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"Hey, I brought croissants!" Whizzy exclaimed, now making maneuvers to not tip over the tray with hot croissants.
"I got you, just stay still." Swifty rushed with a pair of oven mittens to retrieve the tray, escaping the potential fallout that could've been at the hands of a clumsy Whizzy. After all, the tray was hot, even in spite of Whizzy's high tolerance at pain.
It was a nice, warm day in the outskirts of Accellaise. The Savage Speeders residence, contrary to popular opinion, wasn't some luxury condo filled to the brim with all their trophies, medals and achievements, although they could've opted for that. Instead, it was a smaller house tucked between the countryside and the entrance to the big city where they often trained. It had to be accessible to all five members, since Accellaise was especially expensive during tourist season, and Vellis was cut off from the start due to huge expenses only in regards of rent, so as a compromise, this had to do. It was positioned well enough so the Speeders didn't have to bother with transportation and basic necessities, which was a relief.
And inside, there were the famous five. Whizzy and Swifty coming to the kitchen with the fresh tray of croissants, Rapidly merely waking up at the sight of the commotion and Velocity cleaning the living room. Their captain, Speedy, was probably asleep, or so they thought initially.
"Can someone wake up captain?" Whizzy asked, taking a few tissues to wrap the warm croissants in. "They're warm, and I think Speedy should also get them while it's fresh."
"It's fine, I'll get him. You can eat your croissants while at it." Rapidly stated, now heading towards Speedy's room. He was surprised to see it so empty at this early hour, given that Speedy was a heavy sleeper and wouldn't wake up until early afternoon. Curiously, he headed to the office, a place Speedy would often camp in while doing his captain duties, where he may or may have not heard his younger brother rambling to himself out loud. Door was locked, he was too loud to even notice Rapidly was standing at the door, and his phone was always on silent unless it was coach Quickly or manager Savvy.
"Velo, do you have the spare keys to the office?" Rapidly asked, coming back to the kitchen.
"Speedy locked himself again there? Mon Dieu..." Velocity stared, not at all surprised, before throwing the set of spare keys towards Rapidly. "This is concerning me, I don't know about you guys, but I'm worried about him."
"Tell me more, Velocity. I'm his older brother and he's not telling me anything." Rapidly said, asking Swifty to wrap his croissant in a tissue before heading there.
"I swore I heard Red Eye again in his rambles." Whizzy stated.
"Again? This is getting out of hand, we need to do something." Swifty claimed, now following the lead. "This has gone too far."
"Agreed."
"Well, let's go then. If I break the door, it's Speedy's fault." Whizzy stormed right past Rapidly and Swifty, with the rest coming behind cautiously. Fortunately, Velocity managed to bribe Whizzy with one croissant to calm him down so that Rapidly could unlock the door.
"So I have to do this turn up to an angle of 45 degrees so that I could overtake the next racer in line, before pushing the accelerator again, regaining the momentum by lap 10, and then I could manage to aid myself through one of the turns and block Red Eye from taking the lead, that way I could find a path to the win unless someone decided to counter my act on the other line..."
"Uh, Speeds?" Rapidly asked, trying to break the bubble that his brother was into. "Hello? We're here, we're up to check on you..."
"...And what if he manages to find my weak point and decide to undergo through the classic Crazy Cats Eyes strategy of using brute force to push their rivals into the wall? Think, Speedy, think! You can't let him go like that! Alright, so if my calculations are correct, if I stick to the plan as I devised it for Marbula One, I could pull the quick attack, and if that works correctly I may be able to overtake and even win the race!"
Swifty, Whizzy and Velocity all looked at each other, almost as if they were horrified by what they saw. Rapidly signaled to Whizzy, now coming to his side. Speedy was distracted enough, and given the girls took their time to get out prior, Rapidly immobilized Speedy by grabbing his hands and Whizzy took his legs, both rushing to the door as quickly as possible. Velocity locked the door not long after, and the rest went to the living room, much to Speedy's overly colorful language used against his brother. The two threw him on the couch, now with everyone present and Speedy looking confused more than ever.
"What the hell, Rapidly?" Speedy retorted loudly, infuriated. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"
"By any idea, you mean we managed to get you out of there before you started losing your mind completely? Then yeah, I do."
"Speedy, we need to talk." Velocity said, calmly this time. "Swifty?"
"Oh yeah." Swifty handed Speedy the croissant wrapped in tissue, still warm and smelling delightful. "We got croissants recently. Thought you may wanna eat one while it's warm."
"Oh, um... Merci, Swifty." He obliged, now taking a small bite off the croissant. "Talk about what, Velocity? Did something happen?"
"Well, to put it kindly... We've been worried about you and your recent behavior. You know, about your tiny obsession with Red Eye since Marbula One?"
"Obsession? Non, Velocity, I'm not obsessed, what you're on?"
"So we're not gonna find anything about multiple strategies of overtaking Red Eye in Marbula One if we roam through your cabinet? Or how to make Red Eye fumble a race in Marble League? Nothing of that sort?" Rapidly asked, his eyes serious this time, making Speedy look smaller. He may be the captain of the Savage Speeders, but Rapidly was still his older brother.
"Is it really necessary though, Rapidly?" Velocity asked, trying to diffuse the tension. "I mean, what we heard over the past several years is proof enough. This was long overdue, and we all know that."
"...Fine. But only because I trust you, Velo."
"So, what are you guys saying? That there is something wrong with me?" Speedy asked, now looking at all four of his teammates staring at him concerningly.
"Speedy, we need you to stop doing... all that. It's getting extremely concerning. You don't realize that you have an obsession with this guy and that he's not giving a single digit your way?" Swifty added, her voice sharper than the usual, given that she'd been partnering with Speedy in Marbula One as of recently. "Hell, I'm sure he finds you more amusing rather than a threat."
"I'm. Not. Obsessed. With. Him." Speedy retorted, emphasizing on each word, but the rest of the Speeders did not budge.
"Listen," Velocity added, taking the lead from Swifty, "we appreciate you as a captain and as a valuable team member, as a brother, as a friend and as the guy that keeps us afloat in delegations and what not. But this has to be done, we can't see you for another seven years obsessing on how Red Eye won another Grand Prix and you theorizing on how it happened, it takes a toll on us just as much as it takes a toll on you."
"I'm doing this for our team, don't you think?"
"We do, Speeds. We do. But we can't risk losing our captain either. We need you to take a break and relax a little bit."
"Relax." Speedy stated, in shock. "There isn't a captain out there that does that. Who does that?"
"Actually, all of them do something else but focus on Marble League and Marbula One 24/7." Whizzy said, his voice somewhat louder than he expected it to be. "Give us an example of one that does your same exact routine. Just one."
"Literally Red Eye!"
"And you say you're not obsessed with him, huh?" Rapidly remarked, slightly chuckling. "Pretty sure he's in a book club. He likes reading historical novels especially, if I got it right from Azure. Has a library he boasts about."
"Okay, so perhaps not him... Royal then!"
"He's a chemist full time, Speedy." Whizzy reminded, "If he's not in the laboratory experimenting on substances and what not, he usually plays arcade games with the rest of the Kobalts. They're into that kind of stuff."
"Tumult?"
"Oh, I can advocate for Tumult here, actually!" Velocity exclaimed, now looking on her phone. "Thanks for reminding me, I almost forgot. He's in our crochet group, he asked for a pattern to make at home. It's a small group but we share our patterns and designs there."
"Kinnowin?"
"Certain that he's into horse riding. The O'rangers have a farm, remember?" Swifty specified.
"...Aryp? Pretty sure he isn't a painter."
"For one, Prim took captaincy, so the captain is an art major." Rapidly intervened, adding more context. "But even Aryp isn't like that, he took after the Momo's habits. He likes cooking and trying new cuisines."
Speedy kept thinking, seems like for every single captain he pushed, there was one member of the Savage Speeders to either advocate or know about their whereabouts. With each one, the list dwindled.
"Bumble! Ha, I got you, he's perhaps the closest you can get to what I do!" Speedy exclaimed, feeling proud at the affirmation. The rest looked at each other, slightly bewildered.
"Bumble? Well, I understand you got disconnected from the outside world by focusing yourself with Red Eye's antics, but the Bumble you thought you initially knew is long gone." Rapidly said, looking at Swifty for back-up. She immediately understood and grabbed her phone in a whim.
"He's been worse at communicating with others than me. What are you even implying?"
"For one, Bumble is a flower collector. He'd always been open about it, like the rest of the Bumblebees. He has a knack for botany at the very least, and that's barely the surface. Swifty, your turn?"
"He also likes to travel. A lot. He doesn't stay in one place. And, unless you forgot, unlike most of us around here, Bumble has been with someone for a while now."
"Wait," Rapidly interrupted, slightly confused. "with who?"
"Rapidly, you've met his boyfriend before in Marbula One. He's been seeing Clutter for a while now, I think only recently they started to make it official. They're travelling together."
"The guy with the shorter hair that looks serious all the time and almost tried to kill Prim with his bare hands?"
"That's Tumult," Velocity intervened, given they knew each other from the crocheting group and the group was quite small. "Clutter has longer hair, he usually ties it in a bun. We met him in Hunluen last time we've been there, remember?"
"Which one do you m-" Swifty gave her phone to Rapidly, showing a picture of the two in Buzzpig posted on Marblegram. "Oh, that's him? Today I learn something new too. Good for them, though, they've been kind of eyeing each other since that day they got stuck at Misty Mountain."
Speedy paled at the discussion at hand. Was he really the only one that focused on the game? He has a reputation to maintain as a captain of the famous Savage Speeders, he did not understand why his team exaggerated everything out of proportion. It's not like he wanted to harm anyone, it's just that Red Eye got him on his nerves lately.
"So, any other one you can still pinpoint or are we done with this, Speeds?" Rapidly asked.
"Okay, fine, they have hobbies. Big deal. What does that have to do with me and the reason why we're here?"
"It's because we're encouraging you to find a hobby too and stop obsessing mindlessly over situations that may not happen." Velocity continued, her tone gentler than her peers, "We're losing our captain, Rapidly is losing his brother. You've been doing this for almost a year or two, every time we try to point that out to you, you're acting like nothing happened and then you go back to your old routines until Quickly or Savvy get you distracted. If it's not strategies against Red Eye, it's captain duties. If it's not captain duties, it's official documents. You haven't been eating or sleeping properly since, it's like you've been on autopilot. You need a break, Speedy. We do this because we hate seeing you in such a state."
Speedy was looking at everyone else, hoping that somehow, somewhere, there is someone that would defend him, even if it was a silent support. But he found none. The rest were unanimously on the same page as Velocity.
"Someone has to be the captain, and everything can't be made in a matter of seconds. You're acting like I have a choice in the matter."
"We know that, Speedy, you pride yourself in your hard work. But work and captaincy had become your whole life and having a small break from time to time helps you think clearer. It's not a shame to ask for a break. You're not a robot, you're still a human being, and you need a break. Please."
He sighed, feeling just so tired. The croissant was crumbling in his hands, the half of which he hadn't eaten, now surrounded by his teammates looking extremely concerned about him and his mental state. He didn't think he'd see the day they would pull an intervention on him, and yet, here he was.
"...Fine. I'll take a break. But until coach Quickly calls, then-"
"Nope." Rapidly snatched his phone, now putting it far away from Speedy's side. He was at least a head or two taller than his younger brother, so unless he could put up a fight, he had no chance to retrieve it from his hands. "I'll take the calls with Quickly and Savvy for the time being. You need to go outside and take an actual proper break. Velocity, Swifty and Whizzy could find you activities you can try and see which one you may enjoy."
"But-"
"No buts. That's final, Speeds. You really think mom and dad would like seeing you that way?"
He sulked, pledging defeat. The rest looked pleased enough that he stopped fighting, since that meant that they could move to the actual plan.
-----
To execute their plan, they needed backup. The three Speeders had to come with a plan of action while Rapidly handled the executive side with coach Quickly and manager Savvy. And, while Speedy would heavily disapprove of this method by "calling the others in Marble League to help him out", he had no choice in the manner but to oblige in at least 3 sessions, mostly paid by the rest of the team.
The clubs and courses were free of charge, but the payment was for enduring Speedy's stubborn behavior. He wasn't going to be an easy client to please.
The first one they opted for was Mary. They knew both her and her brother Prim were artisans with a degree in hand, and Mary was a professional painter. She would often offer painting courses to anyone that was interested in the bases of paint, mostly under pay, but given she knew Speedy, she offered to mentor him free of charge for the time being.
Problem was that Speedy expected to paint like Mary in about 5 minutes of trying to throw some colors on a canvas. Mary was diligent, she had experience prior with other students and marble artisans that went under her guidance, so she tried her best to guide Speedy under the same approach. She didn't give him a tough task, the task was to paint anything with whatever colors he preferred, nothing difficult. But his quiet façade crumbled as easy as he picked up the brush, since the colors started to blend with each other on the canvas. Mary explained that this isn't an issue and it's a technique many painters opt for, but Speedy could not take it well and left the enclosure by the next second. The other Speeders apologized profusely for his behavior and offered to pay her for the time used, but Mary graciously refused.
"I think painting isn't for him, he may need something more engaging, he loses focus easily." Mary recommended, her face content that at least she tried. "Perhaps something more dynamic could be for him?"
"We'll try to find something, thanks Mary." The Speeders said unanimously.
Next it was a course of botany, led by several members of what was formerly part of the Valiant Violets. There were a few familiar members too, Bumble and Honey of the Bumblebees, Rezzy and Rizzy from the Raspberry Racers, Hop from Jungle Jumpers, and seemed like Clutter from the Balls of Chaos was also present. Rezzy and Rizzy had it well with the hosts, given that they got along as if they were long time buddies, and for a moment the other Speeders thought that Speedy would feel a bit more in his element there.
Speedy was trying to interact with the few marble athletes he noticed, mostly with Bumble and Clutter since the others were busy selecting the seeds to plant. He did notice that their relationship definitely flourished from the last time he looked at them - Bumble was a lot warmer towards Clutter and Clutter was making sure his partner received just enough affection. They didn't mind Speedy's presence, but Speedy felt like an awkward third wheel given they were still an established couple, even if they didn't openly make out or any of that sort.
He couldn't help but feel a bit envious that Bumble got his happy ending, given he was just like him a few seasons prior. Same logic, same mentality, same view over the world and over marble racing altogether - the difference was that Speedy didn't move past his envy towards Red Eye's recent rise to stardom while Bumble was now in a committed relationship with a member that definitely proved to be just as equally in love with him as he was with Clutter.
And then, there was the time to plant... and Speedy, needless to say, struggled. He splayed the seeds all over the place, some extremely close to one another and the soil was so dry that it took a while to dig it out properly. Besides that, it was a heatwave going on and it was horrible to say the least. He didn't feel like he had a green thumb and no matter how much he tried to keep up with everyone else, the humidity killed him on the spot. Rezzy tried to help, but by that time Speedy was feeling dizzy and the team decided to put him under shade for a little bit.
While it wasn't outright a bad hobby to maintain, he couldn't keep up the pace and he dropped out by the 3rd day.
Whizzy, Swifty and Velocity were low on options after a while. The issue with Speedy was definitely baffling - either he lost composure far too easily, either he was influenced by external factors to exit the stage, either he was the one heavily resisting to even try it out. Nothing seemed to stick and Rapidly could barely manage the coach's demands.
"Please tell me you found something..." Rapidly pleaded, visibly tired. "Coach Quickly is making me run errands and I'm sick of it."
"I'm afraid we're back on square one..." Swifty said, the rest agreeing upon it too. "Speedy won't stay for more than 3 days, nothing seems to work, we barely have a handful to try."
"It's been like a month or so, we've tried almost everything and all we get from Speedy was that he's going to win and we'll leave him alone. This is getting infuriating." Whizzy said in a bitter tone, hating Speedy's usual dry sarcasm.
"Well, we can take a break and see what's been going on in the arena?" Velocity asked, pointing at the announcement flown on the pole in Accellaise. "Seems to be a dancing competition. And we all need a break, so why not explore a bit?"
"I guess that's not a bad idea." Rapidly agreed, calling Speedy to join them. "Speeds would be delighted to hear we're not pressuring him into another activity."
-----
This arena was far from the largest in the area, but it had a modest capacity to hold several international competitions that had nothing to do with sports. The Savage Speeders knew it better more for theater plays rather than sport events and what not, given they went to theatre once in a while to check a play.
Today, however, the setting was different - since one of the more acclaimed dancing competitions held its edition in Accellaise for the very first time. There were several pairs, each one of them looking more exquisite like the other, practicing on the choreography they have prepared.
"It smells a lot like hairspray." Whizzy noted, covering his nose under his shirt. "Don't they have windows here?"
"Let's see if we can find a spot where there's a door open." Rapidly said, now leading the group through the stands. While at it, they noticed a very familiar group talking - three being in the stands, and two dressed up for rehearsals.
"Pinky Panther!"
The group turned around at the Savage Speeders coming their way and waved. The Pinkies were very versed on dance - Panther especially prided himself to be one of the best dancing coaches in Rosaka, after all. So it was no surprise they had to try this competition.
"Hey! Didn't expect you all to be here!" Panther exclaimed, now urging the two members to move closer so they'd find spots for the five. "Welcome! You kind of caught us off guard here, we were doing a few rehearsals."
"We saw the flyer outside and wanted to see what's going on." Velocity said. "Only you are in the competition? No one else in the Marble League?"
"I haven't seen anyone else, the arena is a bit empty today." Pinky Toe replied. "We've registered at home, we're staying a bit over here, so perhaps we can tag along if you don't mind."
"Not at all! Just let us know when you need guidance around the city."
"So, who's dancing?" Whizzy asked, curiously.
"Rosa and Winky. We're in a shortage, Rosa's original dancing partner couldn't come so we had to substitute for one of us. Winky at least seems to be more eager but I don't think we'll be doing well this year."
Speedy didn't exactly understood what kind of dancing competition this was, the poster did not give many specifications besides the usual invitational jargon that he very well knew.
Panther called the two on cue, Rosa's dress being pastel pink with beautiful sparkly ornaments draped above and below the dress, her hair tied in a knit bun. Pinky Winky didn't have a proper dancing attire, given that Panther had to find a substitute in such a short time, they had to deal with what they could. After a small talk, Panther gave the full rundown and allowed them to go back to their positions.
"Alright, at my mark, we start with the intro. Pinky Winky, careful at her steps, alright?"
"Understood, Panther."
"And 5, 6, 7, 8!"
The music starts to play, now the two in the course of action. It took Speedy quite some time to realize what's going on until it clicked once he heard the music playing.
"Ooh, Rosa's great!" Swifty cheered, admiring her moves and charisma on stage. "What type of dancing is this?"
"Well, that's-" Pinkydink got slightly interrupted by a voice no one did not expect to hear today.
"That's Marbtin, isn't it?" Speedy asked, looking at Pinkydink, much to the other Speeders surprise.
"Marbwhat now?" Swifty asked.
"It is Marbtin! Didn't knew Speedy was a connoisseur of the dance routines!"
"Well, we did not know about that either. Speedy, since when you were into dancing?" Whizzy looked insistently at Speedy, now feeling like he may have done a mistake by even muttering that question.
He sighed before proceeding further. "This is rollroom dancing. Marbtin is a collection of dances mostly originating from where the Jumpers and Jawbreakers are from, not sure if the Rojos too, but I assume it extends up there as well. And, uh... it's not just that, is it?"
"Yeah, I think Panther signed Rosa up for the slower one too, but Marbtin's the one that they have difficulties with." Pinkydink said. "What was it, I forget the name..."
"You mean the Standard variant?" Speedy asked.
"That's the one, thank you!"
"Wait." Rapidly finally spoke up, his face with a tinge of familiarity now that he noticed the routine closer. "Didn't mom sign you on one of these courses back when you were younger? You were supposed to go to the internationals before you dropped out for marble racing."
"...Rapidly, don't remind me."
"Wait, Speedy? Our Speedy? Our captain?" Velocity asked repeatedly. "He could pull that off?"
"He did rollroom dancing for... 6 years? I think? If it wasn't for that, he'd be there with Rosa and Winky rehearsing." Rapidly explained, much to everyone's wide shock. "And he was actually pretty good, some said he was one of the most talented dancers in the region."
"I don't think I can dance the way I once used to, but I do notice that Winky's stiff in moves and he will definitely get penalized. He's missed a few steps too, at this point he's improvising and Panther's reaction is pretty telling. Rosa's great though."
"What hurts to try? We didn't even knew you did this, we did dance but I thought you just liked to freestyle when we had our dancing rivalry. Besides, you seem to know the steps by memory and we desperately need someone. Please?" Pinky Toe pleaded, with Speedy feeling a bit uncomfortable.
"Pinky Toe, I don't think-"
"Panther! Come on here, we need to tell you something!" Panther got startled a bit, prompting him to stop the routine and head over to Pinky Toe.
"What now, can't you see we're struggling? This routine's gonna be the death of us." Rosa and Winky came closer, now taking their bottles of water.
"Pinky Toe, please do not-"
"Did you know Speedy was a rollroom dancer? He knows about the routines, perhaps we can replace Winky with him!"
Speedy didn't know how to keep his head low in embarrassment. He was an avid dancer in his glory days, but he hadn't danced in a while.
"Speedy? This guy over here?" Panther asked, pointing at Speedy, with Toe and Pinkydink both nodding.
"I regret even saying this in the first place now." Speedy stated, with Pinkydink trying his best to pull him off the chair and onto the field.
"Pinkydink, let go of him." Rosa intervened, now getting Pinkydink off Speedy. "How comes we haven't seen you perform? Or rather me, since the rest of the Pinkies merely joined this year to help me out."
"I won a rollroom championship a while ago, but I haven't performed professionally since... I think we started becoming the Savage Speeders officially. The one time they hosted in Helarve."
"I was in Helarve too! On which section were you?"
"Standard. I think that was my debut and my finale. They didn't want to put me into Marbtin, but I practiced along with the rest of the dance club on all rollroom routines. You?"
"Ah, so we didn't meet then. I started on Marbtin by that year exactly, I did standard prior."
"Alright, guess you two seem to be on the same wavelength, which is great!" Panther gleefully added, "Speedy, is it a lot if we ask you to try the routine with our Rosa? We won't pressure you further if you don't feel like it, just one and done. It's the same marbtin choreography as decades ago, nothing really changed in terms of scoring."
"I don't know..."
"Please, Speedy? Promise I'm not going to have you chase down after me on the dancefloor." Rosa pleaded, and the rest were utterly curious as well.
"Come on, Speedy. You loved to dance back then, maybe that may reignite the fire you once had." Rapidly emboldened, hoping his brother may get the drive he needs to try again. "Besides, it's with the Pinkies. They won't laugh if you screw up."
"I mean, besides Rosa, we're not professional dancers and you know a thing or two about what she does." Pinky Winky added.
"Fine." Speedy stood up to everyone's cheers and chants, getting his coat off. "But I may need a rundown of the routine. I don't remember all the moves."
"Don't worry, I can help out here, so can Panther. You need to warm up though." Rosa explained, with Speedy nodding in approval before being led to the dancefloor.
-----
Panther managed to mobilize Speedy in just about half an hour with the routine.
He expected that it would've taken longer after so many years of not dancing in any capacity - but little did he know just how easy it went for Speedy to latch onto it once he remembered bits and pieces that he forgot long time ago. Panther looked quite impressed by his style, he wasn't as stiff as Winky while paired with Rosa, but he also had his own flair while going through a small portion for the choreography. His stamina was also impressive, perhaps from years of training for Marble League, but it matched perfectly with the song's tempo.
"Alright, up for a try?" Panther urged, now pulling the two in front of the small audience that's the rest of the two teams. "Just remember it's only us, ignore the others in the back, focus on the song and you'll be fine. Worse than I've seen Winky doing this past hour it won't be."
"I guess..." Speedy didn't look convinced, but Rosa tried to keep his moral up for the time being.
"If it helps you, he almost tripped on his feet a few times while trying to do several spins. I'm certain you have better balance than him." Rosa whispered, making Speedy laugh a little bit at the remark.
"Perhaps I may be rusty around the edges in regards of moves, but I'm still good on balance." Speedy whispered back.
"Speedy, Rosa, you're up!" Panther called, being met with several pairs of curious eyes. "Remember, two steps back and then the finale. Caught on that, Speedy?"
"Copy that, Panther."
"At my count, take your positions."
The two started off slightly further from each other, Rosa laughing at Speedy, Speedy throwing her a small glare in response.
"And 5, 6, 7, 8!"
The music started to play, and as quick as the song started, so did the two dancers. And needless to say, Panther looked absolutely mesmerized by just how well the two hit it off as dance partners. Speedy had the drive and force to match Rosa's gentler, more charming persona, making this choreography nothing short of a delight to watch. The other members were astounded, the Pinkies were cheering loudly as the two came close, while the Savage Speeders members were looking at one another in shock as Velocity caught the moment on her phone through video. It felt surreal to see the once "work obsessed and Red Eye envious" Speedy now essentially pulling hip movements better than several professional dancers in the field.
And it seemed like he was enjoying the moment more than anyone could've ever anticipated. He was beaming, getting so into the routine that even his face expressions were spot on. Rosa tapped slightly on his shoulder to mark the finale, as they pulled two steps back and then a slide from Rosa while Speedy held her by the hand. The routine was over, and all they could do was bow to the loud public in front of them.
"That was insane!" Pinky Winky exclaimed, clapping intensely. "Are you sure Speedy didn't dance in decades? He looks like he'd done this forever!"
"Rapidly, since I know you two are brothers and all and you get along with him well, can we kindly, politely, with a cherry on top - borrow him for this competition?" Panther asked, much to Rapidly's amusement.
"If it's by me, I'd be giving him for free. But ask him."
"No, but seriously. Speedy, where the hell were you when we needed a backup? You really didn't pursue rollroom after you entered the Savage Speeders?" Panther continued, now complimenting back and forth both of their performances.
"I seriously didn't, believe it or not." Speedy added, "But it felt so good to be back here, really. Forgot how much I missed it."
"Finally!" Whizzy exclaimed, relieved, "We've been trying to find him something to do to get him outside his office. Nothing worked until this moment. If only we knew sooner about Speedy's past with dancing, we would've came here earlier."
"So, Speedy, are you ready to be back on the main stage tomorrow? We'd be happy to have you in our team, even if it's for a day. Would be a shame if you say no after that phenomenal performance you gave earlier."
"I don't know, I don't think I was that good..." Speedy said, leaving both the rest of his team and Panther a bit shocked.
"Speedy to say he was not good at something and not give up on the next second? What the hell, is that our captain?" Swifty asked, looking at her teammates and pointing at Speedy. "No, really, I think this is a first for us to see this moment, he's usually stubborn when nothing goes his way."
"Are you kidding? Speeds. Buddy. Trust my word, you're one of a kind in Accellaise. There's not many dancers hailing from your region, Vellis is filled to the brim with those but neither come close to what you just did in that routine. I've seen them all, and it's been a long while I've been genuinely impressed by someone's performance. That way you relive the days you loved to dance and you also give your team some peace that they found something you love to do besides your orderly captain duties. Please, Speedy. It's one in a lifetime opportunity, it's the first time they come to Accellaise, that would be your great comeback after this long hiatus." Panther pleaded further, Speedy still thinking of it.
"No, but seriously, Speedy." Rosa interrupted Panther's continuous begging. "You're insanely talented. I can tell you've been in the industry for a while, even if you haven't danced in ages. I'd love for you to be my dancing partner in this tournament. I'm pretty sure we could landslide the competition."
"It better be a landslide or else my 6 years of rollroom dancing have been in vain." Speedy chuckled, hugging Rosa. "Count me in, Panther."
"You do? Let's go!" Panther rushed to both their sides to hug them tightly, feeling so happy that he managed to convince Speedy on their side. "We have the costumes, I think you're the exact same size as Pinky Winky, so this shouldn't be an issue. Rosa's dress isn't this one, but you may have already figured it out."
"It's fine, I don't think her dress was that big of an issue. But announcing you found a replacer should be the priority."
"Good point. You have to come with me though. This competition won't know what they'll be hit with." Panther joyfully chanted, now dialing a phone number while excusing himself to talk to one of the producers.