Glitch watched as Kichi, Shinju, Aubrey and Angel exited the dance floor, each with a different and unique outro. The eliminated crew would be announced soon, and the luckier of the two crews would remain in the competition.

After a heart-pounding silence spread across the dancers, it was finally announced who the winner of this round was. "Both crews did an amazing job here today. Unfortunately, only one can remain in the competition. Give it up to... Lu$h!"

Claps, cheers, yells, congratulations, whoops, hollers, and screams echoed through the underground HQ. One voice yelled in particular, "Angel, I love you!" When Glitch looked around to find the source of the call. Angel didn't seem to care anyway.

The ninjas would be the first to be eliminated in the huge battle; more knockout rounds were on the way.

Snatches of the previous knockout dance battle flashed in Glitch's memory. He and Mo had reached third place; Flash4ward were second and Riptide had happily won. Hi-Def had climbed to the top during the two battles before that. The events were held without warning, sometimes two occurring within three months, and sometimes five months could go on without a single knockout dance battle. Mo didn't seem to mind stepping out of this battle, as Hi-Def were one of the crews with a successful record in the past dance battles. Even before DCI, the crews had always organized the battles, but now that Rasa and Lima were here, things became easier to take care of.

Now Rasa was still standing in the crowd that clambered around Bodie. Emilia, however, was still talking to Dare. The pink-haired D-Coy dancer had shared a glance with MacCoy, and the DJ had mentally commanded for Dare to keep Emilia distracted while Bodie was mercilessly tossed and thrown around with their teasing. Finally, a tired Angel and an exhilarated Shinju joined the growing group while Aubrey walked towards the group of two female dancers. Kichi followed the redhead.

Emilia scrutinized the people around Bodie. "Do you think we should join them?" She indicated the dancers. "Those cheaplings? They're probably talking about how great I was, don't you think?" Aubrey lied smoothly, and yet she still showed her sassy attitude as she did. Kichi, who also knew about the rift of love in Riptide, visibly agreed with Aubrey, and they kept Emilia a good distance from Bodie. Dare helped keep the Riptide brunette well away from learning about Bodie having a crush on her. Glitch nodded even though no one but Rasa could see him. Besides, the DCI leader was too engrossed in his pestering to notice the prodigy.

Because of that, Glitch gained some speed and crashed into Rasa's sight. The DCI leader, impressively, managed not to show any shock or surprise. Somehow, he managed to simply dismiss the ghost with a slight nod. Not taking that for an answer, Glitch protested loudly, which proved to bug Rasa a bit. In the end, the DCI dancer acknowledged Glitch by silently mouthing, "Fine."

Pleased to have gained at least a bit of attention, Glitch said, "So who's going to battle next?" and pointed to the empty battling zone. 'The Warzone,' as Glitch liked to call it. Both he and Mo had grown fond of the name, and soon all of the dancers began referring to the spot with that name. It looked as of none of the dancers were actually aware that a battle was going on. They were all far too busy with Bodie. At least it was a good thing to the blond lifeguard that Riptide wouldn't be on the dance floor again for at least ten minutes, as that was the duration of a battle. Rasa answered Glitch's question. "D-Coy versus Flash4ward, and then DCI on Riptide. Don't you dare try to mess it up for me and Lima."

"Yeah," Glitch snorted, "like I'd do that. Last time I saw, the Glitch never disturbed anyone in a knockout dance battle." He crossed his arms. Rasa's eyes softened, but he didn't exactly apologize when he said, "It's hard to remember that when you've pranked a lot lately. And without getting caught, too."

At hearing Rasa's words, Glitch's eyes glowed. "Is that supposed to be a praise? 'Cause if it is I'll take it for granted." His eyes twinkled mischievously. Rasa rolled his eyes and turned his back on Glitch. Being one who hated getting ignored, Glitch playfully tweaked a bit with Rasa's hair. Rasa swiftly stepped to one side and clear from the protégé's reach. Growing bored, Glitch watched the conversation that Bodie was losing at.

"Come on," MacCoy called suddenly, shouldering his way out of the group and snatching Dare's arm. "Wha–" Dare never got to finish whatever sentence she had uttered as her dance partner pulled her away. He dragged her all the way back to Rasa and proclaimed, "We're ready. And tell Flash4ward to bring it on!" he exclaimed in a challenging, confident manner.

Rasa nodded and directed them to The Warzone. Then he gestured to Lima, who had been watching and stood closer to Taye than Rasa was. Lima quickly notified the oldest of the two Flash4ward dancers. Lil'T, listening in, nodded and did a couple dance moves to show her readiness. Despite having to face older – and taller, Glitch thought uncomfortably – rivals, she didn't look fazed. Then again, nothing could faze a girl like T.

"And now, we've got D-Coy in the ring, who will be going up against Flash4ward!"

Some of the dancers began to cheer. Emilia rushed up to Lil'T's side and gave her a pat on the back. "Knock 'em dead," she advised fiercely, to which both Taye and Lil'T gave thumbs-up to. The other dancers who were standing around Bodie rapidly backed away as if none of them had ever spoken to Bodie. That left the blonde surprised.

Boomy began to thump. The sound was like a heartbeat in Glitch's ears. For a brief moment, just a few seconds, really, Glitch felt the steady rhythm of his own pulse. Then his vision shifted and blurred, and the contact with his true self was reduced to the normal, thin link. A bit tipped off by the odd experience, Glitch shook his head and focused on watching the battle and trying not to think up pranking strategies. He had never intruded in a knockout dance battle and would never do such a thing. These battles were different from the usual rivalry. Ruining the event for everyone else just didn't seem right. Besides, he would get into more trouble than usual if he did anything.

Would Flash4ward win? Or D-Coy?

One word: Review :P

If you liked, that is.