AN: Well, vol-2 is the final volume of this ff. Considering the lack of collection, views, and readers, I decided to end it on a sweet note. I barely have 2 pat reon members who are reading this lol. So, I want to shift my focus to something new. The next 17 or 18 chs, you'll get a steady release. And no need to join my pat reon, if you are thinking of reading advance chapter for this one.
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[1 month later]
The auditorium smelled like cheap coffee, nervous sweat, and the kind of ambition that only comes from people who think speed-reading is a personality trait.
Banners hung from the ceiling.
NATIONAL COGNITIVE OLYMPIAD FINALS.
Amy Santiago stood backstage, vibrating at a frequency only dogs and extremely competitive librarians could detect. She was wearing her lucky blazer, the one she insisted increased recall speed by at least twelve percent, even though Ray had proven with math that it absolutely did not.
Ray sat next to her, calm, relaxed, flipping through a crossword book upside down.
"You good?" he asked.
Amy nodded too fast. "I'm amazing. I'm Incredible. I'm like a machine. My hippocampus is warmed up and ready to destroy."
Ray smirked. "That sounds medical. You might want to see someone."
Across the stage, the Chinese Duo waited.
Li Wei and Chen Fang.
Matching suits, matching calm smiles and even matching clipboards. They stood close together, whispering in Mandarin with the confidence of people who had never lost and genuinely did not plan to start today.
Amy saw them and hissed. "Those two again."
Ray followed her glare. "They look… polite."
"They are not polite," Amy said. "They are ruthless. They finished a 1,000-character memory grid in forty seconds last year and then bowed. Ray, they bowed."
"Wow," Ray said. "Disrespectful."
The announcer stepped up to the mic. "Welcome to the final round. Puzzles, crosswords, and fast reading comprehension. Two teams remain."
Amy grabbed Ray's arm. "This is it. This is my Super Bowl. Except better, because no concussions and the rules actually make sense."
Ray stood and stretched. "Alright. Let's hurt some feelings with intelligence."
The rounds went fast.
Too fast.
Crosswords where clues blurred together. Logic grids that made the audience groan just looking at them. Speed reading passages so dense they should have come with warning labels.
Amy was in her element. She was scribbling, whispering answers, vibrating again, occasionally shushing Ray even though he had not spoken in three minutes.
Ray, meanwhile, was terrifyingly efficient. He finished early every round, leaned back, and watched the Chinese Duo like he was tracking prey except with polite eye contact and zero blinking.
Final round.
Tie score.
The last challenge dropped on the screen.
A hybrid puzzle. Multilingual crossword. Time limit: ninety seconds.
The audience held its breath.
Amy cracked her knuckles. "Okay. You take Mandarin loanwords and pattern symmetry. I take everything else."
Ray nodded. "Copy that."
The buzzer went off.
Pencils flew.
Amy's brain went full overdrive. Years of studying, color-coded binders, competitive trauma, and unresolved issues with authority figures all fused into pure focus.
Ray filled boxes like he had already solved this puzzle in another life.
Across the stage, Li Wei and Chen Fang moved smoothly, but something was off. A hesitation. A half-second glance at each other.
Amy saw it and grinned.
Time ticked down.
Five seconds.
Three.
Two.
One...
...Buzzer.
Silence.
The judges huddled.
Amy grabbed Ray's sleeve. "If we lose, I'll be very angry, so I'll need some cuddling and kisses."
"That can be arranged," Ray leaned in. "But if we win, you are definitely doing your dork dance."
"I am absolutely dancing," Amy said without hesitation.
After 30 minutes...
The head judge stepped forward.
"By a margin of two correct entries… the winners are Amy Santiago and Raymond White."
The room exploded.
Amy screamed. "Hahaha! Take that suckers!"
She grabbed the trophy before the judge finished speaking and immediately started doing her dork dance while walking through the crowd. It was elbows, shoulders, hips, and absolutely no rhythm. People parted as she passed, cheering, laughing, clapping, and one guy openly filming because this was clearly going viral.
"THIS IS FOR ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE," Amy yelled, spinning and nearly taking out a photographer. "AND ORGANIZATION."
Ray followed behind her, applauding. "Strong form, questionable footwork. Ten out of ten energy."
The Chinese Duo approached them. Li Wei bowed politely.
Amy stopped mid-dance. "Oh. Hi. Wow. This is happening."
Chen Fang smiled. "You were excellent."
Amy blinked. "Thank you. You were terrifying. And sorry about my earlier outburst."
Ray held out his hand. "Good match."
They shook like professional and respectful adults.
Amy immediately resumed dancing.
Jake appeared out of nowhere, because of course he did. "OH MY GOD YOU WON. I TOLD EVERYONE I KNEW THAT MY FRIEND WAS A NERD CHAMPION."
Rosa leaned against a wall nearby. "I timed her dance. It lasted longer than the final round."
Jake took out his phone. "Gimme a pose."
Amy lifted the trophy over her head.
Jake clicked some pictures. "Nice." He then looked at the other eliminated competitors. "FEEL THE BURN, SUCKERS!"
Amy made a fist and pointed at Ray. "Best team ever."
Ray fist bumped her. "Yeah. We don't lose." He then raised his voice a bit. "Alright, guys, tonight's drinks are on me."
Jake quickly turned toward him. "Can we order a really expensive wine or a champagne?"
"Yes, we can," Ray nodded.
They walked off together, trophy gleaming, Amy still dancing.
...
[A few days later]
The dance show was called Step It Up: City Heat, which Gina said sounded like a workout DVD that accidentally became a cult. Nobody disagreed.
The finals were held in a theater that took itself way too seriously for a show built on sweat, glitter, and slow-motion hip thrusts. Spotlights swept the room. The crowd buzzed like it had been promised either greatness or a lawsuit.
Backstage, Gina Linetti adjusted her outfit, which was less clothing and more a bold philosophical statement about confidence. Ray stood next to her in a black outfit, with clean lines, looking like the kind of guy who made judges nervous without saying a word.
Across the room stood Floorgasm.
Mike and Jessica were front and center. Matching outfits, smug smiles and matching energy of people who absolutely practiced saying "We're just here to have fun" in the mirror while plotting revenge.
Jake leaned over the barricade, whisper-shouting at Amy and Rosa. "I just want to say, if this turns into a dance-off murder situation, I was here and I support it."
Amy adjusted her glasses. "This is not about violence. This is about artistry and revenge through movement."
Rosa nodded. "The best kind."
"By the way," Jake looked at Rosa. "Aren't you jealous of them?"
"This is a revenge competition, nothing to be jealous about," Rosa replied.
The host walked onto the stage. "Tonight is the final of Step It Up: City Heat. Two teams. One trophy. Infinite pelvic confidence."
The crowd screamed.
First up was Floorgasm.
Mike and Jessica came out strong. Tight choreography, sharp spins and big lifts. They were annoyingly good. The kind of good that made you think they had motivational posters at home that just said GRIND.
They finished to loud applause. Mike winked at the camera. Gina gagged quietly.
"Cute," Gina said. "They did anger jazz."
Ray nodded. "Technically impressive but emotionally empty. We are gonna wipe the floor with them."
Then it was their turn.
Ray and Gine: Team Dancegasm.
Gina leaned in close and whispered, "Let's give them the most sensual dance they have ever seen in their life."
Ray nodded once. "Dancegasm time."
The music started slowly...
Gina moved first, just like she practiced over the month. Ray followed her lead perfectly, matching her energy.
They didn't rush and let the tension build. The crowd got quiet, then uncomfortable, then very invested.
At one point, Gina stepped back into Ray, leaned her head against his shoulder, and smirked at the judges. Ray didn't move. He just waited, then spun her twice before catching her and throwing her up in the air and then he caught her again before returning to their previous pose, and the audience lost its damn mind.
The choreography escalated. Sharp turns turned into smooth slides, followed by close holds that broke apart at the last second. Eye contact that lasted just long enough to make it personal.
Floorgasm stopped smiling halfway through.
Mike looked confused. Jessica looked furious. Gina noticed and smiled wider.
The final beat hit.
Gina dropped low. Ray caught her without effort. They froze for a moment.
Silence.
Then the theater exploded.
People were on their feet, clapping, whistling, and screaming.
The host walked back out, clearly flustered. "Wow! Now, that's what I call an explosive yet sensual performance."
Backstage, Floorgasm avoided eye contact.
Gina walked over and sat on Ray's lap, putting her arm around his neck. She leaned back and looked at her old team with a smirk.
The voting took around 15 minutes.
The screen lit up.
Step It Up: City Heat
Winner: DANCEGASM
The crowd went feral.
Backstage, Gina screamed and jumped onto Ray, wrapping her legs around him. Ray caught her and kissed her. Gina went all in with her tongue, kissing him like there was no tomorrow.
Gina pulled back and whispered against his lips. "I'm gonna ride you as soon as we get home."
"Only if you promise to squirt all over me," Ray whispered before giving her a small kiss.
"I'm gonna drench you," She smirked.
"I'm getting a boner right now," He said, squeezing her butt cheeks, before the losers.
[Back to outside]
Jake yelled. "REVENGE DANCING WINS AGAIN."
Amy clapped aggressively. "They looked really great."
Rosa nodded once. "Justice for Gina."
[On the stage] [A few minutes later...]
Gina took the trophy, lifted it high, and turned toward Floorgasm. "This is what happens when you kick out the talent."
Ray leaned toward her. "You good?"
Gina replied. "I'm healed and ready to leave my past behind me... Right now, Floorgasm is so beneath me that I don't want to waste my time on them."
They walked offstage together, trophy in hand, crowd still cheering.
...
[Outside]
Jake jogged up beside them. "So what's next for Dancegasm?"
Gina didn't miss a beat. "World domination. Brunch. Maybe a tour."
Ray nodded. "We'll see how the schedule looks."
And somewhere backstage, Floorgasm quietly realized they should have never underestimated revenge mixed with rhythm and... Gina Linetti: The Human Form of the 100 Emoji.