I went with my crew for the open underground dance battles. Vibhan had his hawk-like gaze on me, while I tried hard to control myself from getting excited and jumping in a battle.

"Bhoomi, remember your promise," Vibhan warned me.

I gave him an okay sign, and we moved among the crowd to see an ongoing match. We discussed about the two crews battling, and I was arguing with Akshay and Rehman when I noticed something interesting in my peripheral vision.

On our right, at a distance, around seven to eight girls were gathered with two guys. While the guys stood aside, two girls danced against each other, other girls joining in the subsequent rounds.

Oh, are those b-girls?! I should go and say hi.

"Oye, Bhoomi, where are you looking?" Rehman asked and snapped his fingers in front of my face.

I glanced at my captain, Vibhan, who was busy conversing with Yasir and Pratik; I pointed at the b-girls, and Akshay scratched his head.

"I want to go and see what's going on there. I will just watch. You can come with me too," I told him.

"Akki, you stay here. I will go with her and beat her up if she tries anything. I know she will mess up anyway," Rehman said.

Akshay agreed and warned me to behave. I nodded and went with Rehman to watch the b-girls. As soon as we reached there, Rehman shook his head.

"They also play safe," he commented. "The movements are too dull and slow."

I felt bad since I was aware of the breakdancing situation among girls in our country. There was a growing interest among the youth and younger generation, but compared to the guys, the girls were far less, and there was a huge difference in the skill plus confidence level. I had met a few b-girls that were doing great, but apart from a few known faces, the other aspiring ones were struggling a lot.

"What's their fault in this? Not everyone encourages girls to take breakdancing," I told Rehman. "I am lucky that my family lets me do whatever I want."

Rehman nodded. "Yeah. There is a good proportion of girls in the hip-hop scene, but breakdancing is still pretty dry of female presence."

"Can I have a match?" I asked him hopefully.

He refused. "Not on my watch. Can't you stay true to your words for even a day?"

"Come on, bro. I will just have one match. You can already see that the level is not high, so maybe I can make some friends too - and if they get impressed, maybe they will agree to join Ritvik Bhaiyya's classes."

"Ritvik Bhaiyya does not need you to advertise for him. He is already popular. Don't dare to play tricks with me."

I sulked and kept poking him. He didn't budge, so I thought of a plan. I apologized to Ganapati Bappa in my mind and started commenting on the girls and how they were lacking energy and all. Rehman scolded me to keep my tone in check, but I acted arrogantly, and as a result, the girls got angry.

"Who the heck do you think you are?" one of them glared at me and others agreed.

"I am also a b-girl," I announced proudly.

They scoffed and waved me off. They stared at Rehman and realisation crossed their faces. They started murmuring among themselves, and Rehman smirked at me.

"See how popular I am?" he taunted me and ran a hand through his hair.

"Are you showing off because of your boyfriend?" one of the girls blamed me while looking at Rehman. "Just because you got a popular BF, doesn't mean you can look down upon us."

Rehman and I made disgusted faces. We both cleared their misunderstanding and told them that we were in the same crew. That made everyone present there laugh as they had never seen me participate with my crew.

"Rehman, they don't believe me," I said. "I have to prove them."

Rehman nodded, but the next second, he grabbed my neck.

"Don't try to trick me," he said and told the girls to ignore me.

While he was reprimanding me, some girls pointed at me and discussed among themselves. I felt happy when I heard them talking about asking me to battle so they could teach me a lesson.

"You," one of the girls said to me, "If you are really a b-girl and actually a part of Unix, then show us what you got. Don't spread unnecessary rumors."

I grinned at Rehman, who punched me on the back. It was now the question of our crew's pride, so he told me to keep in mind what I had promised everyone.

I gladly accepted that girl's challenge, and one of the two guys acted like a refree while the other one was the judge. Meanwhile, Rehman stood aside, keeping his laser focus on me while observing other dancers.

"What's your name?" Refree asked me.

"Bhoomi," I said.

"That's also your stage name?"

I instantly glanced at Rehman, who stiffled his laughter and mouthed 'Boomer' to me. I threw a fake punch at him and nodded at the refree. My opponent was a b-girl named Spintop, and after learning the rules, we started our match.

Spintop went first, and I nodded at her hold on her moves and clean floorwork. I smiled when she acted tough and provoked me. Her friends encouraged her, and to annoy me, Rehman also cheered for her. I shook my head at him and started when my turn came.

I began slow and easy, enjoying the moment. The first round went to Spintop, who looked at me weirdly when I smiled at her. The second round started, and she increased the intensity of her moves. She did some popular combos, finishing her set with an air flare.

I also matched her level, keeping my stunts limited. Again, the second round was won by my opponent, who rolled her shoulders in confidence and told me to just accept that I was lying about being in Unix.

"Bhoomi, aren't you going too easy? I am getting bored," Rehman commented at me.

I shrugged my shoulders. "What am I supposed to do? Aren't you here so that I can't do anything? I know you will complain to Vibhan, and he will whoop my ass."

"Yeah, but come on, dude, you are embarrassing me. Just finish the match. I won't tell Vibhan or Big bro. Trust me," he said.

I wasn't sure, but when he gave me a thumbs up, I hopped on my feet. I gave Spintop a gummy smile when she finished her turn of third round casually as she was winning as it is.

Okay, time to breakdance for real now.

I inhaled lots of oxygen and let it out slowly as I took the floor. Rehman's loud whistles reached my ears when I did my favourite elbow spins and air flares, before dancing old street style to the song.

Spintop stared at me, her eyes not blinking. She fisted her hands and glared at me when the judge raised his hand in my direction, and I bowed to show my gratitude. The third round was won by me, leaving the fourth round to decide if our battle was going to progress into the fifth round after a draw, or Spintop would keep the ball in her court.

I glanced at my arms and legs. The earlier wounds were there but had lightened. Also, I wasn't feeling any stress to win, so I continued with the match. And Spintop spun as if rockets were tied to her.

Rehman and I exchanged glances and nodded in admiration. It was my turn, so I again took a deep breath, reminding myself that it wasn't a war. But my plan crashed when one of my favourite songs played. I couldn't help it and just breakdanced whatever I felt like.

When the song ended, Rehman clapped the loudest, and Spintop huffed when the round went in my favour, resulting in a draw. She looked really mad and her friends told her to up her game and win.

She did her best, but the fifth round ended with me winning again, and Spintop shook hands with me.

"You weren't lying," she said to me.

I nodded. "Yes, I wasn't."

Other b-girls looked at me, and since I already got one match that I had planned, I decided to join Rehman and told the refree and judge that I was done.

"Thank you for protecting our crew's image, Boomer," Rehman teased me.

"Thank you very much, but stop calling me Boomer. I will kill you," I threatened him.

He kept poking me, and one of the b-girls looked at us with her index finger pointed at me.

"You are Boomer?!" she asked in a shrill voice.

I shook my head, laughing awkwardly. "Who Boomer? I don't know what you are talking about. I think you misheard us."

Soon, others also started murmuring because Rehman kept teasing me. I noticed Spintop leaving, so I told Rehman that we should escape from there before he could ruin my image.

"Excuse me, you there. Are you the girl who just defeated Spintop?" a girl's authoritative voice landed in my ears.

I turned around to see who she was, and my eyes widened. Rehman wasn't shocked as much as I was, and he confirmed that the girl who had just called me was none other than B-girl DayZ, a legend herself. She was one of the first generation b-girls in our country, and very well known in the hip-hop circle. It was my first time seeing her in front of my eyes, and I was really excited.

"May I have your autograph?" I asked DayZ, who blinked her eyes rapidly.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

I quickly requested the judge to give me his notebook and pen. DayZ glanced at Spintop, who looked at me as if I was a weirdo.

"I am a fan," I told DayZ and mentioned how apart from The Emperors' videos, I used to watch her videos a lot while I was learning breakdancing from Ritvik Bhaiyya.

She gave me her autograph, and I told Rehman to keep it properly in his jacket. She asked Spintop about me, while I kept admiring her.

"I didn't know DayZ will be here," Rehman said. "If she is here, then maybe other old gang is here too."

"You are Bhoomi, right?" DayZ asked me, and I nodded.

"Okay, since you defeated my student, let's have a match. Get on the floor," she said.

"Of course," I replied, but the realisation hit me like a truck.

"What? Are you... saying that..." I tried to confirm what I had heard.

She nodded. "Yeah, girl, I am challenging you. Come on. What happened? You scared now?"

Rehman pulled me back. "Don't fall for the provocation, Bhoomi. You know what will happen if you do."

I agreed with him, so I declined DayZ's challenge respectfully, though the opportunity called me like a siren. I thanked her for thinking me worthy of being her opponent and started leaving, but DayZ taunted from behind.

"Are you really going to run away like this? Aren't you ashamed? You bully your juniors but escape when you have to face the real players?" she yelled.

I pursed my lips and glanced at Rehman. He shook his head and talked to DayZ to let the matter go, but she told him to not poke his nose in our conversation. She sounded serious, so I refused again, but Spintop commented that I was acting like a coward now that I had to face an actual professional.

This little...

Others also told me to accept the challenge and said that I might have won against Spintop by luck. That made me irritated, and I was going to give an apt reply when automatically, I froze up when I sensed a very familiar presence beside me. Soon, goosebumps covered me as Tejas's left palm touched the back of my neck.

"So, you did keep your promise, Hamster," Tejas said as he pulled me towards him and kissed my temple.

Rehman gave me a 'You are dead' look, and I gulped nervously when Tejas asked me if I was enjoying or not.

"Hey, TJ, wassup?" DayZ called him.

He smiled at her. "Hey, DayZ."

She looked at me with surprise mixed with mischief.

"Is that your girlfriend?" she asked Tejas.

He nodded, making others around us murmur. DayZ grinned, and before I could make an excuse, she told Tejas that she had challenged me. My boyfriend tilted his head in confusion, and Spintop told him how I had defeated her but was avoiding DayZ purposely after taking her autograph.

Tejas's grip tightened; his smile remained intact, but his gaze burned holes in me. I avoided looking at him and hit Rehman to help me.

"You broke your promise?" Tejas asked me in a low voice.

I glanced at him. "I only had one friendly match. I had told you, no, that I wanted to make friends? So, I didn't break my promise. See, I am okay. Really?"

He glanced over me, his thumb caressing my nape.

"You do look okay, but let me check," he said and checked my pulse.

He confirmed that I was okay, and I apologized to him if he felt that I betrayed him. I reminded him about his father's words, and he flicked my nose.

"You ended up getting DayZ challenge you," he said. "Why would you bully her student?"

"TJ, is your girlfriend ready or not? And, Bhoomi, are you going to take decisions after consulting with your boyfriend every time?" DayZ asked, and others laughed.

"What do you want to do?" Tejas asked me.

"Um, DayZ is an old player, and I know I will need to battle her seriously. I just doubt if I will again stress without knowing. What should I do? I do want to accept her challenge; not because I want to show-off, but because it is an honor for me. But..." I mumbled.

He thought for some time and told me to not worry about my promise to him and just take an independent decision. He gave me some instructions and told me to quit if I encountered one of those signs. I thanked him and pecked his cheek.

"All the best, Boomer," Rehman laughed at me.

I went forward and accepted DayZ's challenge. Spintop looked at DayZ hopefully and told her to finish me. I shook my head at her in amusement and stretched myself.

When our first round of the battle began, the crowd around us started thickening. Before, no one was paying us much attention, but after DayZ's arrival and other popular dancers coming to watch us, others also joined in curiously.

"Okay, Bhoomi, I am ready when you are," DayZ said, and I felt the competitive heat rising between us.

It is my first time battling a professional b-girl, so I wonder how it will turn out. All this time, I was challenging or getting challenged by the guys, so it feels fresh to be around girls who have the same passion as me.

I started the first round, and DayZ's keen eyes were on my every move. I shifted back to make space for her, and damn, she was a treat to watch. The energy, the feels, and the vibes were totally different from what I had experienced so far. The feminine energy was oozing out of DayZ's every step and expression, and my respect for her increased.

Can I be also so elegant while breakdancing? I know my aggression takes over whenever I breakdance as I always feel comfortable being on the offensive side, but now, I feel like holding back and thinking about my next moves. Okay, after battling b-boys, let's see how I fare against a pro b-girl. No stress, and only fun.

DayZ finished her set, getting applause from the audience. Soon, the second round started, and I didn't move for the first three seconds. I was deciding between what level I wanted to go in with, and when I finalised on it, I began my set.

The first round was won by DayZ effortlessly, but the things got interesting when I surprisingly won the second round. Like this, subsequent rounds kept bouncing between me and her, making the results draw every time.

"You are annoying me now, girl," DayZ told me as she adjusted her cap.

"Am I annoying in a good sense?" I teased her.

She smirked. "Come on. Less talking and more battling. I am going to end this for once and all."

And she did. I held back in the last round as I felt my body cramping up. DayZ was also tired, but she was more experienced, so she utilised and conserved her energy efficiently. When the match ended, I thanked her, and she patted my shoulder.

"You have a lot of potential, Bhoomi. I will be watching your future battles," she told me.

I smiled widely. "That will be awesome. I will do my best."

The audience cheered for the winner, and I made way towards my boyfriend. He caressed my back.

"You put on a good game, Hamster. I am proud of you," he said.

"With more practice, you will defeat her next time," Rehman told me.

Now that I had finished two dance battles, I felt hungry, so Tejas took me with him to the snack counters. Rehman went to our crew to inform about Tejas's arrival and to join us for a treat.

"You feeling fatigued?" Tejas asked me.

"A little bit. You know I took DayZ's autograph?" I told him.

He chuckled at my enthusiasm and gave me a fully loaded veg sandwich. I wanted to drink a cola, but he refused. He told me about my diet, and I pointed at Hriaan when he arrived, stuffing a samosa in his mouth.

"He always talks about diet but I have never seen him eat anything healthy," I complained about Hriaan.

Hriaan rolled his eyes. "Stop being jealous of me, Shorty."

"Where's Axel?" I asked him.

"He got an important video call to attend, so he skipped."

Soon, our friends joined us, and we were goofing around when DayZ arrived with her friends, and her student Spintop and other girls. They joined us, and I sensed Spintop staring at me.

"Hi," I greeted and waved at her.

She pouted, and I chuckled at her reaction. I knew she was still annoyed by our match, and it was fun to watch how she kept complaining to DayZ.

My group was done eating, so we excused ourselves, but DayZ stopped us. She looked at Tejas and then at me. Her friends also stared at us.

"TJ, I hope you won't refuse me like your girlfriend did earlier," DayZ said.

"What is it about?" Tejas asked her.

She glanced at one of her friends, Kile, a former b-boy legend. He smiled and told DayZ to go ahead.

"TJ, I and Kile challenge you and Bhoomi for a duo match," DayZ said.

My eyes widened, and I snapped my head at Tejas. He pressed his lips into a thin line and looked at me.

"Are you going to deny?" Kile asked Tejas. "I don't expect it from you."

Tejas smiled and bobbed his eyebrows at me.

"It sounds very tempting to me. What do you say?" he asked me.

"Are you serious? Not you, but they will finish me for good," I said. "And didn't you tell me to not battle any more?"

He laughed. "Are you really trying to escape right now? Wrong timing, Hamster. We are accepting the challenge."

"What?!"

He rubbed my shoulder. "Don't worry. I am here. You just rest while I handle both of them."

Kile laughed after hearing what Tejas had said.

"TJ, man, love your confidence," he said and looked at DayZ. "Let's show these kids what we got."

I pulled my boyfriend's wrist. "Please tell me you are joking."

He shook his head. "Nope. And your health is totally fine too. If you want, you may join between the battle, but don't take any pressure. Leave everything to me."

I nodded, but felt my nerves firing up. Tejas was totally confident, while I worried about the upcoming challenge.

I have to do a dance battle with Tejas as his partner?! We have never worked as a freestyle duo before. I also don't wanna quit, so I just hope I don't end up embarrassing him.