Dance.Dance.Revolution

by: Sarah Harvey

Clink, Clink, Clink, Clink, Clink, Clink, Clink, Clink

The sound of eight quite familiar tokens being inserted into an arcade's game could only be heard from several feet away with all the relentless chattering. The games were located in a large green room that had two neon yellow jagged lines running parallel to each other around each of the four walls. At the bottom of the wall was a painted red line that went up to about 4 and a half feet. A thin yellow line separated both colours on each of the walls. Two open doorways on the same wall kept the room open to anyone and everyone who just happened to pass by. In between those two doors were three large objects. Only two of the three were important to the people in the arcades room. One of the said objects was a small red garbage can beside one of the doorways. Beside the other doors was a token machine. And in between the two was one of the most popular games in the room.

Dance. Dance. Revolution.

Around it stood a crowd of at least six or seven people, waiting for the chance to admire the abilities of one of the many talented DDR players. The players moved around on the pad for several seconds as they got used to where the colourful arrows were, and finally picked their levels of difficulty. Both chose standard for a warm up. Both players nodded to each other, then the player on the left browsed through the songs that the wonderful machine held. They grinned when they came across a familiar song, one entitled 'Nori Nori Nori.'

They took their positions on the arrows, then took deep breaths to calm themselves. The screen changed, and suddenly three simple words appeared in the center of the screen. 'Here we go.'

The arrows started to find their way up the screen and towards the immobile arrows as soon as the message disappeared. They moved as gracefully and as full of passion and determination as no one else in that room. They were completely synchronized in their movements, and even got in a few good moves with their arms. They occasionally switched boards with each other, receiving awed looks from the crowd. The beat of the music matched up exactly with their movements, and soon they were doing so extraordinarily well that others from the room abandoned their primitive video games, and took up spots in the crowd.

It was nearly the end of the song, and the two were already feeling slightly tired. But that would not keep them from doing what they did best. And that was play this particular game. Their feet hit the finally arrows, and the crowd erupted with applauding and several cheers from random people.

The second song they selected was one that nearly everyone who ever went to the arcades more than once. 'Love Love Shine.' They quickly got into position, and pressed the green 'Start' button in between the two yellow arrow buttons. The song started off in what seemed like a pretty easy way to most people watching. The lights from the DDR machine blinked on and off with every beat in the song, and beat down on the two players with no heat whatsoever. The moves proceeded to get harder and harder with every passing minute, until they reached the very end, where they finished with no problems at all.

By the third song the crowd had grown by at least fourteen more people, and they all applauded at different intervals. A few people in the back were nodding to each other in approval. The two players quickly chose their final song. They knew what it had to be. A certain song that they knew they could always be challenged by. 'Sakura.' Those in the crowd who had played with that particular song widened their eyes and covered their mouths. It was a difficult song, even on Standard. And they were on Heavy.

They exchanged glances, and gave each other smiles of encouragement. The nervous vibes that had been emanating from their beings soon came to a halt as their feet came into contact with each and every arrow at the precise moments that they were supposed to. Neither of the two got too caught up with their winning streak, but kept it up. Right to the very end.

The crowd cheered for the two players, and several others congratulated them on their wonderful skills and moves with the DDR machine. They were even asked how they got to that point, and simply answered by laughing and joking about the money that they never had anymore. They climbed back up onto the DDR pad as the crowd parted slowly. After a few moments, the usual murmur of those who were talking filled the room, and several people left through both doors.

They looked at each other, and held out their hands that were shut tightly. They both smiled, and nodded in agreement. They would always have their fun, and no one could ever take that way from them. One of the two wiped some sweat from their brow with the back of their arm. Then the two looked down at the game standing in front of them. Without any further ado, they slowly pushed four more coins into the open slot, and smiled triumphantly.

Clink, Clink, Clink, Clink, Clink, Clink, Clink, Clink

Important Note: Sarah Harvey does not own 'DDR' or any of the songs mentioned in this short story. Konami owns DDR, and the music groups own their songs.

Note: I have an odd obsession with DDR, and for some reason never knew that this section of actually existed. Boy am I glad I wrote a story for this. Er... this story isn't meant to be what actually goes on when people play DDR, and I know that Nori Nori Nori and Love Love Shine aren't two of the hardest songs, but I happen like them, even if people never stop playing them at the arcades. So please do not tell me 'but 'Sakura' is easy on Heavy, why would you say it was hard?.' Because that's just not true. Not for everyone, anyway.

Please R&R... Reviews are like tokens, and I'm a rabid DDR fanatic on a DDR machine without tokens. Please save me from such insanity!