Dance Battle

Minigame? What? This?

And it comes with a reputation reward. I gotta check what it does. Oh, it's a stat that people will look before befriending you. The higher your reputation, the easier it is to befriend people. There is such a system in this world? I could only imagine Zaori having a lot since she's the Rave Queen and everyone here seems to love her.

The dance battle starts and I'm hesitant and confused at the moment. I don't know the people that joined my team. There are four of them with hip-hop jeans, joggers, caps, tattoos, and neon paints, these guys look like they're born for this kind of thing. The same goes for my opponents. I gotta remember their faces.

My crewmate with a lizard tail and green scaly skin starts first. So adept with his feet and tail, he can pull off stunts and moves that only a few can do. Every time he does something awesome, the crowd ballyhoos. His dance is so awesome and mesmerizing that I too join in with the cheer.

Then his turn is over when one of the opposing crew steps in. The guy looks like a bull with horns and a nose ring. His dance moves involve a lot of spinning including hard-to-pull-off head spins using his horns—which is insane! I gotta say, it's awesome and I feel the crowd is getting more crazy. My next crewmate has to pull off an even awesome dance to quell their fire. The opposition's dance ends with loud screams from the crowd. He's the real deal, indeed!

"Step aside!" one of my crewmates yells.

I can feel his energy swelling as if he has been preparing for this his whole life. He's a skeleton and his eyes are lit up with fire. As he grins, fire gushes out in between his teeth and also from his nasal bones. He's wearing a spiky leather jacket and old-school jeans. He kinda reminds me of an old character I saw from the memes. Ghost Rider? I'm not sure, I don't even understand that meme template.

His dance moves are literally "bone-breaking". He doesn't stay out of his character as a skeleton. He's dancing in his own style. His jaws drop and chomp as his head stay in one place while his body dances like crazy! Everyone can feel his energy because his flames light up hotter and brighter. I'm quite worried that it might burn the crowd around us but I was only worried over nothing. He tosses his head in the air while his body dances wildly! Finally, concludes his turn by catching his head while striking a pose.

The crowd is so thrilled that I can't hear the music. The DJs notice this battle and start to pump out some great hip-hop music. They are encouraging this little event of ours. Drones with cameras start to air our battle on the big screens. Others might deem this as a time to show their awesomeness, but for me, it will just show millions of people how I'll embarrass myself.

The next guy steps in from the other side. He has a boar face. His huge ears have a lot of piercings, he has swelling muscles, his tusks are very long and made out of metal, and his clothes are all leather.

He's very acrobatic despite his size. The floor shakes with his every step. That's how he shows his power. Then he does a windmill move on the ground where he uses his arms, elbows, and shoulders. Then his legs are spread and spinning above. My feet could feel as if there is an incoming boulder coming to crush us. He wraps it up with a high jump then lands in front of us! The ground is shaken too much that I trip backward. But one of my crewmates saves me from the fall.

"Easy, there," he says, pushing against my back. "We don't want to show them any weakness."

He's that cool guy who first backed me up in this dance battle. I have now a close look at his appearance. His hairstyle is a mohawk with the ends dyed neon green. His nose bridge is pierced with three rods, his skin is red, he has thick eyeliners, and wears a spiky leather jacket. He grins at me, showing his sharp teeth as takes the dance floor.

The moves he presents are spectacular! He moves with the beat and we are enthralled. He looks like he's having fun, not taking seriously the trash talks he gets from our opponents. Instead, he retaliates with impossible combinations of head spins, elbow spins, and windmill. The transitions are smooth and I wish he'll stay longer on the floor so that I can keep watching him dance.

But then the opposing crew member goes ahead and retakes the floor. He looks like a goat of some sort. If I remember, he's what is called a satyr. He has goat horns and goat legs. He starts tap dancing, hitting the floor with his hooves. The clacks are loud and go along with the beat of the music. Then there is a momentary music break and he starts to tap his hooves so fast and strong that he creates bright sparks. He ends his part with a backflip, spinning three times. Roars unleash as he runs in circles along the crowd, asking for their cheers.

Wow. . . everyone is so hyped up. I'm their opponent but that performance blew me away too. The same goes for my crewmates. All this time, I thought their trash talks are all about shaming the other side. Instead, they're meant to encourage the other side to show more incredible moves. But for what?

I look around and I knew that it is for everyone watching. It feels like running a show where our goal is to make people have a good time watching us. So, this is what it's all about. The glare of the opposing crew is meant to encourage us. What a culture!

"Do your best, chief!" the mohawk guy pushes me forward.