-------------Percy's POV: ----------------
Apparently, this was a big deal to these guys, and I guess I should've seen it coming with how furiously Dick tried to train me, but I had just chalked it up to one big joke, but looking at it now, no, I was very wrong.
In fact, I don't think I could've been more wrong.
They'd all gathered here, even Jason, they had a board set up with various scoring, and the team names, Alfred was even here as a judge/ photographer, though I'm not sure if the kids knew the latter half. Oh, and let's not forget the various speakers spread around the room and the chairs surrounding the cleared-out area they'd carved into the room.
To say it was a bit overwhelming was a bit of an overstatement.
The white board had a few categories on it, these including:
Performance:
Creativity:
Point total:
Jazzy:
Special thanks to Damein for narrating the board
The last one was scribbled on as if it were in a rush. I couldn't help but notice the marker that had been half haphazardly thrown to the corner of the room with Dick standing awkwardly and looking around as if trying to not be suspected.
I smiled slightly as I looked to the top of the board.
Above the categories sat the teams, we had Tim and Stephanie, Duke and Cassandra, Jason and Damien (Though both came begrudgingly and were even more appalled at the teams) and finally Dick and I. The others wouldn't tell me what was at stake but by the looks of it, it had to be something huge.
I'd tried to get in on it, but apparently this matter had been set beforehand and I guess I wasn't included. It didn't bother me, truly, it was just the curiosity that was eating away at me.
I'd even asked Alfred, but he wouldn't budge either, telling me it was none of my concern and that I should just have fun. I just decided to play along.
"Hey Percy!" I turned to see Tim walking over, a smile on his face. I was happy to see he looked a lot more rested than before, with his hair properly done compared to the usual slightly messy style.
My smile grew as he stopped beside me. "Hey Tim, are you ready to go?" He nodded encouragingly, turning to the middle of the room where Stephanie and Jason were arguing on which Just Dance game goes first. Dick and Damein would add in little comments here and there to throw the two off.
"Yeah, Steph and I are pros if I do say so myself, I don't get to play as often but I like to think I still outrank Duke. Poor guy hasn't learned the true ferocity of this family." I allowed an eyebrow to raise as my smile morphed into a smirk.
"Is that so?" I took in a deep breath as the two finally seemed to agree on a game as they set the remote aside to chase after Dick and Damien, finally having enough. Duke and Alfred seemed to be keeping each other entertained as well. As I looked over, I could feel my smile drop slightly.
The night I'd advised Bruce to come to this thing, I had been serious, he'd even seemed to joke about coming when he came back to wish me a safe walk back home. But he wasn't here yet. It was worrying.
"You okay Percy?" I briefly glanced at Tim, a bit of worry crossing his features.
I just replaced the smile, putting my faith in Bruce as I nodded. "Yeah, just fine. I'm just envisioning what will happen when you guys lose." Tim's smile came back, rivaling that of Damien's snarky smirk.
"You wish"
"Alright everyone!" I looked past Tim to see Alfred picking up the remote, looking over all of us. "It's time for us to begin the annual dance-a-thon, or as some like to call it, Disco fever" I could barely see Stephanie and Dick share a small look. "We will begin in stages and as we go on, I will tally your points until we have a winner. The first two teams will be Tim and Stephanie, and Duke and Cassandra.
Alfred guided the rest of over to the seats to watch as the two teams talked some smack before the song came on.
As the song began, the two groups got into position,
—--------------------
"Good job!" Dick called as the two teams walked out of the cleared area in the middle of the room. They looked overall happy and satisfied with their dancing abilities, but I could see the worried glances over to the board.
Personally, I believe Dick and I's score is pretty good, so I wasn't too worried. Jason and Damein on the other hand. Well, it wasn't looking too good for them. They'd spent most of the time fighting over who took which role and it really hindered their abilities. I'm not too sure why they were even dancing to begin with. I thought, from what Dick had said, that it was only going to be us, along with Tim, Cass, Duke, and Steph. Maybe it was a late change of heart?
I pushed that to the side as it came for Dick and I's turn. We only had a few more rounds to go so if we could hold strong then all would be fine.
I took a deep breath as I stood up, tapping the back of my fist to Dick's as we walked up to the "stage". He'd insisted we do this every time in order to get 'lucky'.
"We got this. Remember, steady movements, and even if you mess up then act confident. They can't see through the disguise." I smirked, shaking my head slightly. I highly doubted that, especially in the case of these kids but I didn't push. I needed to focus on this right now.
"Right, and you need to make sure you stop trying to send menacing glares to the others, it throws me off every time." Dick chuckled, rolling his eyes.
"My one job is to strike fear into the hearts of my siblings, you can't stop me." We stopped in our place, and I looked over briefly to see Tim and Stephanie stop in their place as well, Tim looking over and sending me a friendly smile.
"Alright, the next song selection will be..." I watched as Alfred scrolled through the options, looking through the various songs.
"How about Rain on me, didn't Stephanie love that one?" I turned quickly to see Bruce entering the room, and a mutual fall of silence seemed to come to the group.
"Ah Master Bruce! I'm glad to see you could join us!" Bruce locked eyes with me and I couldn't help but feel my smile grow. I was glad he took my advice, and now that he was here, hopefully we could start making amends.
I turned to Dick, tapping his shoulder momentarily before turning to walk over to Bruce.
"You made it!" I said with a cheery look, Bruce nodding slightly as he looked over the kids once more.
"Yeah, I would've been here earlier, but I got a bit caught up- but I managed to free myself from other stuff! I'm all here now" he said quickly, as if walking on eggshells.
I shook my head. "All that matters is that you're here, okay? Now come on, let's see what we can do about getting you a place on the board.
The two of us walked over to Alfred, who upon seeing us coming handed the remote to Jason who gained a nasty look on his face as he began to click rapidly.
Alfred had a nice smile on as we stopped in front of him. "Master Bruce, are you here to watch or would you like to participate?" Before He could speak, I pat him on the back.
"Participate," I let out a small laugh as Bruce looked over to me with uncertainty and a small glint came to Alfred's eyes.
"Right, well if you'd like to go alone then I guess I can allow that, but it'll be difficult to beat anyone, including Jason and Damien. I'm afraid the odds aren't stacked in your favor."
I turned to Dick who was giving me a hurried look. I nodded, trying to figure this out quickly.
"Can I be on two teams?" I asked, Alfred sending me a wary look.
"You might be more exhausted afterwards, are you sure you'd like to do that?" I didn't hesitate as I nodded.
"For sure, now I gotta get back before Dick's glares find a way to shoot laser beams through my head." I gave Bruce one more confident look as I jogged back onto the dance floor.
"Finally, is everything okay? I hope Bruce wasn't telling you-"
"It's fine, but I may be a bit more uh, impartial now." Dick's brows furrowed but he didn't have time to think on it long as the song began and the two of us got into position.
—--------------------------------
As the song came to a close, I couldn't help but smile at the results, sure we'd only just beaten the others, but it was a nice defeat otherwise. Dick let out a yell of joy as he hopped around like a child who'd gotten what they wanted for Christmas.
I let out a breath of relief as Alfred began writing down the scores on the board, allowing us time to walk back to our spots.
"Good job" Dick whispered as we sat down, Bruce coming to sit beside me as well.
He leaned forwards to look at Dick who just gave him a smile. "Good job Dick, to you as well Percy." I gave him a brief smile and nod as I leaned back further to allow the two some time to talk.
"Okay, scores are in, and we are officially at the halfway mark!" I looked over to the board to see we were tied with Tim and Stephanie, the duo looking over at us with mixed expressions, Tim's more a humble stare and Stephanie more of a 'I'm gonna so beat your ass' I only gave them a smile and a wave as Dick began to sign words to the two of them. Both looked extremely offended. "The next teams will be Bruce and Percy and Damien and Jason."
A moment of silence went over the small group as Bruce, and I stood up.
"Wait What?!" Dick asked, more offended than anything as he looked at the two of us. "You're joining?! And you're leaving me!?!" He asked as he looked at me with disbelief.
"No-"
"Damn Dick, getting abandoned on the spot like that must be rough!" Jason yelled and I could hear a hint of humor in his voice. I turned back and sent Jason a brief glare making him shrink back slightly before turning to Dick.
"Like I was saying, I'm not abandoning you. I'm impartial because I have two teams since Bruce didn't have a partner." I turned to Bruce to see him nod.
"But it's not like you've joined us before, so why now?" This time I allowed Bruce to speak as he cleared his throat momentarily.
"I'm trying to spend more time with you guys, so I cleared out my afternoon to try this out." I smiled as I turned to Dick to see a semi surprised look on his face. He seemed to be fighting between being glad and being upset.
I quickly stepped forwards and lowered my voice. "Don't worry, I'm gonna go easy when I'm dancing with him, we got this." Any worry washed off of Dick's face as he nodded a smile coming onto his face.
"Okay then, go, I wanna see some good dancing." I smiled as I turned to Bruce who accompanied me to the main area, Jason and Damien joining us.
"Prepared to be beat!" Jason chuckled, and I could see Damien roll his eyes in annoyance.
"We got this" I mumbled to Bruce who nodded confidently.
And then the music began.
—-------------------------------------
As the song came to a close, I couldn't help but laugh as Bruce let out a sigh of relief. It was easy to say Just Dance was not his thing. From the way he nearly tumbled over me 3-4 times to his constant and quiet cursing, it made quite the entertainment.
I turned back to the board to see that we'd scored just under Damien and Jason who looked both astounded and pumped.
"God dammit" Bruce mumbled as he looked over the board. I shook my head as I patted him on the back.
"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself, it's really not that bad." Bruce gave me a small look before nodding.
"Right, you're right. Let's just go sit." I nodded, following behind him as we went to sit beside Dick. I couldn't help but notice the look of amusement on his face as he tried to keep in a laugh. This didn't seem to make Bruce feel any better.
"You did good." Dick said, his voice wavering as he placed his hand over his mouth.
"Thank you" I replied, allowing myself to lean back into the seat as the next two groups came on. As I relaxed, I could feel exhaustion creeping up, making my muscles feel tense as I bounced my foot in a way to keep myself up, my fingers bouncing up and down on the sides of the chair as well.
Dick and Bruce began to speak but eventually I tuned them out as the sounds of the music filled my senses, the dancing white blobs on the screens gaining my attention as I zoned out. As the others danced a sudden move seemed to catch my attention as Duke spun Cassandra, her short hair morphing from a black wolf cut into a mess of curly brown hair.
Wait.
I blinked a few times as the scene changed. In a second the scenery turned from a cleared-out movie room and into what looked to be a cabin, a tv was set up in front of a dark surrounding area. I looked around quickly spotting a bunch of smiling and laughing people around me, snacks and drinks littered about as well as various blankets and pillows. My heartbeat sped up as I glanced over the group, spotting Annabeth besides me, her curly blonde hair laid nicely around her shoulders as she chatted with a woman who had kaleidoscope eyes, her choppy brown hair seeming fitting and framing her face nicely.
I turned back to the people upfront, finding a taller Asian man and a shorter girl whose eyes looked golden in the minimal lighting.
"Yo Perc, everything coolio?" I turned quickly, finding an elfish boy, the girl with caramel hair beside him looking concerned as they both faced me.
I didn't get a chance to respond as I spoke without willing it. "I'm fine Leo, just a bit tired." He nodded, a smirk coming to his face as he put his hand into a tool belt, his hand going much farther in then what was physically possible before he pulled out an energy drink.
"Here, I know we're not supposed to have these but hey, we're supposed to splurge tonight anyways." I took the cool drink, cracking it open before drinking.
"Percy! Jason! (Grace) Come here and join us!" I looked over to see a blonde man standing up, releasing the choppy haired girl's hand as he turned to me.
I felt myself moving, as I stood up to join them, fixing a position in front of the bright screen as people cheered as the two of us walked on.
"Percy! Percy!" I blinked a few more times and in a flash the scene disappeared, Dick and Bruce appearing in front of me, their faces a mixture of confusion and concern. "Percy!"
"I'm here" I replied, putting on a small smile as I tried to memorize the faces that had just been shown to me. "Just thinking about something."
The two obviously didn't buy it, briefly glancing at each other before turning back to me. "Do you need to rest?" Bruce asked, pushing slightly.
"No no," I put my hands up, shaking them slightly. "I'll just wash my face a bit" I stood up, scooting by the two as I made my way out of the room and into the bathroom.
When I reached the room, I quickly grabbed my phone, going into the notes app as I wrote down the descriptions of everyone I had seen as well as any info I'd gotten on them.
It took me a minute as I hurriedly punched in the words. Sure, even if they were scrambled, I'd just ask Luke or Alyssa to read it for me later. When I finished, I let out a sigh of relief, shoving my phone in my pocket as I looked at myself in the mirror. My hair was crazy as usual, if not more, and I did look a little tired but nothing too severe.
I let out a short huff as I turned the water on, splashing the cool water on my face as I felt myself ground back to reality.
As much as I wanted to linger on the people from my dream, I knew I couldn't, so I pulled myself together and dried my face before leaving the bathroom.
As I walked back into the room, Bruce looked to me quickly and I gave him a smile and thumbs up.
He eased slightly before turning back to the scene in front of him.
I walked over, giving a thumbs up to Dick as well before taking a seat. I knew I would be up soon, so I allowed myself to relax once more, the music keeping me up enough to watch.
—--------------------------------------------
I let out a sigh of relief as I finished my final dance with Bruce, the music coming to a close as the two of us turned back to the board.
Bruce wasn't in the bet, thankfully, but Dick and I were and the fear that we'd lost still filled my head with unease.
From where I was standing, Alfred was blocking the board, having the suspense skyrocket. We stood there in silence, everyone waiting for the final review as the only sound was the squeaking of the marker against the white board.
Eventually though, after my heart rate had gone up significantly, Alfred stepped back, revealing the score as everyone hurried to crowd around the board.
My eyes raced over the one thing I could read, the numbers. After focusing for a minute, a wave of relief came over me as I found that our numbers were higher than Duke's and, who were at the bottom surprisingly. Apparently, Damien and Jason had a huge comeback when we weren't looking, and thus leaving Cassandra and Duke to pay the consequences. The look of dread on their faces was simultaneously funny and a bit saddening.
Before I could even look over Dick had wrapped me in a massive hug, and if I hadn't seen him coming a few seconds earlier then we both would've been on the ground.
I laughed as he let out various yells of joy, spinning the two of us around as we celebrated our not loss. Stephanie and Tim having come in first wasn't a huge surprise.
When Dick finally let me go the world around me was still spinning but I tried not to focus on that as I tried to locate Bruce, though it was hard as the ground felt like it was shaking.
I took a few steps forward before I felt a hand on my arm. I looked up to find it was from Bruce who gave me a small smile.
"Congratulations." I smiled, trying to position myself back up right.
"Thanks, though I'm surprised we didn't win first." Bruce shook his head.
"I know, though Tim and Steph are some of the most competitive here so it's not all that surprising."
"Hey Bruce?" His smile turned into a look for me to continue. "You happen to know what the bet was about?" Bruce pursed his lips before shaking his head.
"Nope, not at all."
—----------3rd person------------
"Noooooooooo! I just got into my mojo!! My reputation's gonna be destroyed!" Duke complained, looking over the bunny suit he was given. The fluffy pink stood out against the light blue of Cassandra's duck outfit.
Cassandra just looked more disappointed than anything.
"Have fun stopping crime in a bunny suit! Come on, hop hop, crime's not gonna stop itself." Dick chimed, turning back from the computer as his smile pierced through the darkness of the cave.
Duke sent him a glare, "It wasn't funny a few seconds before, and it isn't funny now."
"Well, if you want new jokes, you should stop using your powers to see in the future." Tim added, still looking proud from the win.
"I guess it's not too bad" Cass mumbled, letting out a huff as she lowered her duck outfit.
The two suits, while fluffy, were still built like the other costumes, with nice material beneath the fluffy exterior. It had to be for crime fighting's sake.
"Have fun with those! And don't make em too dirty cause you still got 2 months with them!!" Jason called out, laughing boisterously as he put his helmet on.
Duke mumbled something before heading off to put the costume on.
That night, reports of the Floof and Scoot duo hit the news sparking both amusement and pain for those taken down by them.
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