FicWad

XXI



Before going into the school grounds, everyone reverted back to their own forms, and Billy thanked Superman and the Justice League for their help, and Superman said, "When we get back, we are going to review what we observed, and let you six know what we have decided about where to place you in the league. You all have done well. Get some rest, and take care."

Rue, Mary, and Rachel all helped guide Ahiru and Poe up to their rooms. They were fortunate that Mai and Yumahad been waiting for them, knowing that Tutu would be facing a hard foe that night, and that they would have to cover if anything happened. They saw her, quickly diverted attention from the sight, and got her upstairs. As the girls took over, Rue, Mary, and Rachel got Poe upstairs, and settled him on his bed. They were amazed at his room. His bed was covered with black down, shaped into a nest-like ring, and they realized that he still slept like a bird. They also were amazed at how decorated the room was with shiny baubles and decorations. One would have thought it Christmas by the way it looked. They asked him what kind of food he liked, knowing that he would have to eat immediately to regain his strength, and encourage blood gain. Rachel said that she would keep a vigil on him, doing what she could to nurse him back to health. He would be out of it for a few days, and the first 24 hours would be crucial. Ahiru slept and rested the whole of Sunday, beginning to regain her strength throughout the day. She told Rue and Mary about what she saw, and whom she met, and looked at her pendant repeatedly. She was happy knowing that there would always be a White Swan if her children were willing to keep up the family tradition. She then knew that, no matter what, the pendant was never to leave her neck again as long as she was able to be Tutu, until the time came to pass it along. It was the only way to ensure that it would never be lost. She could take joy in knowing that she had acareer, and a life, that could bring happiness and joy to all that would come to her. It was this thought that sped her recovery. By Monday, she was ready to go.



That weekend, their semi-final for "Strut Your Stuff" was coming. They would then have to be ready for the final that next night. This meant that they would have to get the final dance ready that week. When they got to the studio in Fawcett City, the house was packed. They had that day to explain how they wanted the lighting, the lighting people were also able to make suggestions, and they said that they could take whatever they did and turbo charge it. That evening, there was electricity, and the cameras were on them when they did the haka before they came on. They then dazzled the audience and the panel, and the pressure of the competition caused them to take their game to acompletely new level. The panel all came out with praise over what they had done, saying that what they were doing could put ballet back into the limelight, showing people that ballet was for everyone. They were one of the six acts that would make the final the next night, and they would be ready. Already, the reviews were coming in. The Anaheim Ballet had all the praise in the world for them, as did the dance theatre of Harlem, because this was pushing ballet into the limelight in a way that they had always wanted, and more. They knew that it would help their own companies, and be able to help them reach out to the troubled youth, and give them a chance to either a future, or something to help build their confidence and self-esteem. However, there were some harsh statements. This was mostly made up of the ballet snobs and the purists that swore up and down that what was happening would destroy the art, because what they were doing was just not real ballet. They could praise it for what it was, but one would never see it at Carnegie Hall, or the Met. Some questioned the kids about it, but they said they had no comment. They had no time to worry about critics, because they had to concentrate on what they had to do that night. They were about to do something they had never tried, and hoped that it would do the trick. They also had the pressure of final exams, and Billy had to join the theatre department for the special show at the end of the month. In that show, it was avariety show, however, each department worked as a unit to present an act, rather than just random students doing what they wanted. This acted as a part of their grade, and they had to be straight. On top of this, there were their dance exams, which would be intense. They were in the AP class, and this meant that it was going to be quite technical. The final exams of the seniors were also a part of this, and they would be looked at even closer. However, Billy was taking it in stride. He was going to take one challenge at a time. First thing to do was the contest, then the show, and then the finals. He would not let it get to him this time.



Final time came, and they were now all feeling the nerves. Mr. Katt and Mr. Tawny were trying to settle them, but not having much success. However, Tanya showed up, and she was ready to aid. "All right, let's get you six ready. There is no way that six of my students are going to go out there and fall on their faces."

She then had them all sit down, and she began to lead them through some concentration exercises. She said, "Okay, see yourselves as the winners you are. See yourselves singing from your hearts. See yourselves going through the steps, and hear the music in your minds. Hear the cheers, and see yourselves as winners. See all what this shall bring. You are winners. You are special."

They kept up the rhythmic breathing, and were able to calm down. When she was done, they were determined and focused. They all then stood as one, did the haka, and went upstairs. The hosts of the show then said, "Here are six teens who are taking the nation by storm, singing and dancing their way into the hearts of their fans. Here now to present a new look to themselves are the Pas De Six!"

The audience cheered heartily as they took the stage. Wearing the ear microphones, Mytho and Rue began their song, as the others began to dance. Already, people were feeling the groundswell growing of something great. As the song built in the first verse, the dance also gained in energy. The two of them were singing as if they had been singing this style all their lives. When the chorus hit, the wave of energy exploded over the audience, as the light and effects crew were outdoing themselves, adding the right ambience to the performance. The crowd thundered their approval. All the passion and power was there for the performance, and all who watched wondered how it would be that they would lose this night. The panel had nothing but praise. The talent scout that led the judging said, "Kids, that was an absolute Tour de Force that you put on tonight. You have proven you can dance and sing to various styles, and never seem to run out of energy. It would shock me if it were that you did not win tonight...Good job!"

The crowd thundered their agreement with the statement, and they left the stage floating on air. After one more act, the phone lines were open for the fifteen minutes voting was allowed to go on. During that time, they did a quick review of what it took the finalists to get to where they were. Then came the decisive moment: they announced that it had been the closest vote yet in the history of the show. The difference between numbers one and two were a mere three votes! The host then said, "And the winner of this year's program...is..."



The van was silent as the crew went home. They were devastated at the announcement of the winner, and they could not believe that they had lost, and lost it so close. They knew that they had put on a show as no one had ever seen before, and that such things are what people want to see. Mr. Tawny had some consolation news for them, but he decided that he would rather wait until Monday afternoon, when they would be in class, and they would be more prepared to receive what he had. They all stayed in their rooms all Sunday, not wanting to talk to anyone about what had happened. However, by Monday morning, controversy was brewing over the show. Billy had the newspaper at breakfast, and he got to the art section of the paper, surprised that the lead off story was about them, which also included a photograph of them during their performance. The headline read, "'Strut Your Stuff' Vote Tainted!"

It was followed by a sub-line, which read,"Campaign by critics hurt chances for the Pas De Six."

This was the Fawcett City Gazette, so Billy had thought that it was his friends coming to his aid. However, as he read the article, it seemed that there had been some of the purist and ballet snob critics making statements throughout the media that day, doing what they could to keep them from winning. This showed in the vote demographics. Indeed, the 30 and above crowd was mixed in its reviews, and some in the post show polling said it was indeed the criticism that swayed the vote. The majority of the votes, however, came from the 30 and under crowd, with the polling showing nothing but praise and excitement from them. He found the other five, he called them over, and he had them read it as well. They could not believe their eyes. The article went on to state that their fans were outraged at what had happened, cried "foul," and the Gazette crack team of investigative reporters began to investigate the results, and the reaction. It appears that their fans may have been right, because of this news, and because of the fact that their critics were amazingly silent after the appearance of the article. Now they were angry, having experienced, for the first time, how harsh critics could be. When they left the dining commons, they were surprised to see the campus security trying to usher off the paparazzi. When they saw the six, the cameras began to flash, and the questions started to fly. The campus security tried to apologize, but Billy said, "Hey, it's alright. Look, everyone, if you will all calm down, and ask one at a time, we'll take a few questions, because we just read the news, and we have something to say."

Knowing that they now had the chance at astory and a chance for plenty of pictures, they did as they were bidden, and began the ersatz press conference. The first reporter said, "You say you just read the news on this. How do you feel?"

"We feel hurt and enraged," said Ahiru.

"How do you feel about the efforts of your critics?" asked another.

"Let me tell you what," said Rue, quite forcefully, "What you had were a lot of snobs and purists flapping their gums, mad that their 'exclusive' little world is now being invaded by people to whom they would never give the time of day."

"I have to interject here," said Fakir,"The people who say this are primarily made up of people who have never spent one nanosecond in a dance studio, have never spent time going through what we go through, have never strapped on a set of toe shoes, and yet have the audacity to sit back and state how something in this dance form should be done. All they are, are people who want to act like the smartest men in the room, expound on all the so-called knowledge that they have on the arts, spewing a bunch of words of which they do not even know the meaning. They want to make themselves feel good, and look good, by making you feel stupid, because they think they have more knowledge than you, and seek to be praised for it"

Mytho jumped in here, and said, "They spend hours critiquing performances, picking them apart, always looking on the technical aspect, never allowing the performance to find some kind of emotional thread in them to which they could connect."

"In other words, what you are saying is that, they break the stuff down, but never enjoy it?"

"That's about the size of it," said Mary,"and that is not the point of why we go out there. We don't even think about how people are going to break it down, though we do have to be tight in what we do."

"Yeah," said Ahiru, interjecting, "All we think about when we do this is, 'Are they going to leave here with a smile on their face? Did they have a good time? Did they get their money's worth?'

All we care about is making you happy. How can one be happy if all they do is chop something up, say how it ought to be, and never once let it touch them?"

A crowd of students had gathered around by this point, listening intently as Billy jumped in, saying, "The only people we are looking to please technically are our teachers and our coach. They are all accomplished dancers who can rightly say if something is right or wrong, because they have been where we are."

This was followed by a cheer from the students, now feeling a great sense of solidarity. The reporters then asked, "What are your future plans?"

Ahiru said, "Despite the critics, we are going on tour this summer. We will have a successful tour, and the critics can stuff it up their nose...and you can quote me on that!"

This was then followed by a louder cheer from the students than before. Billy then said, "Thank you for your concern, but now, we have to get to class. Good day!"

With that, the six went to class, and the security ushered off the reporters. Yet, their classmates practically carried them to class on their shoulders. That afternoon, Mr. Tawny was there to tell them the good news. "Kids," he said,"you were great with the press. I am glad you said what you said, Ahiru, because indeed, I already have bookings. Since the interview, there have been more requests. I am going to set up a tour schedule, starting in mid-July, going about one week before classes start, and I am going to ensure that they are not dates that would burn you out by the end of the summer. I have a tour bus ready to go, and all you kids have to do is what you do so well. Kids, you are on your way!"

That invigorated them, and they attacked the class with relish.

Exams went well, as well as the variety show. The kids were also forming acts for the tour, kicking around different ideas, as well as preparing for their finals. Rue had been worried about this moment at the beginning of the year. Now, she knew that there would be no problem. She was ready. All the kids were there when that time came; ready to root each other on. For the younger three, they had to prove that being in the AP class was the proper thing. For the seniors, it was to graduate. For the seniors, this also involved costumes, considering that a classic variation like that required as much of a show element as could be mustered. The seniors waltzed through their variations with ease, even though they knew that, because of their newfound fame, they would be scrutinized even closer than normal. Rue had the most pressure on her, considering that she was always the best dancer in school, and she knew that the microscope would be the most focused on her. However, she got herself through it by visualizing herself as graduating, receiving the crowd during a show, and all the things that Tanya had already taught. The younger three did indeed prove that they belonged in the AP class, and they indeed would be setting the standard for those who would be replacing the graduating seniors. The seniors were then informed that they all received top scores, and, if Rue did well in her academic classes, she could graduate at least summa cum laude. The only thing left was the senior show. There was an initial call for the Pas De Six to perform as a whole in that show. However, the three younger members balked at that saying that this was their show. This was their time to shine. That show itself was full of energy and life, and was all hopeful for the future than ever before, especially considering how the critics were now coming down hard on the Pas De Six for Ahiru's comments, and hard on the school. Some were trying to state that the school had grown slack on their standards, questioning their methods of teaching, and even accusing the school of giving high marks to their "celebrities" on purpose. Therefore, the seniors made this show a case of ramming their comments down the throats of the critics. Help with the critics came when Sasha came to the fore, having nothing but praise for the school and the Pas De Six. He even went as far as to say that the snobs felt so threatened that they were willing to do anything, even to destroy the good name of the school, just to regain their supposed control over the "high" arts. He then went on to question the term "high arts," considering that all those forms were actually, at one time, things that were done for the enjoyment of the common man. He also went as far as to praise Ahiru for her harsh words, because all the six were trying to do was to bring things back to the way it should have been. He finished off by saying, "...and if those critics have a problem with that, then they need to come after me, because I have never allowed those kinds of things to dictate how I dance. I do more than ballet. I do jazz, modern, and other types of contemporary forms. If they are wrong, then so am I. Yet, you never hear them criticize me? Why is that? Is it because they think they have six weak people who they can bully, and they know that they cannot say anything about me? They had better guess again, because, after this tour, they are going to have to eat their words well. In fact, if it works out, I want to see about joining them for one show out of the tour."

That endorsement helped silence the critics a lot, and now the kids could concentrate on their class finals, graduation, and the tour. It was going to be a grand graduation.



At graduation, the normal pomp was brought out as for any other school. However, the dance school was in for a surprise. Mr. Katt announced he was going into semi-retirement. He wanted to give his time to the AP class exclusively, and to give his time to the Pas De Six as their coach. This brought surprise to the crowd. However, he insured that he would still be there for them if they needed him, and that he was handing the ballet school over to Tanya St. John, a woman who he knew would take the ballet school to new heights. However, the Pas De Six were ecstatic, not only that Mr. Katt, of whom they now had the greatest amount of respect, would be staying with them, but also because Tanya was going to, for the lack of a better term, go from zero to hero. She now had a future. They realized that seeing things like her made being a superhero worth it all. At the airport, the sight of the kids was different from what had been there before. Fakir was not so nervous, as he had Mary on his arm, who had taught him not to be so brooding and uptight. Mytho had more strength than he ever had since he regained his heart, and became more of a person than he could have ever dreamed of being before he met Ahiru. Rue had shed her snobbish reputation, and she now was more of a caring person, and mother hen to the group than she ever could have been. Little Miss Duck, however, was not letting her suitcase beat her up again, but she pulled it with confidence; wearing the same outfit she wore at the first school dance. She really was not her namesake anymore, but she truly had become the swan her alter ego put forth. Mytho was going to have the wedding in Japan, and everyone was invited. Being who they were, getting there would be no problem. After that, the couple would go to Germanyfor the honeymoon. Then, in mid-July, the tour would start, and they could not wait. Fakir was going to go back to Germany, preparing to receive his brother, and new sister-in-law, and the Batsons were going to spend time patrolling Fawcett City for a bit, just to insure the citizens that they had not gone away. "Look at you;" said Billy, "You are not the girl you were when you started the year."

"You are not the same boy you were, either," said Ahiru.

They stared at each other for about 30 seconds, and she said, to break the ice, "So, are you ready for the tour? Well, of course you are. That's foolish to ask. But I was just concerned..."

Billy started to curl his fingers on his mouth, she caught herself, and said, "All right, don't you start!" and poked him in the belly. They laughed, kissed, and said, "See you soon!"

"I love you, Rubber Ducky," said Ahiru.

"I love you, beautiful swan!" said Billy.

She got a dreamy look in her eyes, knowing what he meant by that, and kissed a passionate kiss. After about 20 seconds, Rue came up, said,"All right you two!", and poked Ahiru in the arm, saying, "You have a flight to catch. Do you want him to fly you home?"

She turned to look at her and said, "That would be a bad thing, because...?" and kissed her Billy again.

She then took the hint, stroked his face, and they walked away as they started to sing, "That's Amore," but this time, they all sang as they went their ways. It would be a good summer, and a good future.