"WE GOT INTO TOP 16!!!!!!!!" Junn stood next to the register stand and  bellowed over the loud music as you, SeVen, Leebo, Lin, and Neo rushed towards him in bewilderment. None of you could wipe your smiles off your faces as you clasped hands, hugged each other, and laughed in astonishment. 

"REALLY??!!" You shrieked in excitement as you looked at your friends with twinkling eyes. Having already been dancing for three years and watching your seniors battle countless times, it was your first time entering an actually underground dance competition. The competition wasn't even a big one --- top 16 came immediately after the preliminary rounds. But still, with your nerves on high ends and excitement buzzing through your body, this seemingly unreal news felt like an utter miracle. Lin beamed at you and hugged you again as he said, "this is all thanks to you, ________!" Nodding, the others all padded on your head (which was more than natural considering how much shorter than them you were) in agreement. 

"Yah, I didn't do anything," you pushed him back and shoved him playfully on the shoulder. Lin was referring to one of the several routines that you choreographed for the group, which, according to them, was the main reason why you passed the audition. During the three years that you had been dancing, it didn't take you long to realize that free styling was definitely not your forte, and you much preferred to learn different styles of dance and use them to choreograph. Although you had choreographed for a couple of songs solo before, the routine you used this time was the first one you had made for a group. It was actually SeVen who, after watching you dance and choreograph for three years, asked you to make routines for this competition. At first you were astonished, thinking how on earth would they trust a young rookie like you to come up with a winning choreo, but after seeing the encouraging smiles and thumbs up from the rest of the group, your surprised turned into motivation as you spend your every waking moment thinking about the routine --- hell, you even dreamed about it a handful of times! So is it really a surprise that this choreo got you guys into the next round? Maybe not.

"CAN ALL TOP 16 CONTESTANTS REPORT TO THE STAGE PLEASE!" The MC shouted in the microphone. "THE NEXT ROUND OF BATTLES STARTS IN THREE!" 

You could feel your blood boiling in anticipation as you hopped in place like the other boys. "Come on guys," SeVen put his hand in the middle, signaling a group cheer, "we can do this!" One by one, you each ed your hands to lay on one another's and, on the count of three, you shouted at the same time, "Let's go ACE UP 6!!" You all cheered loudly as you made your way to the stage. 

The closer you got, the more energy you felt drawing you even closer. That was the magical effect stages had on you: no matter how many times you practiced in the studio, dancing on an actual stage in front of an audience always felt so much better, as you had found out from your first dance performance two years ago; it was as if you were addicted to the feeling of performing, and you could never get enough. From backstage, you could see the crowd getting even more excited than before, and you suddenly had the urge to do something spectacular to respond to their cheering. "We need another routine for the round, right?" You asked excitedly. "Let's do the robot control one! Pleeeeaaaase??" 

"Wow, someone's excited," Leebo raised an eyebrow and teased. "You do know you have to battle solo for that, right?" 

"Pffff, duh! Of course I know," you responded with a scoff. You choreographed this routine too, after all. "I have something prepared, so don't worry about me! Can we just please do it?!" 

"Alright, if you say so," Neo cut in on the side, then raised his voice to call for all the other boys. "Hey guys! ________ wants to do the robot control choreo!" 

They all agreed without objection and immediately started going over the movements. It took you a few moments to join in, since you were grinning like an idiot and, as young as you were, thinking how blessed you were to have such a group of friends. 

"ALRIGHT GUYS!" The MC bellowed over the noise of the crowd. "Things are about to get even more dope! The battle for the top eight crews is about to start! ARE YOU REEEEAAAADYYY?!!" 

The crowd responded with deafening screams and cheers, and you felt a drop in your stomach as he announced the first match, "give it up for the first match: ACE UP 6 and HIGH WEST!!!!" You followed the boys up to the stage with the audience cheering and clapping and stood in a line to face the opponents. 

Honestly, High West wasn't as scary as you thought --- you were expecting a bunch of tough, grownup dancers from a famous crew due to the strong reaction of the crowd. The six crew members looked about the same age as Lin and maybe a bit younger than SeVen. Unlike most of the crews at the competition, The dancers coordinated their outfits, each wearing a SnapBack, a grid blouse, loose black pants, and high tops. Even though the colors and designs on the garments were different, one could still clearly tell they were in the same crew. What united them further were the identical tattoos of an eye on the back of their right hands. Aren't they a little bit young for tattoos? 

Even though High West wasn't intimidating, they still caught your full attention as the audience cheered wildly when they came on stage. 

Shaking your limbs out, you let out a nervous sigh at the sight of the MC walking to center stage with a half-empty bottle. "Nervous?" SeVen, who was standing next to you, asked with a laugh. 

"Hell yeah!" You replied softly as you stared at the bottle, which was already spinning on the floor. Even though you knew you had to go eventually, you did not want to go first. 

"Hey, you got this, alright?" Junn, standing on the other side of you, squeezed your shoulder and said. Even though he sounded relax and encouraging, you could still see him --- and every other one of you guys --- stiffen at the sight of the bottle slowing down and finally pointing at their side. It seemed like everyone was extremely tense except for SeVen and Neo, which was understandable since they had been dancing for the longest and went to more battles than any of you. 

"Alright guys! Let's go!" The MC yelled towards your side of the stage as the music started blaring from the boom box next to the DJ. It was a fast electro mix with obvious, heavy popping beats and complex melody, and you felt yourself relax a bit, thinking how the music would fit the routine perfectly. 

The plan of your round was to have Neo and Junn, who were both b-boys, do a duo routine first. Towards the end of the routine it would act as a cover for the rest of you to get in formation of the "robot control" choreo. After this one you would have an entrance break that would led into your solo battle. Theoretically nothing would go wrong, since you had practiced this numerous times, but to do it on an actual stage...

You watched as Junn and Neo high-fived and grinned at each other. Feeling the beat, they seemed to have gotten to a mutual agreement, and before you knew it, they were top-rocking powerfully towards center stage. You bounced to the rhythm lightly, grinning widely as as you watched your seniors performed their routine perfectly in sync. You had watched them practice this in the studio so many times that you pretty much memorized the routine, but everything looked a thousand times better under the stage lighting: the collaborations, the down-rocks, the Nike freeze, the elbow spins... The routine was basically a blow-up as the duo changed from one style to another rapidly, and the crowd around the stage was deafening, making your heart swell in proudness for the boys. 

You trembled slightly and your heart began to beat faster than you thought was possible as the b-boys broke down to the windmills, which was your cue to get ready for the next step. You felt a tap on your shoulder, "Come on up, ________." You turned to see Leebo with his legs wide apart and knees bent, padding his thigh. You panted slightly, wiping your sweaty palms on your harem pants. You gulped and cleared your throat, "Alright."

Walking up behind him and gripping his arms tightly, you put your left foot on his upper left thigh and adjusted to get a stable footing before stepping up and placing your right foot on his right shoulder. "You okay?" You looked down and asked as you did a few other adjustments so that you were as secure as you could be. 

"Of course!" Leebo looked up and a smirk and replied. You scoffed, he's cocky even when he's nervous. You looked around for SeVen and Lin, who were standing on either side of you and Leebo. "You guys ready?" 

They both nodded yes, and you felt your heart raced even faster as the b-boys came near to the end of their routine. Finally, with Neo doing his polished 2000 and Junn holding his legs up to perform various twists and tangles with them, their choreography came to a finish. 

The crowd cheered wildly as the boys quickly concluded their part with some "hah! In your face!" gestures to the High Wests. Meanwhile, you heart was rising up to your throat as you counted for the entrance of the "robot control". The loud music did a great job covering your voice so that only your crew could hear. As the b-boys parted to retreat form either side of the staged, you yelled, "five, six, seven, and EIGHT!" 

Pretending that Leebo's arms were control rods, you wielded them from left to right while the three boys corresponded by walking forward like machine robots. You hit each beat of the music spot on with your movements, and you felt as if you were going deaf by the intensely-cheering audience. You smile proudly, this is just the beginning. 

One by one, the illusions you had spent so much time choreographing for the routine unfolded: you moved the "control rods" in circles as SeVen and Lin spun and turned in boogaloo style; you "typed" on the coding panel --- which was Leebo's had --- while they passed polished waves through their bodies; you even incorporated a sharp tutting routine that the complimented with stiff, robotic movements. The choreography wasn't overly complex in terms of skills and small details, but you predicted that if you were able to execute the movements sharp and in-sync enough, it would come out spectacular. 

And it did. 

It seemed that the roar of the crowd could have blown off the roof. You felt adrenaline rushes through every vein of your body as you neared the end of the routine. You guided Leebo's two arms to the center as SeVen and Lin crossed and switched sides. As soon as they finished, you took a deep breath and, pushing yourself up by gripping Leebo's hands, jumped high over his head and landed in the middle of the stage. The crowd screamed and whistled wildly, but you didn't have the time to breath and relish it before you launched yourself into your solo. 

Everything that happened on a stage all came down to this: practicing more than you could beforehand and then trusting your body to do the right thing when the time comes. Even though you didn't know you would be using these moves in a battle, you still practiced them over and over and perfected every flex of muscle during rehearsals. This was why you didn't have a single worry about doing the right moves when you faced the High Wests. All of a sudden, you unleashed all the pressure brought by your nervousness and you felt yourself practically exploded in surges of energy. Every breath felt like fuel that kept your movements flowing and your spirit high. You were all over the place on the stage: hopping high, getting down on the floor, gliding to the left, stomping to the right. You felt lost in the music as your mind was wiped blank of all worries...

... Until you felt something before your toes and your heart stopped as you lost your balance. 

Everything happened in less than a second. 

You could feel a yelp tearing at your throat as you widened your eyes in shock. Silence surrounded you, and you felt yourself surge forward while all you could see in your vision was the dark, hard dance floor. Instinctively you held out your arms to anticipate the fall and squeezed your eyes shut as your mind searched wildly for a move to cover your error up. Your heart seemed to have gone mad as you panicked and came up an idea just as your palms smashed against the ground.

A split second before your knocked yourself unconscious on the floor, you managed to throw all your weight to your right shoulder. Kicking on the the ground as hard as you could, you then tucked your legs in and propelled yourself forward in a front roll. 

You panted in relief when you found your balance again. But you didn't have time to take another breath as you immediately stood up, only to be startled when  you found yourself coming face to face with a half-amused smirk that was way too close. 

The crowd woo-ed and ahh-ed loudly, but you couldn't tell if they were dissing or cheering. You quickly glided back a few step and finally realized what you had done: somehow you went too forward and tripped on one of the High West dancers' foot by accident. 

You felt your face burn in humiliation, and all thoughts of finishing your routine was nowhere to be found; all you wanted to do was to hide behind your friends in the back. You quickly inhaled a shallow breath as you concluded your round in a rush with a few pops with the music, then backed up to your side of the stage as calmly as you could, desperate to get out of the spotlight. The crowd cheered wildly when they noticed your turn was over, and you were largely relieved, assuming they didn't see the accident. 

It wasn't until you were back with your crew members that you felt a sharp, aching pain on your right shoulder. Apparently, in the heat of the moment, your shoulder came in contact with the floor with too much force during the roll and you didn't notice before since you were in such panic. You massaged it with your left hand and hissed, wincing at the sharp pain. How could you have been so careless?! 

"Hey, you okay?" You jumped slightly as Neo asked next to your ear. You turned to look at him and found him staring at you worriedly with a hint of annoyance. Oh my god, is he mad at me? You immediately thought, suddenly feeling ashamed for making such a mediocre mistake. "I'm sorry," you hung your head. "Was I really obvious?" 

"Oh, no no no," he quickly waved your hand, "it wasn't your fault." But his expression now turned into full anger. He tightened his jaw,

"That bastard tripped you on purpose."