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Dance Dance Ribbon |
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Track 02:
“Unison” The
Bitmap was booming in business lately. New games, new management, and even new
wallpaper for show and not to mention, a new DDR Machine was installed, Dance
Dance Revolution “high-voltage mix” is the name. Over 150+ Songs, high video
quality and an incredibly, polished mirror-like stage! Such a fine piece of
metal clashing with flashing lights, it’s almost subliminal. How spanking new
can it get? (Interrupting
Clover: “DDR High-Voltage is not a real Mix, but you know…I got to add a little
diversity into this fic.”) The
bran new dance machine, you can imagine the attention it got; it grew more
popular than all the V-R games. In fact this game is so admired, and
new-fangled that people from far and near visit the Bitmap just to merely catch
a glimpse at it. Oh?
What about Ribbon? Will she even be lucky enough to even step upon the stage? *** Ribbon stood up, yawned and
squinted her eyes out as she, flung her backpack over her shoulder. “The mall is a bit…uhh dull
today?” April asked very weary. “Watching butter melt is
fascinating, compared to this place,” Moaned Ring. (Clover: “Yet, again I’m
mentioning food.”) Ring and April are both quite
correct. The Mall had been…well, empty lately and Yes, Butter is quite
fascinating. Wonder where everyone has gone? “Hey, look on the bright side,”
Ribbon began. “No line ups!” April looked down at her bright
blue, yellow stringed boots, “Hehe! I know…” she sighs and looks to Ribbon, “it
feels so small in here. I know it’s a small mall, but when everyone’s gone it’s
even smaller!” Ribbon sat back down on the dark
wooden bench, thinking of what to do next. An idea emerges! “Let’s go to THE
BITMAP! ^^;” Ring placed her hand over her
forehead in realization, “Aw, yeah! I almost forgot about that place!” April flung her hands in the air
in an odd sense of cheer, “DDR! >_<” Ribbon promptly jumped to her
feet, looking quite excited, “Alright then. What are we waiting for, let’s go!” *** Ribbon,
Ring and April started their way to Bitmap, all was normal until they saw the
massive line up; Just row upon row of folks who are barely fitting in the
lobby. Ribbon, Ring and April stood by
the large glass windows viewing the inside of the arcade. One by one they bowed
their head in disappointment. Ribbon stared indoors and
released a deep sigh, “How are we gonna get in now?” she whines. Ring and April didn’t respond. “Hmm, LET’S SNEAK IN!” She
suggested energetically. April busted into a fit of
laughter until her cheeks turned from a soft pink to red, “Ha! Great idea! Too
bad it won’t work; what if we get caught!” Ribbon tapped her index finger
against her chin while her mind was working away; “Hmm…” she shut her eyes and
began to think a little harder. Ring turned her head towards
April and Ribbon with a concerned look on her face, “Don’t they have a
backdoor?” Ribbon grinned at Ring, she
always has good ideas, “Yeah! All we got to do is take a nice trip around the
back door and we’re in! Score! >_<;” “But still, it’s not fair for
everyone else that’s lining up and waiting patiently!” said April who was
probably bringing up a good point. (Interrupting Clover: “Trust me, Lady! I
don’t think anyone is waiting patiently here! >_<;;”) “Who here agrees we should leave
April behind, Raise your hand?!” cackled Ribbon with her arms flying everywhere
and quite high-pitched even too much for my own liking >_<. Ring tossed her arms in the air like there was no surrender,
“ME!!” April giggled gently to herself
then shortly fades off to realization, “Hehehe…. HEY! WAIT A SECCOND?” but OH
MY they’ve already left for the door…^^ (Interrupting Clover: “Poor
April.... *burst out laughing like mad* If she was smart she would follow
them…>_> C’mon April…don’t stand there...) *** KOLBASSA!! That’s what you’ll be
saying if you saw inside of this arcade! Wall to wall space of gamers! @_@ You
can imagine what it’s like lining up just to play one game! Ribbon and Ring on
the other hand are wading and passing by people as if they were swimming in a
big pool of PEOPLE! It only takes a few steps or to make it to the other side,
but with the large mass of people and people of large mass, it just might be a
bit shall we say…difficult. (Interrupting Clover: “Ha,
those girls aren’t the only ones taking the backdoor inside. In fact, that’s
another factor of why so many people are already in home base! Clover: The doors were
already shut when Ribbon and dem got there. Nevertheless, I hope someone is
getting fired for not locking it…. not mentioning who….doo dee doo! The step mistress, showing off
the big moves had really shiny strands of reddish brownish hair, misty
grey/green eyes and a punkish ‘in your face’ attitude. Slide step, back step,
even played a few sequences looking off the screen. You can tell she’s showing
off big time to arouse the audience, the more they cheer and shout the more
magic she’ll perform. The tune was in a foreign lingo, Asian, Japanese more so.
Titled “Ever snow” Obviously she was playing it at a standard level, Heavy
would be entirely difficult to freestyle to. Ribbon and Ring strode closer to
the hyped crowd accidentally pushing into a rather elevated fellow and a
seemingly chubby camaraderie, but anyway! >_> I’m sure they said sorry
for…. invading their space even though there is none. Ribbon looked next to the right
and nearly frightened herself to death, “Eeeek, How long have you been here?”
surprise, surprise…. it was April who had ribbon jumping out of her skin. April smiled, “I’ve been waiting
here for awhile now! They let me in front of the line because I had my card
already!” Ribbon cleared her throat,
trying to act and sound like she’s really serious, “Well, Ring and I had to go
to the washroom…so, that’s why we couldn’t meet up here before you did! ^_^;;” “Notice how Ribbon smiles when
she’s lying?” Ring teased, “And that never happened.” “I know...” The red head step mistress
completed her last stage racking in the points and promptly leaves the stage
and heads off to the exit, not even taking a glance back. “MY TURN!” beamed Ribbon as she
hopped on the stage, already a few folks started to part from the swarm. Just
as Ribbon slide the card through the censor; a new opponent stepped upon the
shiny metal stage. He was the same boy she pushed aside, probably back for
revenge; keep a sharp eye on him. >_> Speaking of sharp, he had nice set
of sharp blue eyes, lengthy brownish blondish hair, not too long but long enough.
Ribbon is only about 5 feet or so this guy was without question a foot and a
half taller. Ribbon shouldn’t wisecrack around street toughs of that size,
however this chap didn’t look at all dangerous, or life threatening, he looked
like a normal average Joe…Good natured. The teenaged male (Clover: “an
interesting species! Kay I’m shutting up.”) Timidly requested, “Can I play
also?” Ribbon shrugged, she thought why
not? If he were coming back for revenge he’d be asking her spitefully. But
watch out, they bite when you least suspect it! >_>, “Sure, I’m not very
good at it. Go easy on me okay?” “I’m not that great either...” The lanky guy chose a song with
a steady beat, nothing to hard for a beginner. (Clover: “YEAH LIKE DYNAMITE
RAVE. THAT’S SO STUPID!!!!” Anonymous
passer by: “Will someone shoot her please?”) Abyss… It’s an easy song, only 2 feet
on light mode. Those were some of the thoughts going through his head; honestly
he doesn’t know how “new this game is to her. “Okay, okay, I’m cool; if I can
pass Mickey Mouse March I can pass this one!” Ribbon thought to calm herself.
“You got to step to the beat,
Ribbon!” hollered Ring. Ribbon gave it her best shot;
she isn’t going to give up, not now, not ever. Each time she’d step on the
panel, she would return her feet to the middle. (Interrupting Clover: “This
position is crucial! At times it’s okay
to return your feet to the middle except if there are consecutive steps like
UP DOWN LEFT DOWN
are
difficult to reach in time. You won’t lose points for hitting the wrong arrow; you only lose
points by not hitting it in time. It’s best to pivot your body mass around the
stage so you won’t trip over your feet, or your opponent! ^_^) After the song ended, Ribbon
became exhausted and felt as though she was running out of oxygen, “Huff, Puff!
What…was…my…uh…my... score?” “You got a D! That’s still good,
Ribbon! ^_^” April clapped her hands gleefully, “Hooray!” “Wow! You’re good at this!”
Ribbon said to her experienced opponent, “You must be THE GURU of all Dance and
stuff like that.” The young man smiled slightly,
not many people actually play against him and congratulate him like this. He
sighed and said “Uh, well. Thanks.” then murmured, “I suppose…” “Play again?” *** The hollow ringing noise echoed
through out the school halls and classrooms, that was the cue for lunchtime!
^_^ April and Ring were in the
cafeteria early to get all the delicious school made goodies before most
people. If you arrive too late, you may end up with the scraps or the schools
infamous mystery space meat. It’s rumoured that it’s made of recycled napkins
or some crumbs and mould spores residue left under the stoves. Man, who ever
runs this school has a sick mind. I can’t tell if it’s radioactive or just BAD.
But anyway, April and Ring were standing in the line with their food trays
preparing to pay the cost at the cashier, until… “HEY APRIL!” shouted a familiar
voice. I know what you’re thinking, and it isn’t who you think it is. April quickly picked up the
voice and responded at an instant, “D-bop, Hi there! ^_^” D-bop is April’s
crush/unconditional slave; he always greets April ever so pleasantly. He had
dark hair that was ridged and ended above his ears. He wore baggy grey cargo
pants with orange zippers everywhere, and to match his colour scheme he wore a
dark grey turtleneck sweater with a bright highway worker orange bubble vest. He approached Ring and April
with a remarkable smile upon his face, “So, what’s up you guys?” April giggled silently, “Not too
much!” she lifts her tray up towards D-bop, “I just got the best lunch ever!” “Ha ha, that’s better than that
rat poison they give us everyday!” Ring tapped April’s shoulder for
a moment to remind her about something, “Hey, tell him what happened
yesterday!” April glanced at her for an
instant then waved her hand by her face, “okay, hold on!” They all moved down the line to
pay for their goods, thus made their way to an empty table next to the window
with the sun peering through quite brightly, it made the white oval tables look
so clean and glittery. “Let’s wait here until Ribbon
comes alright?” Ring suggested to the un-separate able couple. *** Ribbon walked hastily out the
Science room with an irritated expression. She nearly failed a Science test she
hadn’t studied enough for and she had the big “lecture” from her bossy, dumb
ass teacher. (Interrupting
Clover: “That’s not the way to go Ribbon!”) She stormed off the stairs not
caring about what or who she missed. A boy walking up the opposite way heard
her muttering down the staircase. Right at that moment he knew who she was, he
had to say something, “Hey! You were that girl at the Bitmap, weren’t you?” Ribbon stopped immediately in
her tracks and turned to her attention, as soon as she saw his face she soon
realized who he was too, “AAAAH YOU!” The blue eyed lad laughed
hysterically, “Yes, me!” “Oh, I didn’t know you came to
this school too?” she continued, “What’s your name?” “Blu, what’s yours?” “My name is Ribbon!” she answered
quite bubbly-like, “Nice to meet ya, GOD OF ALL THAT IS DANCE and stuff like
that. Say, how come I haven’t seen you around much?” “Uh, I’m sort of new. I came
here a week before spring break.” He replied rather timidly, “you looked like
you were angry coming down here, what happened?” “Science Teacher giving me the
BIG lecture on passing this course blah, blah, blah…but ANYWAY, I have to meet
up with some friends for lunch! Want to come along?” Blu, nodded in agreement,
“Sure…” *** Ribbon waved her little arms
energetically to everyone who was waiting for her at the cafeteria table, as
Blu followed behind her trying his hardest not to laugh. “Hi, Blu!” D-bop greets him
warmly. “What the…” Ribbon instantly
became confused and glared at Blu and D-bop back and forth. “Whoa, whoa, whoa…
You know him?” Blu waves to everyone as he sat
down with the group, “Hi everybody, I think I’ve seen you all at Bitmap,
right?” April chuckled perkily at Blu,
“Ha ha, yeah we were all there except D-bop!” “I’ve got an idea you guys.” Ring stood up
from her spot looking in everyone’s direction, Ring usually isn’t so up front
about ideas. Perhaps she had a really excellent one? Everyone was at her
attention as she was about to speak, “Maybe we can make some kind of group,
just for DDR?” Everyone exchanged looks at one another, wondering about each
other’s reactions. “Sounds like a good idea to me!
^_^” Announced Blu. Ribbon stood up on top the table
rowdily and swiftly, she loves Ring’s ideas and she was absolutely sure it was
the best. “YES! That’s a GREAT idea!” she soon turns to Ring’s direction with
her budding brown eyes, “I’m so happy, you’re on my SIDE! ^_^” “Imagine you
guys! We’ll be the best EVER! Listen to the applause of our audience, so
wonderful!” ^o^ (Interrupting Clover: “I can’t
believe I’m hearing this from someone who barely won their first game!”) “We can compete too.” Blu
suggested. “Have you been to a competition,
Blu?” Ring asked leaning over the white table. Blu thought for a moment then
began, “Erm, yeah, it was a long time ago though.” Ring
and Ribbon’s eyes sparkled with wonder. “Woooooah,” they both said at the very
same time, “that’s absolutely amazing!” Blu waved his hand over his
face…grinning, “Aww c’mon, it’s not like I won 1st place or
anything. I didn’t win a prize or have my face in a newspaper!” “That’s still great! Ribbon and
I just started, and you must play that game everyday. We’re gonna play everyday
aren’t we Ribbon?” Ring winked. ^_~ “How about this…after class we’ll
go to bitmap and waste our allowance!?” Ribbon decided with raise of her hand. “Sounds good to me!” shouted
Ring. -^^- *** The Bitmap wasn’t as busy as the other days, in
fact today seemed nearly empty! However the DDR machine wasn’t. 3 girls
occupied the stage. One was the step mistress from previous, another girl had
short messy black hair and a pale face with pinkish cheeks, plus she was
stomping on the stage like it was nobody’s business. The other girl standing
behind the red trick bars had sun kissed blonde hair with bouncy curls. She
didn’t look like she was part of the bunch since they were punks and she looked
like a bubbly princess. But her expression was naturally snarky like a spoiled
brat. >:) Ribbon and her new DDR team approached the dance
machine, all of them wanting to play eagerly. But just at that moment Ribbon
noticed the step mistress dancing away. Now she’s not too sure if she wants
play around these people, what if they make fun of her because she’s a beginner
and they’re so skilled? It was no problem with Blu since he was playing easy
songs also it made him look like a beginner too. “You know what guys?” Ribbon mumbled, “We should
play after they’re gone.” April watched the girls twist and twirl about the
stage with her full attention. It was like watching TV without the couch. “Wow
these girls are so good!” “I can do that…” Ribbon started and then lowered
her voice, “...if I want to.” Ring nudged Ribbon’s shoulder and leaned toward her
to tell her something secretive, “We need people like that on our team, Ribbon.
Maybe we should ask them if they go to our school.” “What? No!” Ribbon disagreed automatically. She
thought why would they be interested in a team? It looks like they have one
right now! “Well what’s the matter? It won’t hurt to ask
right?” Ring sighed and shrugged her shoulders gradually. “I’ll ask them…” The two shady girls finished their last stage with
extra high scores and bonus points to boot. They looked a little tired but were
prepared to play some more. The red head step goddess shifted her eyes behind
the crowd behind her then said coolly, “So I hear you guys are a DDR team,
huh?” Ring volunteered for the moment of truth, “Yeah!
All of my friends here are in it too...umm… I” she searched the back of mind to
get the right words, don’t want to be too hasty… aww what the heck, “If you
want to, you can join us! You’re absolutely awesome!” “Sounds good, but…I’ve got a better idea,” the red
haired girl scanned everyone’s faces for a second before she spoke again. “You
kids can join MY team I’ve got here. Now allow me to introduce my team and
myself. My name is Rez. Here beside me is Mushmi and last but not least is
Sofa.” “Nice to meet you, I’m Ring, this is Ribbon, April,
Blu, and D-bop!” “Yeah, yeah, yeah. So as I was saying…if you can
beat us at any song. Then we’ll let you in our group. Trust me we’ll benefit in
it. You’ll become masters like us and we’ll win every competition. So do think
you can do it?” Rez grinned mischievously
knowing that every newbie’s weakness is being naïve. Ribbon answered nervously and nearly stumbling over
her words in a high squeaky voice, “um…I…I..I uh I mean we ...c-c-c-change our
m-m-mminds—“ Ring volunteered AGAIN and cutting off Ribbon’s
plea, “YES! We’ll do it1” she looked to everyone and nodded as if they all
agreed even though they appeared confused and shooting blank stares, “yup,
we’re all ready!” Rez couldn’t keep her hilarity in. It was so
perfect. Finally she can play against some people and show them some real
‘exclusive’ moves of her own. She picked out her first victim by hand, “You go
first!” she announced pointing directly at Ribbon. Sofa and Mushmi stood aside
and gave a mysterious glare, probably sizing up what she can do and how she
would react. Ribbon should’ve backed down but she gave it a shot
since Ring was really pushing for her to go. Ribbon didn’t like the sound of
this deal in the first place, but if her best friend wants her to go, then go!
Blu and D-bop gave her the thumbs up as she stepped on the silver platter.
(Clover: “The Silver PLATTER OF DEATH!! Kekekekekeke--”) Rez instantly started up the game and chose the
song right off hand without even telling Ribbon the difficulty. “I’m doing the
song “Moving on” got it?” “Ieep!” Ribbon squeaked like a frightened mouse. The music started picking up and soon the step
arrows showed up. Rez tackled it effortlessly while Ribbon was just standing in
the middle of the stage too scared to move. She twitched a little but she just
didn’t get the steps of the song right. It’s like trying to figure out a math
question; in the end you’re still confused. “C’mon Ribbon she’s whipping you!” D-bop called out
with his hands amplifying his voice. “Ah, ah aaaaaaaaah!” Ribbon caught a part of the
song where it was just easy steps with jumps; she still got some perfects and
some ‘goods’. “Get Moving!!” Rez shouted irritably, then slipped
her foot beneath her side of the stage swiftly but luckily missing Ribbon’s
toes. “Whoa! Watch it! Are you trying to kill me or
something?” She knew trouble was going to start on the stage, Rez doesn’t want
her on their team, they just want to rumble and make her look bad. Ribbon
finally tried her best to concentrate except Rez’s friends in the corner keep
making faces at her or something else of equal stupidity. Rez stretched her arms out missing Ribbon’s face
but close enough for her to react. “Ha!” she thought, “never going to beat me
now…” “This is DDR! NOT a wrestling match, ladies!” D-bop
called from the sidelines. (Hmm how witty) “Ah! Stop that! That’s not funny! >_<” Ribbon
squealed while protecting her poor, poor face. Ring folded her arms and looked upon Rez with
disgust; no body should do that especially to her friend. After Ribbon is done
she’ll show her a thing or two. She said nothing at all until they were done. The song came to a close as well as the feverous
fight they put up for the whole time. Mushmi and Sofa whisper and chatter to
each other in silence, while occasionally looking back at Ribbon and Ring. What
are they up to? “Now let’s see the results!” Rez said boldly and as
proudly as she can possibly get. “Yes! Double A’s for me! Not too bad! Ha too
bad for you Ribbon. It looks like it’s not your day!” “Huh?”
Ribbon read the results screen. “E grade…well if you weren’t a cheater I would’ve
done better.” “Don’t blame me for your failure. Take it like it
is or maybe you can’t handle the humiliation.” Rez smirked. “C’mon you’re just
a newbie…” Ring snapped angrily, “Stop that! No one makes fun
of my best friend, twerp!” “Oh no! She called me a twerp…oh I’m so hurt.” Rez
said sarcastically while her friends voiced a laughing crowd like it was a live
comedy show, “If you know you’re no match for me…it’s so stupid to dance battle
me and lose mercilessly. Tsk tsk. Don’t you know anything?” she waved her
finger as if she was a mother saying ‘no, no, no’. Ribbon crept off the stage leading way for Ring to
step up. April, D-bop and Blu exchange looks wondering how this is going to end
and hoping they don’t have to play. Let’s just hope so… Mushmi swapped places with Rez, and then glared at
Ring like she was going to eat her. Ring cringed, “What are you looking at?” “Not much...” she said as if she wasn’t holding
anything back. “C’mon Ring! Show them who’s hot and who’s not!”
D-bop bawled again. Mushmi sighed then added, “Put a sock in it!
Really! Nobody’s impressed!” Mushmi swung her head back to the colourful select
screen and searched for a good song to play. She stopped the cursor on the
song, “Dead End.” She grinned terribly thinking it’s the perfect song to show
off against. “I think I should pick a song!” so swiftly, and
quickly Ring said as she automatically changed the settings. Confidently, Ring
picked her favourite song “Moonlight Shadow” and selected it at the same time
without even backing up. It’s time to shine! The music started picking up under the commentators
voice, “are you ready?” it asked in a mid low tone. “Here We Go!” That was the
queue, and they’re off! Both Ring and Mushmi played every step perfect and the
same number of combos stacking up and up. It’s a surprise that no one has
cheated yet. Rez started looking worried. Ring looked like she was getting
ready to kick some butt. The song was coming to an end, but Ring and Mushimi
still kept up their winning streak. Together they completed the song while
everyone watch them closely and in silence, like a season finale on TV.
Everyone huddled around the two to see the incredible results and maybe have
Ring demonstrate to Rez’s team to that they shouldn’t underestimate the little guys
^_~. The roulette of letters slowed down
to a complete halt on an impressive grade…two shiny gold double A’s. Mushmi looked blankly in her face and said just as
blankly, “I got 10 more perfects than you.” “Oh, I knew we’d win! You guys are just a bunch
noobs.” Rez snorted under her hilarity. I think she should simmer the heck down
a little if you ask me. Then Sofa donated her 2 cents to the humiliation,
“Go home and get some practice so we can thrash you at a higher level!” Blu patted Ring’s shoulders gently. “Don’t bother listening
to them, Ring. You did awesome!” “Yeah, Ring really awesome! I was so scared to move
but you almost beat her and 10 perfects away from it too! Wow I never had seen
you play like that!” Ribbon hugged her best friend happily. She was oh-so-very
impressed to see Ring do so well. But… “Let’s go guys, there’s nothing but kids in this
joint.” Rez turned her back to everyone and boldly walks towards the exit with
Sofa quickly catching up to her and walking the same way she is, swaying her
non-existing hips. Mushmi uttered loosely and quickly to Ring looking
at her seriously. “Listen, if you want to prove to Rez that you could beat her,
go to the trial tournaments coming up this month. “ She left without giving
them a chance to say anything, and then headed for the exit with Rez. Everyone kind of stood there, stared, and blinked
for a bit as to why she even told that to them. Didn’t she hate them too?
(Clover: Well she said that pretty fast, I didn’t get half of what she said! OH
WELL CAN’T BE TOO IMPORTANT!! ^_^”) *** The white pearl shaped telephone rang and echoed
through Ribbon’s bedroom, she picked it up hastily and put it on her shoulder
as she pulled out everything in her bottomless closet! “Hello, hello!” Ribbon
beamed. “Ribbon, we should REALLY consider making a DDR
team you know!” Ring said on the other line. Her voice sounded a little
different but everyone sounds different on the phone, right? “Yeah, that Rez was a prick wasn’t she?” Ribbon
said bitterly as she chucked some concrete bricks out of her laundry basket. “Is there a demolition crew in your neighborhood
or what?” Ring shouted over the background noise on Ribbon’s end. “Nope, just cleaning my room…” “Oh….” Ring grew silent then began talking again,
“so are you up for it?” Ribbon digs up some lollypops under the rug and put
it in her mouth. Mmm Tree oils and 3 year old lint. “For what?” “You know…the team and the tournament.” “Honestly I would rather not go, I suck big time at
DDR…oooh chocolate.” “C’mon Ribbon, we could finally show Rez we’re not
just a bunch of noobs!” Ribbon picked up a red plastic view-theatre
projector, the ones she had when she was a baby and then clicks through the
slides one by one. “Oh, Riiiiiiiiing! Hehehe we are noobs…” “We gotta practice, Ribbon! That’s how you get
better, PLEASE!” Ring pleaded over the phone. Ribbon waved her lolly in the air and pleaded back
to Ring, “Please!? It’s too scary! I can’t practice in front of people!” “Who says you can’t practice at home?” Ribbon drops her lolly, “what’s that mean?” End. Note: Noob/Newbie - A Person with little experience or is new to something |
