiishii: "You people annoy me sometimes." *he says as he walks off in a gloomy manner, dragging his feet. Arms down, swinging side to side with each step.* 

Gaia & Amiyama: "Thank you, Shiiii!" 

Yolmi: "Mhm… you going too right?" 

Demetri: "Heh??... Uh… I guess I can." 

Yolmi: "Mhm hmm. Get going then." 

Demetri: "Mrrrhm!" 

Demetri and Shiishii make their way to the Hammer stand. It had a huge pole more than 100 feet tall that had lines etched on it. There were ten lines that represented your strength. The stand had a secret function that used a certain amount of essence to fight against the bar that traveled up the stand. It was there so that contestants were forced to use more strength than needed. One must be able to get to the seventh line at the very least if you wish to gain a prize. 

"So, you… wanna go first?" Shiishii asked Demetri as they slowly approached the booth keeper in charge of the strength stand. Demetri had agreed to go and sped ahead of Shiishii so he could take his turn. He gave the teller 10 feanoes(they were the equivalent to US dollars on Earth 52) and took hold of the hammer. 

Yolmi: "Mhm… he'd better give it his all." 

Miamori: "I can see him doing so. Have faith. Hehe!" 

Demetri gets into a wide legged stance and brings the hammer above his head and onto his right shoulder. He takes two deep breaths and then flexes his arm muscles as he lifts the heavy hammer up high yet again. Then, with perfect and proper hammer use technique, he brings his body weight down first. The hammer remains high until pulled down by the weight of his body and arm muscles. The hammer comes flying down and smashes into the lever that sends the bar flying upwards. *DIIINNNGG* The lever was hit with tremendous force that sent the bar flying. It began to lose momentum and speed almost instantly as it passed the third marking on the stand. Then the fourth, the fifth, the sixth, and just then… it began to move very slowly as it approached the seventh line. 

"Come on, come on… come ONNNN!" Demetri begged the bar to keep pushing while being forced back down by essence found within the stand itself. But luck just wasn't on his side, and the bar came crashing down just before crossing the seventh marking. A quick loss for our fare boy, Demetri. 

Yolmi: "I told you he was going to fail. I told you." 

Sonya: "Mhm… I still say you're pretty negative, but you were right. He failed. But I bet he tries again out of frustration." 

Yolmi: No denying that. He's already giving the guy ten more feanoes." 

Demetri: "I'm going again. God dammit!" 

Shiishii: "Oh wow." *he begins to show a smug smirk on his face* 

Shiishii couldn't help but laugh as he watched a frustrated Demetri give it another go. He used the same technique as before, but this time… you could just see the essence oozing off of him. One could say he had every intention of breaking the stand with his next blow. *SMAAASH* The bar went flying up, but you could see no stop to its momentum unlike before. It smashes past the seventh line, then the eighth and the ninth. It finally smashed into the bell at the top, and the teller yelled, "WINNERRRR!". Demetri had a smile of complete triumph on his face. 

There were numerous prizes ranging from enchanted, stuffed plushies to phoenix type armor. Yolmi walked up behind Demetri and gave him a kiss on the cheek. They walk up to the booth, and at the same time, Shiishii began his turn and grasped the hammer. He put it over his right shoulder and gave a quick look at Amiyama and Gaia. "Two prizes coming up!" he yelled as he flexed his muscles and brought the hammer down in a near instant. *BOOOOM* Without a single millimeter worth of resistance, the bar flew up instantly and hit the bell within a mere second. The teller hesitated to yell "winner" due to his overwhelming amounts of surprise from what had taken place. Shiishii looked back and pointed at Amiyama. 

Amiyama: "Hm?" 

Shiishii: "Go grab your prize woman. And Gaia, you're next. Mhrrm!" 

Shiishii had paid the teller 20 foenoes ahead of time so he could take two turns. He lifted the hammer once more, and in the same manner, he smashed the lever down and hit the bell in an instant. The teller was more than expecting it this time, so he was quick to jump with excitement, yelling, "WINNERRRRR!!!"

Shiishii walked up to Gaia, and they both headed towards the booth to pick their prize. Yolmi ended up choosing a gigantic, stuffed Phoenix-Eagle as her prize. It was highly enchanted with AI-type essence and could be brought to life as an essence fueled, animated being when commanded to wake up. Amiyama herself chose something very similar. It would seem the booth teller had got ahold of a plushie that was identical to the Legendary Phoenix beast that roams the Omniverse Amiyama just could not resist and sent it to her quarters immediately. Same with Yolmi. 

"Those were some interesting enchanted plushies. But I'd rather have this twin blade set that seems to resemble the blue and red flames of this empire." Gaia said as she grabbed ahold of the blade set and handed Shiishii one of the blades to keep for himself. 

Shiishii: "Hahaaa. Nice, thanks, sis." 

Gaia: "No problem, brother. Thank you for winning us these prizes." 

Amiyama: *Smooch* "Yeah… thanks, dear." 

Shiishii: "Mhm… don't do that. Don't be kissing me on the neck, sweety. You know what that does." 

Amiyama: "Hm hmm! Ok, ok… maybe later then, before we leave." 

Shiishii: "Oof… must be trying to have my kid finally." 

Amiyama: "Maybe." 

Gaia: "Get a rooom." 

Both: Oh, trust us, we will!" 

Kitiro and the others come running back to the group after going to try out games of their own. Kitiro and Deamonte had shown off these two rings they had won by arm wrestling the teller for that booth. The rings were a twin set that were forged in their home clan. They were very proud of this small feat. Then you had Beeso and Dante, who had both just beat a pair of tellers that were partners on business. They ran a booth that issued a game that people call Keep 'em Up!. The game focuses on keeping a ball of condensed essence from falling on the floor, but you can only use your legs and feet as your way of doing so. They crushed the competition and held the ball up for more than 20 minutes before finally stopping. They both ended up winning a set of armor that protected against techniques that use extreme heat. 

Sonya: "I see everyone who decided to play has won themselves a prize." 

Kimichi: "Indeed. Shall we continue deeper into the festival?" 

Kaguro: "Hell yeah, sis." 

Joe: "I'm cool with that. *sip* These Gaia Tears are finally getting to me, man. I-I… think I'm wasted." 

Sonya: "Mhrrm! So unsightly, brother." 

Joe: "SHADDUP!" 

Shiishii: "Pffft… yeah man, we can continue further in. Come on, everyone!" 

The group continued to enjoy everything the festival had to offer. They participated in every event they could and even went shopping at a few of the shops that were doing deals for just that day. Amiyama and the girls were able to get a lot of clothing while the men had their wallets dragged through the dirt. 

They continued further down the line. And hit another dance floor where everyone actually joined in on the festivities. Gaia and Shiishii performed a dance routine that they had been working on. Everyone by this time was well under the influence of Gaia's famed liquor. They were all enjoying themselves highly, and to a great surprise… a fight circle was going on when they got near the center of sector one of the town. Amiyama and Shiishii actually showed up and went at each other for three minutes straight. Gaia and the others were going wild as the two were evenly matched in skill and were showing off amazing techniques. 

Gaia: "Kick his ass Amiyama!!"

Demetri: "B-Beat her arse bro!!! Beh...BEAT her ass." *he could barely stand up. He was so drunk* 

Sonya: "HEHEHAAHAHA!! Demetri can't handle his liquor!!!" *She points and laughs* 

Yolmi: "Mhm… how embarrassing, babe." *she sits down with Demetri to keep him from falling over* 

Kaguro: (Death and even Amiyama move with such grace and waste no movements. Their techniques are grand.)  *Gulp* *GULP*

The two continue to wow the crowd as the day goes on, and the festival gets even more lively as the star keeper lowers the sun and the lunar phase comes forth. At this time, our two intruders had made a quick stop on a rural planet with nothing more than privately owned properties. They were all owned by high class, wealthy Phoenofian Gods. 

We would learn that Jabreeze is quite the smooth talker as he convinces one of the female owners to let them use her continent as a place of rest before continuing towards the capital. She agreed and let them be. But it would seem that a royal guard had followed them there. His partner was called back to headquarters, so he continued to trail them alone. Among doing so, he was able to use his decoder birthright to figure out who Slith was and make the decision to apprehend him and the Phoenix he was with, Jabreeze. One should note that all royal guards across the map are always 35s and above. This would be a match they could NOT win at their current level. So… 

Jabreeze: "Jollister… our situation has grown grim." 

Jollister: "What do you mean?"

Jabreeze: "We seemed to have been followed by a royal guard." 

Jollister: "Mhm… what's his level of strength?" 

Jabreeze: "He seems to be a…" 

Slith: "37." 

Jollister: "Tch… alright. Jabreeze, go ahead and take out that gauntlet I gave you." 

Jabreeze: "Ok… I did." 

Slith: "Hurry… he's here. (What the hell are they doing?)" 

Royal Guard: "I have decoded your identity and determined you need to be taken in. And sorry to say sir… but seeing as you're with him, you must come as well." 

Jabreeze: "What's the move here, Jollister? I put on the damn gauntlet!" 

Jollister: "Good, good. Now then, allow me to transfer some essence to you so that you can defeat him. I need to continue watching my uncle and his moves. If he figures out you're there, it's all over." 

Jabreeze: "Right… right. *peYOUUUUUUFFFF* (I can feel a huge surge of essence coming to me. My body, mind, and soul all feel like they skyrocketed in capabilities.) This will work!" 

Jollister: "Good… Now hurry and kill him so we can continue onward. Oh, and one last thing. DO NOT take off that gauntlet until this is over. You'll lose my help if you do." 

Jabreeze: "Alright. Will do, over and out. *he hangs up the mini essence communicator* I'll make this quick Slith." 

Royal Guard: "Hmm? (That Phoenix's power scale has just skyrocketed for no good reason. Guess this won't be simple afterall.)" 

The Guard slowly walks up to the two of them as he draws his sword and ups his guard. Jabreeze's gauntlet that was given to him by Jollister had split in two and crawled its way to the other hand. He was now ready and rarin' to go. Slith readied his snakes just in case he was to be attacked during this altercation. With everyone oozing a bit of bloodlust, the fighters started their march. Jabreeze summoned a great flame from his fist as he charged. The Guard summoned a green flame onto his blade and charged forward as well. 

Slith: "Snake Armor Reinforcement. *Slith sends a suit of armor to cover and help Jabreeze* (We won't let a single soul get in our WAY!)"

Jabreeze: "Geeeeet LOOOOOOOOOOSST!!!" 

A Royal Guard pokes his nose where it doesn't belong and ensues a battle between him and Jabreeze. A fight to the death has begun yet again. The journey to the key continues….

Back over in the capital, the group takes a break from partying and enjoying the festival so that they can speak and relax. Aiyama finally catches up to them. They all greet him, and you could just smell the liquor oozing off the group. He quickly greets them all as well, then makes his way over to Shiishii and Gaia. 

Aiyama: "Greetings, you two. It's been a while." 

Shiishii: "Indeed it has my friend." 

Gaia: "What's up, kiddo?" 

Aiyama: "I wanted to ask if I could spar you, Shiishii." 

Shiishii: "Huh!?"

Aiyama: "I wish to be a captain class member of STRIFE." 

Gaia: "Heh! Oooh?..." 

Next Chapter: Mathis VS Jabreeze!