Danny Kingston
Location: Audition Hall
Skills: Pyrokinesis
It was one thing to talk about it; it was another to wake up the morning of auditions knowing your team (and your chances of kicking ass in the Contest) was going to be determined by how well you avoided making an absolute fool of yourself in front of the judges. And if Danni was being honest with himself, making a fool of himself was a specialty of his. But itâd be fine - the name of the game was flexibility and Danni had that down pat. Mistakes would be made and like any other performance, he just had to roll with the punches.
Thankfully, Dee and Danniâs mutual love of coffee provided the perfect poor sleep recipe and as the edges of a night of tossing and turning crumbled away under the aggressively chugged caffeine on his way out the door, Danni couldnât help but vibrate with excitement. The morning had been a whirlwind of emotions - heâd realized his original outfit was absolutely awful and he threw that pile of garbage in the back of the closet. If he started wailing about the last minute complication, no one but Dee, their neighbors, and anyone unlucky enough to be walking down the hall that early would know.
Thankfully, wardrobe malfunctions and last minute change of whimsies were something Danni was prepared for so he still sauntered his way to auditions in style. His original idea had been too much, too loud. The fire should be the star of the show, as much as he did love that shirt, and so he went something a little more formal than flashy: a white, long-sleeve button up shirt open at the small of his back tucked in the front into a well tailored pair of black slacks with a detachable black wrap skirt falling down the left leg all above his sturdy combat boots polished perfectly. It was certainly a change from the original but with sharp eyeliner, intentionally tousled hair, and a little glitter across the cheeks, Danni was feeling good and ready to dominate.
Danni threw open the doors to the training room and paused there for a moment, critically eyeing his stage. He didnât take much seriously, but putting on a show was never a joke and he wanted everything perfect so he would shine as brightly as he knew he could. His targets were in place, six on each half with three close to the center and three against the far walls. âGood morning!â He sang as he found himself satisfied with the arrangement, all but running into the room like a little kid to a pile of presents on their birthday. âIâm so excited! Are you excited? I know itâs probably been a long morning, but âopefully Iâm going to brighten your day!â Danni beamed at them, music starting at the snap of his fingers.
His original idea had been a complex dance routine with as many massive fireballs as he could throw in, one at every other step really, but Pops had shut that down for something more⊠controlled, if you can call fire controlled. Danni hadnât ever really perfected his new routine but that was what the training would be for, right? So he went for it, letting himself fall into the rhythm of the music.
With a twist of his legs, Danni spun and fired off Hotshots at the nearest targets, three on each side of him. The first landed perfectly dead center, catching fire from the small burst he sent out. He shot the next with a push off the ground, hitting the second target and then whirling mid-air to hit the next. He smirked at the three burning targets and repeated the process, but he was a half a beat off and he barely hit the fourth, missed the fifth and hit a back line target, and then as he went for the last target, he stumbled and his final shot flew wide. Everything slowed down as the flames flew further and further andâŠ
âOops, sorry! You know, just excited!â Danni laughed weakly as the judges table caught fire. That⊠that probably wasnât good, even if Nemo had calmly packed up his belongings and stood out of the way before Danni had even fired off the last shot. Creepy old man. Danni didnât like that at all but he was already behind and needed to catch up - the teachers could handle themselves. The next part was an easy recovery anyway!
As the beat slowed down, Danni whirled around with his back to the flaming table and flourished at each burning target in tempo. The flames on targets one, two, and three all roared into ten foot pillars and stayed that way, Danni ignoring the tremble in his hand at the intensity. He felt his last flames roar but when he looked at the target, there wasnât a pillar. Instead, the judges table exploded behind him and Danni tried his best not to flinch at the implications of attempting to kill the judges.
âJust keep going, just keep going.â Danni muttered to himself as his early confidence quickly waned, dread heavy in his chest. A perfect pirouette had all the flames in the room swirling towards him, following the edge of the skirt as it flared up along his side and then traveling up in whirling threads into a ball in his outstretched hand. With the flick of three fingers, three claws of fire roared past the first set of incinerated targets and slammed one, two into the further set of targets. The third slammed harmlessly against the wall.
Danni leapt away from the now burning targets with another spin, parts of the flames following his hand as it arced over his head. Nearly reaching the ceiling as the lances of fire soared under his command, one target on the opposite end of the room burst into flames while the second arc sputtered dead on the floor in front of the second. Danni grimaced at the site, three missed targets definitely was not as impressive as six or even four, but he couldnât let that stop him - heâd get them on the finale.
With a swirl of his finger, the flames again whirled across the floor towards him and jumped for the final time, the fire surging up beneath him to give him a greater lift. It was shaky (sue him, he hadnât practiced this part enough but it was hard, okay?! Bruises were ugly!) but he managed to stay stable so he brought his hands together and then apart, clawed as fire bubbled between them and grew and grew andâŠ
Barely got larger than a soft ball.
The fire under him sputtered out and he hit the ground with a heavy thud, the wind knocked out of him as he lay there. He was shaking and sweating, the breath knocked out from him from the fall. Still had to work on flying like that. He pushed himself into a sitting position, and flashed a thumbs up in the general direction of the judges. âAnd tâatâs tâe Kingston touch!â Danni exclaimed as he pushed himself to his feet. âCanât say I bored you, can you?â Danni winked at the judges and laughed, silently thankful he was not responsible for the clean up. In a few hours, Danni would recount how embarrassing it was but he was exhausted after that and all he wanted now was a shower and a cuddle pile nap.