(Y/N POV)
When I was little, my mother took me to see a street performance in Redshore City, where a bunch of people of different kinds were freestyle dancing as if they were from out of this world. Grooving and letting loose as a popular song blares out of a boombox as they would spin and seemingly soar in the air. I couldn't take my eyes off of them, it truly felt like something I had never seen in my entire life, and it sparked something inside me. I wanted to be like them and be able to touch the sky with no limit, though I knew it wouldn't be easy to achieve.
My mother told me, "Don't give up. Just be you, because life's too short to be anyone else."
She was right, a week later she was fell sick, then soon after that, she was gone, and everything changed...
Including me...
???: "Moose!!!" A feminine voice screamed into my ear, making my whole-body flinch from where I was.
I felt something wet soak through the fur on my right cheek. Out of instinct, I touched my cheek and it was only then that I realized I was drooling on the neon bar stand in the big night club we were meant to be performing in. There had been an exclusive bet made by a rando in a suit for two opposing teams of freestyle dancers to perform against one another. Whichever team wins the best freestyle performance gets a spot to rehearse in front of a talent scout working for the one man who makes dreams happen. Jimmy Crystal. Though truth be told, it is claimed practically impossible to impress him due to the number of performances he attends and leaves instantly without a second thought.
I began to look around, taking in my current surroundings. The night club was a combination of an inside bar setting and outside patio with a decently sized concrete foundation that was used a stage when the bar hired bands to perform for special events. Not to say that the freestyle dance off between the two teams was arranged or even permitted by the bar owner to begin with. Ultimately making this performance illegal along with the illegal betting that was undoubtedly taking place while a crowd of people made bets outside the bar on which team would succeed, while patrons within the bar played the betting game a bit more discrete and played their bets safe, only betting a fairly decent amount of cash but not a whole lot. The logic of these patrons was that if you bet too much and lose, you'll be picking up pennies off the street like the rest of us struggling to even afford a roof over our heads. The bar was mostly bright with neon colors on the walls, and a lit-up dance floor in the middle of the club with pole dancers in the center to entertain the people attending while waiting for the next performance.
There were so many people with either baggy clothing or revealing some of there bodies that gave onlookers the urge to take a second glance around, and many more to drunk to even stand.
Knocking out of dream land, I held a brown bottle and next to me were five more empty bottles. Damn... guess I had a good time.
I finally looked to where the person who yelled in my sensitive ear was standing, giving them a rather tired look.
Kilo: "Moose did you really dare yourself to drink six bottles of bourbon in one sitting?" She asked me with obvious hints of annoyance in her voice.
Kilo, she is a new edition to the team and is obsessed with hip hop culture. That's the name she calls herself, in fact we all chose our nicknames. I chose Moose, though I don't remember why. Maybe it was because I was drunk at the time and became sober for thirty minutes straight? I don't know. Hare said I was crying and peeing at the same time.
(Y/N): "Ye-eah? Soo wh-what?" I stated, though even I could hear the slurred speech dragging as I spoke.
I was pulled out of my seat by Kilo, then she proceeded to drag me by my right arm, stumbling as I tried to keep up. She then proceeded to bring me into the uncleaned bathroom, pushing me into the sink and filling it with water.
Kilo: "We were meant to catch up with the others after the "401" finished their performance and they're starting to wrap up! Clean yourself up and meet us outside." She demanded rather seriously before leaving me alone in the bathroom.
I exhaled deeply and scooped a handful of the cold water, throwing it in my face to let the laziness go away as the cold water seems to wake me up. I repeat this for a while and dried myself off with my hoodie, then proceeded to exit the bathroom.
The large crowd applauded the 401 as they finished their performance. The 401 was another group of street performers that lived in the hood part of Redshore City, and they go insane when it comes to performances, and had become popular in the media, attending every event at the club. This was the second time we came here to perform against them. The first time we were annihilated by them, but that was only because we were unprepared for what was about to happen. However, this time would be different. This time we might win.
I had my fingers crossed, though it hurts doing it while I was moving through the crowd that seemed more like a herd of animals to get through. (Get my Pun? 😉 ) I eventually made it outside the mass of people and into a large alleyway finding my group of eight street performers who I consider my friends and family.
Mia, she was my ex-girlfriend. I started hitting on her the first day in high school. We hit if off pretty fine, but I guess she thought that I wasn't the one, so we ended it mutually. We still consider each other as friends and decided to keep our friendship there for good. She's really great at helping the others with dance training, so is Nooshy.
Monster, was once a hot shot with the ladies and an asshole when it came to me, but now we're best of friends. He can perform smooth kicks, flips and twirls in any performance but gets out of control when his adrenaline kicks in.
Cable, in high school was the generic camera guy for the school newspaper, but in secret is the greatest freestyle dancer in his neighborhood.
Hare, is half hippie and half rhythmic rebel, making the sickest beats with his feet. He doesn't really stop tapping his feet, making him impossible to stop, which leads to him getting bored and ends up making his own beats. Maybe he has a nervous tick or something? I don't know, nor is it a problem, so why look into it?
Fly, the quiet one but certainly isn't when the music kicks in. She is the tallest in the group and has ears from all over the city for any freestyle events she can attend.
Smiles, he's the nicest guy you'd ever meet and a killer on the dance floor. Unfortunately, his parents got divorced and he now lives with us. He is the only one who actually lives in the space we rent and use as our dance clubhouse or "headquarters" that we rent above a nice quaint little coffee shop.
And finally, Chase. A delinquent multi genre performer that gets no bitches, but still dances for the fun of it.
We were all outcasts in our own way, each having a unique talent that make us special. Tonight, we will be the ones that take the center of the stage to soak up the spotlight of victory.
I approached the group, calmly waving at them as I did so to grab their attention. When they took notice of my presence, Monster was the first to walk up to me and slap the back of my head furiously.
Monster: "C'mon man! You can't just get drunk every second you get! Especially now!" He shouted at me in a quieter tone between the two of us.
I re-adjusted my hat.
(Y/N): "I know, I know..." I quietly said in reply, a bit ashamed I could have risked letting my crew down.
Hare: "Eh, we're just telling you not to overboard during the performance. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for all of us." He reminded me.
(Y/N): "Right, so we all know our parts?" I asked eager to get started.
They all nodded.
(Y/N): "Good, good. Just remember, tonight we take the stage and make history!" I shouted in an attempt to boost our morale.
They nodded again.
Smiles: "Well we wouldn't be here without you man. That's for sure." He complimented.
Fly: "He's right y'know, all of us were just a couple of losers with potential we couldn't see. Then you found us and showed us what we can really do and what we're really capable of." She said in a proud tone of admittance.
(Y/N): "Yeah, well Monster says otherwise." I joked to them all.
Monster chuckled at that remark.
It was a "Calm Before the Storm" moment, and spending the last minutes with your friends that you considered as family is really something special.
Not long after, DJ Sand arrived and got out of the car with his buddy. DJ pointed at the car next to them and gave his buddy the keys before he approached us with his shining grin.
DJ Sand: "Alright, y'all ready?!" He asked with a bit of excitement evident in his voice.
I look at my crew as they all were determined to win this... and so was I.
(Y/N): "Yes."
DJ Sand: "Well, here they come..."
As he walked away the loud sound of thunder approached us and soon it began to rain. It was now or never.
At 1:18-1:44 is your part of the performance
We went hard and gave it our all, there was no way we wouldn't win this! The crowed grew wild and surrounded us, cheering in excitement and awe. I'm pretty sure we were all tired instantly after we finished our performance, the crowd nonstop cheering and clapping in applause, a few whistles were heard to, to which I'm pretty sure were the guys whistling at the females in our group.
I bathed in the moment a little longer than I should have, realizing that was a mistake a minute later when we heard police sirens coming from behind us a distance away. This caused a massive panic for everyone as they ran in all different directions while red and blue lights began to grow brighter as the cops got closer.
The best option for my team is to separate and run to prevent them from catching all of us. Though hopefully they wouldn't catch any of us.
(Y/N): "We'll meet at the clubhouse tomorrow morning." I shouted to the team with a bit of urgency in my voice.
Chase/Fly/Mia/Monster/Kilo/Cable/Smiles/Hare: "Got it!!" They all responded in agreement.
With that we all scattered as the police finally arrived, getting out of their cars and attempting to arrest the runaways. Luckily, they didn't focus on my team, but the bad part was a Bengal tiger was chasing me. He was able to keep an eye on me and wouldn't let me out of his sight, only a few several feet behind me as he continued his pursuit.
I then made a sudden hard right turn and exited the alleyway into the busy streets, turning my head around to peak behind me while I ran only to see him chasing me. I needed to find a way to lose him. I then crossed the intersection, evading oncoming traffic and entering another alleyway, where I find a fire escape and quickly climbed to the roof. Not wasting any time, I ran as fast as I could reaching the ledge and pressed on my feet hard to jump as far as I could.
I was afraid that I might not make it across the giant gap from where I was jumping, but it was just enough for me to grab the ledge of the nearby building and pull myself up, finally escaping the tiger cop. Seems he didn't dare attempt the jump, probably knowing his gear would weigh him down and he wouldn't make the jump as a result. I then climbed down the fire escape on the other side of this building and casually walked away to my apartment.
Along the way, I stopped at a gas station to buy a pack of gum, and after purchasing it I noticed a familiar face in the front page of a magazine announcing the 15-year disappearance of Clay Calloway. Truth be told, I've only seen him once when my mother took me to one of his concerts as my birthday present when I turned 5 years old. I remembered that Calloway had given me a guitar pendant.
My mother thought of it as a good luck charm and I still wear it around my neck to this day. Believe it or not, it has helped me a lot after my mom passed away and I probably wouldn't be here without it.
I leave the gas station and enter the apartment building I stay in. I reached in my pocket to grab my key, noticing a leopard in a suit and sunglasses was waiting there by my apartment door, carrying a genuine posture with an empty expression on his face. It was weird since he was staring at me. In curiosity I approached the leopard.
He didn't say anything as he pulled out a white business card out of his jacket and handed it to me. I grabbed it and he proceeded to leave. Once he was out of my sights, I flipped the card over and read a note on the back written in cursive.
𝒟𝑜 NOT P𝑒𝓇𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓂 𝒶𝓉 𝒞𝓇𝓎𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓁 𝐸𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓉𝒶𝒾𝓃𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉
Was this a warning for what happened at the club? I didn't know what to think of it other than a warning, but it confused me as to why.
I grab the keys and insert them into the front door, however, as I went to turn the key it wouldn't move nor did the knob budge as I tried to turn it. After fidgeting with the knob and key for a few minutes, I finally noticed the yellow eviction notice on the floor. Apparently, it didn't stick to the door very well. Reason for eviction marked was failure to pay rent two months in a row. Ugh.... That's right. I didn't make enough for rent since the group and myself all paid a fair share of rent for the clubhouse space, we rented from the cafe shop owner. This meant that all my stuff was probably in the trash by now. I groaned and left the apartment, pulling out my flip phone and tried dialing anyone who might still be awake at this time of night.
After multiple attempts with no one answering, I was left in the streets on my own in the rain. Already exhausted from the events of today, I was constantly struggling with keeping my eyes open as I headed to the only other place I had left to go, the clubhouse. After a full solid 20 minutes of walking, I finally reached the clubhouse, inputting the combination and entering the room.
(Y/N): "What a day..." I said to myself in the quiet and dark room.
As I entered the studio, I heard what sounded like snoring coming from down the small hallway where the only bedroom was located. I had almost forgotten Smiles lived here. I'm sure he wouldn't mind me sleeping on the couch in the hangout space. Too tired to even change into the few spare clothes I had in the closet down the hall, I merely dragged my feet over to the couch before plopping face first into the dark evergreen colored pillow and passed out of exhaustion.
Elsewhere
(3rd POV)
In a gigantic mansion of white marble tiles and sleek black corridors, was a tall and gritty Arctic wolf in his black and gold robe, examining his tablet with a list of performers attending the audition, a small cat in a purple suit holding a tablet of his own approached him.
Jerry: "It is done, Mr. Crystal." He stated.
The Arctic wolf known as Jimmy Crystal, stopped what he was doing and placed the tablet down on a nightstand.
Mr. Crystal: "Is he here?" He asked in a gruff voice.
Jerry: "Yes Mr. Crystal."
The leopard from before enters the kitchen with the same expression on his face from before.
Mr. Crystal: "Quietly?" He simply asked.
Leopard: "Yes, and made it look like a suicide." He stated flatly.
Mr. Crystal: "Excellent..."
He grabs a stack of cash next to him and gives it to the leopard, who takes it without saying a word, slipping the bundle of cash into his inner suit jacket pocket.
Mr. Crystal: "I hope we work again sometime." He said in a monotone voice.
The leopard nodded and left. A minute later Jimmy Crystal looks over to the cat Jerry with a rage like glint in his eyes.
Mr. Crystal: "Send it." He stated angrily.
Jerry: "S-Sir?" The cat stuttered confused.
Mr. Crystal: "You heard me."
Jerry presses the button on his tablet, and a moment later an odd sound was heard from afar. Only those that were familiar with such sound, knew it was that of a quiet gunshot fired with the use of a silencer.
Mr. Crystal: "No one makes a fool out of me..." He said with venomous anger in his voice.
Crystal walks out of the kitchen and climbs the staircase up to his bedroom.
For what might come tomorrow may be sooner than expected.
End of Chapter 1