Author's Note: It's such a huge disappointment to find a game like DDR Universe 3, where they give us a whole cast of new characters with no backstory and nothing to base them off of. At the same time, it's such a huge gain, because it gives me the opportunity to make the backstory myself. So, here's a new long-term to add to all the other long-terms I've been neglecting...sheesh. We'll see where it goes, though.

The sun had just vanished over the top of the skyscrapers, making room for a starry night sky. Dance Dance City was already starting to glow with its many colors, filling up even the streets on the lowest level of the city. I glanced up at the streetlight that had just flicked on above me, then turned to the rest of my little group.

"No one's going to challenge us," I pointed out, gesturing out at the passersby. Each one was preoccupied with something else, it seemed.

"Boring, all of 'em!" Guy said loudly, rising from his spot on the curb. "No one interesting enough to challenge, no one cool enough to challenge us...it's been three weeks since I had a dance battle! I'm bored, man!"

"And broke," Miki chimed in, flipping her curly hair for effect. "Don't forget broke."

"Well, what did you expect?" Silvia asked irritably. "We suck at saving money, all of us! Now everyone's moving up to the clubs, and we can't pay the entrance fee...we'll be stuck here for a while, you can count on that."

"Don't be so negative, sis..." Silvia's little sister, a cute little girl by the name of Roxy, tugged at Silvia's sleeve. "That goes for all of you. Why don't we try to get into the clubs, if that's the problem?" She smiled hopefully at the other seven of us, but was still greeted by excuses.

"That's way too much money..." Claudia said, distant as ever.

"And it's crazy hard!" Miki added. To her left, tomboyish Valencia looked up, adjusting her beanie.

"C'mon now! Let the girl talk, will ya? She's got a point, I think!" she argued. Hanzo nodded in agreement, his sly grin dawning.

"Yes, indeed. We may be broke now, but maybe, just maybe, we'll have a chance if we all banded together. What do you think, Rico? You've been awfully quiet." Normally, I would have poked a little fun at my friend's exaggerated speech pattern. Today, I was lost in thought, admittedly. Roxy did have a point, that was true...at least I thought so. I nodded slowly, not wanting to admit my apprehension.

"I agree with Roxy as well," I said finally. Roxy beamed, clapping her hands together.

"Great! So, how about this? We all agree to train really, really hard for the clubs, and we get some spare change together, and once we're ready, we can hit the competitions with all we've got!" I looked around at the rest of the group, smiling just a bit as I watched. Though Claudia still looked indifferent and Miki looked a bit anxious, I saw determination in all of them. It was a starting point, I supposed.

"Let's do this, then!" Guy agreed, grinning. "Wanna call it a deal?" He placed a hand in the middle of our group, looking encouraging. "Come on, come on!" Valencia clapped her hand on top of his, followed shortly by Roxy and then the rest of the group.

"Alright, on three, we say go team!" Hanzo said. Miki flashed a thumbs down, and I chuckled.

"That sounds weird," Silvia grumbled. "How about we just cheer or something?" Hanzo pouted, but obliged enough to let us all go home for the night. As our cheer filled the air and our hands separated, I could feel the beginning of a whole new window for us. The sun had finished setting, and my friends parted ways for the night as we usually did, but it just felt different. Even after they had left, I remained on the corner for a while longer, stepping out into the empty road. On the highest layer of this oddly-designed city was Universe Tower, the base for the best dancers in the city. The only way to even get access to the streets leading up to it was to get enough influence on the streets and in the clubs. But since I had started dancing, I had always hoped to even get close enough to the tower, even for just one dance battle. In a way, it was my ultimate goal for this mini-career of mine.

I shook my head quickly, embarrassed by my own thought process. I was being cheesy again, something that I was never very proud of. Universe Tower had all the time in the world...it could wait for me. I sure as hell wasn't about to go in there without my seven friends. I would fight my way to the top, but I would never do it alone. I knew where my loyalties were. But for now, I could go home, just like they had fifteen minutes ago.