Strongest Nova: Path of Vengeance

Chapter 296: Dancing and Stars

Stanley moved his arms around, his legs around, and his body around as much as he could, hoping he was dancing well. He had been caught in someone else’s power, so he had to make sure, whatever the case, that he came out of this alive.

He could tell his movements were awkward, dancing wasn’t something Dulls ever really did. There were times when his mother sang some folk songs back home, but he had never truly danced.

He had seen people dancing though, mostly in the first and second quadrants of the city where people were less pressed for coins and could spend their free time not working.

Stanley tried remembering how those dances went and tried to emulate them, but he was failing spectacularly. If he got points based on how badly he failed, he would have surely gotten all 10 stars in this round.

"You have to dance better, or you will only get a single star!" the disembodied voice spoke once again, the sound coming from all around Stanley.

Stanley grunted in frustration. He wanted to do nothing more than punch whoever that voice belonged to.

Soon, he began hearing boos from beyond the glowing red wall. Whatever he was doing, it was definitely not working. The silhouette on the screen though danced fabulously, not missing a single beat.

Stanley envied the thing. How could it dance so well? He didn’t like it at all.

’Why the hell is this thing here even?’ he thought. ’To distract me?’

If it was, then it was absolutely working. Stanley’s movements were off already, and he was failing even harder than before. He tried to focus, but it was difficult.

He had never even heard this music before and didn’t know the rhythm he was dancing on. How was he supposed to do well here at all?

’Why is this thing really here?’ Stanley’s mind stuck on that one question, looking at the image in front of him.

If he failed, he would get a punishment, that much had been said by that voice. But what if this silhouette passed? What if it got 10 stars?

’I was never told that would happen,’ Stanley thought. ’I was never even told I was competing against someone else.’

As Stanley thought that, another thought came to his mind. ’Wait, why do I think I am dancing against this figure?’

He stopped suddenly, no longer dancing, only looking at the black figure on the screen in front of him, dancing continuously as if there was nothing to worry about.

Boos erupted from the audience behind the screen, but Stanley’s attention was only on the figure in front of him.

"Is it not fighting against me?" Stanley couldn’t help but ask himself. If it was not against him then... was it... with him?

The figure turned to the right and began moving its arms around each other while its entire body swayed around to the rhythm.

Stanley turned around in the exact opposite direction of the figure, copying its movements exactly. He moved his arms around each other in the same manner as the silhouette while swaying his body as well as he could to copy the movements.

The boos quietened immediately and only the music made any sound.

The silhouette turned around, doing the same in another direction. Stanley turned around as well, copying it in the other direction.

He could hear cheers now.

The silhouette turned back up front and pointed forward before swaying around. Stanley copied it, awkwardly, but with few mistakes.

What had before been only boos began becoming cheers.

The silhouette changed its movements again and Stanley copied. The cheers grew louder. Stanley smiled.

He was finally getting the hang of it. He was never supposed to battle against the silhouette at all. All this time, his task here had been to follow the silhouette and dance as well as he could.

The all surrounding cheers were the proof of that.

Stanley danced brilliantly, at least he thought he did, as he copied the silhouette’s movements and made it his own. He stumbled a few times, unable to understand what the figure was doing for a second or two before getting it, but other than that, everything went without a hitch.

Then, the music slowed down and repeated the final tone one last time before it came to a stop.

The silhouette stopped dancing and vanished. The red wall vanished with it and all that remained was an audience with unrecognizable figures and 3 puppet-like judges at the front.

Stanley was out of breath by the end of the dance. He panted as he nervously waited for whatever was going to happen next.

The judges’ heads moved, getting close to each other as they made some unintelligible noise before getting back in position.

"We will now see what the judges have decided your score should be!" the voice came back to say.

Stanley waited.

The first judge moved, putting up a small board with golden stars on it. They shined brightly and Stanley quickly counted them.

6 stars.

"6 Stars!" the voice repeated his thoughts. "The first judge had been generous with his vote. Congratulations!"

Stanley searched for the voice, wanting to ask if this was it, when the second judge moved, putting up a board of his own.

Stanley could immediately tell that the stars on that one were lower than the other one and his heart fell.

"4 Stars!" the voice announced. "The second judge is rather harsh it seems. Let us see what the final judge thinks of your performance."

The final judge put up the board and Stanley saw the number of Stars he gave him.

5 stars.

"Oh! The impartial third judge has decided that you deserve 5 stars," the voice announced. "Which means, on average, you have received..."

The words ’5 Stars’ popped out in the air in a large hologram just as the voice announced it.

5 Stars.

Stanley’s heart sped up and he panicked. 5 stars meant that what he would be receiving next... would be a punishment.