The Beats Go On

Chapter 47: He Who Dares Defy

💔Chapter 47: He Who Dares Defy

"Let go of me!"

"Sorry, but you're coming with me."

"I won't do it! Just because you tricked me doesn't mean I-"

"Quiet, or I'll snip your head right off!"

"Gh..."

-----

About half an hour had passed since the group had resurfaced. They'd begun looking around for champion, but several of them were curious about the competition. El and Cas went over, and the crabs there explained that something happened to the technology, so all of it had gotten called off until it could be repaired. That meant the group was free to explore the rest of the island and town without having to worry about making it back on time. They had also realized Coco had gone missing too, but Red and Blue said they saw him run off after Champion when the battle had ended.

Figuring that Coco would probably scream or send someone if he needed help, the group didn't feel as stressed. They began looking for Champion anyway, just in case Coco needed backup. They had no idea where he could be, so they all split up. Ina and Ami checked the boardwalk, Ari and Digo checked the shore areas, and El and Cas checked further into town. Ari and Digo had no luck, and the crabs by the shore hadn't seen Champion or Coco at all.

Ina and Ami found several shapes at the boardwalk, each doing different things. Some were at the arcades, some were getting food, some were running or biking, and some were at shops. The whole place smelled like cooking food, and it was hard to not get distracted. But they kept looking for Coco or Champion, wherever they might be. At least there were no pink shapes there to distract them.

El and Cas didn't have much luck either, but there WERE a bunch of shapes around. They'd begun asking around to see if anyone had seen Coco or Champion, but nobody had. They were about to give up when they heard someone talking about spotting a pink thing in an alleyway. It was a pair of shapes, and the duo hadn't asked them yet. They ran over to ask, and the shapes pointed them in the direction.

Figuring that it would be better to have everyone together when they looked, the two ran back to the meeting place. Eventually, the rest of the shapes all met up at the contest area. None of the other two pairs had had any luck, but when Cas and El told them all about possibly finding Coco or Champion, everyone immediately sped off to find them. They re-entered the area, and Cas and El led the way to the alleyway. Then everyone ran down the alleyway without another word.

It was kind of cramped down there, but everyone managed. Ari's shoulders just barely touched the sides as the group turned corners and went through slim passageways. There was surprisingly no sign of anything pink here, not even a trail. Nonetheless, the group kept going anyway, since there was only one path to follow. It was getting kind of tiresome, having to constant twist and turn...

"Look there!"

Cas, who was leading the front, pointed up ahead. There, the group could see that something pink was moving down the streets. They couldn't tell what it was though.

"CHASE!!" Ari shouted.

The group managed to gather what little strength they had and burst out from the alleyway, following the pink thing down the streets. When they fully got to a stoplight however, they were surprised to find a giant black mass of cloth in broad daylight, waiting for the light to turn green. No sign of pink on it, no matter how hard they looked. But maybe the pink was UNDER the black. They slowly began approaching the black cloth in hopes of taking it by surprise.

Unfortunately for them, the light turned green when they were only a few feet away, and the black mass of cloth resumed speeding across the streets. The group of course, sped after them like they had been doing, though they soon found it to be hard. They were running out of strength, and they needed another option. Looking ahead, they saw that there were several alleyways. Maybe they could corner them there.

Splitting up into pairs again, each took a different route to get to the alleys. When the black thing entered one alleyway, El and Ina were waiting. This caught them by surprise, and they scrambled to get out by taking another path. El and Ina shouted loudly so the shapes knew which pathway to take, before the duo followed the black thing down the alley as well. The weird cloth thing tried to take another turn, but Digo and Cas stopped them, so they went the other way.

Eventually Ari and Ami joined in as well. Together, they chased the large figure down the alley, with no further alternate paths to take. The group just hoped this wouldn't lead to another open area, as they didn't think they could go on for too much longer. But if this thing had pink, they had to follow it. Even if it wasn't Coco or Champion, it could still be another corrupted shape. They had to keep it up.

Eventually, the cloth mass skidded to a halt as it entered a dead end. There were no ladders around him, so they couldn't get out. The group of shapes approached him.

"WE HAVE YOU CORNERED!" Ami yelled.

The mass of black cloth paused, then slowly turned around.

"Ah, so we meet again," the crab grinned.

"CHAMPION!" the group exclaimed in unison.

The clothing was whipped off and was revealed to be Champion, only he was much larger. Perhaps the corruption energy had increased his size?

"Yup, and I have your precious little friend here too!" he snarled.

He held up a shape that he was grabbing with his claws. Everyone squinted, because the shape was also pink like Champion. However, upon closer inspection, they realized...

Ina gasped.

"Is that..."

"Coco?!" Cas finished.

"AFTER HIM!" Digo cried.

The group began to give chase.