SymphonianBookworm

"Affirmative."

She nodded, a grin spreading across her face. "How about Twig?"

Aria moved her ship immediately to block Whiplash's exit, firing off her own light-lance.

"...one."

Aria rolled her eyes, suddenly bored with everything---this was happening more and more often as of late---and she spun towards Whiplash's ship using a Minimal-Atmosphere Reversal. She eyed Junior's ship, which was near. She switched channels. "Junior. Do you want to do a Rolling Twin Scissor?"

Aria, suddenly the epitome of kindness, nodded. "Of course, of course!"

Aria frowned. "Well, obviously I wouldn't make sense to you; I'm sure half the words anyone says you haven't learned yet. Now, if I could talk to someone with real intelligence... Someone who could understand the difference between genius and stupidity... That would be lovely."

Aria sighed sadly. "Insanity is a form of creativity, you know. Sometimes I wish I made less sense."

"Only mentally," Aria replied. "95 years is about 11 PHDs, which seems fitting."

Lilac just kept on smiling. "You used 'oh' twice. Perhaps a wider vocabulary might help you better express your feelings?" Then the mirth left her voice. "And, if you're going to try to insult me, take my word for it: insulting my talent on the piano certainly won't get you anywhere." She snorted. "Though, lamenting on fights you won't win certainly seems to be your strong suit, so continue on."

"You don't have to be jealous. Not everyone can be smart and pretty."

"Only fools prefer fighting to words, only the pretentious fight over words, and only intellectuals fight with words."

"It's not your fault you're on the worse team! I won't be mean to you unless you are to me."

Aria, her voice cool, performed a series of maneuvers that involved a Reverse Backpedal and a Banking Roll. "This has nothing to do with a song. I don't think you understand." She turned her ship to face Twig. "A song is something beautiful. A song is something..." She laughed lightly. "A song is something more beautiful than life. A song is something that will ring in your head when all else is silent." Her voice turned cold. "This is nothing that spectacular." Aria jokingly scoffed. "To lose reason is a freedom I will never find. The only thing we share are our base instincts, our Nature. Nothing more. To lose reason is to lose yourself, not to be a pariah to society's beliefs. And I have not lost myself; I never will."

Aria cheerfully replied, "We're having a healthy banter. Care to join in? I'll take on as many of you as you want."

Aria's voice turned softer, almost gentle. "...I understand." It sounded like she was crying for a moment, until it became clear she was just laughing once more. "It's perfectly all right to be afraid. It happens to everyone. Sometimes... it's okay to admit that you're not enough. Phantom, Phantom, if only you were elusive enough to hide from your own stupidity, perhaps you could have been great." Her laughing stopped. "And there is nothing more predictable than a melody one has heard over and over, drummed into a brain. You're nothing more than an arpeggio. You're a scale, a chord, a Middle C. Basic. Overplayed. Give me something I've never heard before. Something that I'll remember." She shook her head. "You're nothing worth remembering. Nothing worth my dreams." She let out a sigh, and for the first time seemed sad. "Is there anyone on your crew that is worth a song?"

Aria laughed, her voice tinged with a lilting quality. "At least we're able to crush people. Can Phantoms say the same? What are you going to do, shout BOO really loudly? Every planet, to its core, is a rock. We're what truly belongs here. We've been in space much longer than you, Phantom."

Aria smiles, not quite a smirk but close enough, and opens a channel to the Phantom crew leader, her voice filled with mirth. "Tell me, do they call you the Phantom because you're too scared to show your face or because when you do, people wish they never saw you?" @SmilingPanda19