Ninjago Fluffy Stories

Second-best dancer (Bruise)

So that new Ninjago short kind of ruined an idea I've been considering for a fic in which Jay was a cute potato with zero dancing skills... but, hey, on the other side it inspired this other oneshot! So we all win in the end, hahaha!

I hope you'll like it ♥

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'Up, left. Now comes the doubles, and... Jump!'

Bells echoed from the built-in speakers of the Dance of Doom stage, along with sparkles and lasers on the screen, signaling a successful Key Move. The machine creaked and bounced slightly as Jay executed the following moves almost by heart; he'd danced to that one song so many times he could practically do the routine without glancing at the arrows that kept sliding all over the screen, indicating where to place his feet.

Not half a minute later, the melody faded and the characters of the game came back to the front, the blue rock star hopping with a wide grin on his face, holding a crown over his head, while on the other screen the green punk hunched like the loser he was.

Lloyd leaned on the bars that served as limits for the stage. "Damn it, Jay!" He struggled to breathe, wiping a hand over his sweaty forehead. "You said that one was easy!"

"It is," Jay smiled looking at his friend. He then pointed at the game, the bottom of the screen still displaying the song's name and its level of difficulty. "It's only three stars."

"Three!" Lloyd chuckled, regretting the unconscious action the next second as his lungs weren't quite ready yet to spend valuable air like that. "I can barely keep up with two! Dunno how can you even do all those cool spins and jumps while you're hitting the damn panels." As if to prove a point, Lloyd glared down at the colored arrows beneath his feet, he kicked the nearest one with a groan.

Jay laughed, he was about to reply when another one of his friends called him.

"Focus, freckles, or you're going to run out of time."

Jay barely saw Kai as the boy spoke to him. He quickly approached the buttons of the machine. The record list flashing on the screen with a silly winner tune, the slot at the top blinking, waiting to be filled with three letters. Jay punched the buttons and typed in his name —more like re-typed it. He'd won on this specific song multiple times already.

"Yay! I'm the best!" His fists rising in the air as he improvised a short victory dance.

"Of this song, yes," Zane punctuated, standing beside Kai, behind the game stages, holding Lloyd's green hoodie that the boy had taken off earlier, anticipating the intense workout.

Jay pouted in slight annoyance at the boy's remark. Zane wasn't trying to bother him, though, he was merely stating facts. Jay looked at the screen again. The general record list of the whole game popping up and saving Jays score into the system. His electric blue eyes followed it from the bottom to the top. The lowest ranks changed weekly, the titles being passed between the several rookies that gave their first try on the music game. From the middle and up, some of the names started to get familiar, Jay even remembered battling with some of those dancers —and beating them, of course. Then there were three spots at the top displaying the same three letters; J.A.Y.

He smiled proudly. He'd come a long way since his first lame try at this game. But the curve of his lips fell as his eyes reached the very first name of the list; R.O.C.

It had been there since forever, unbeatable, laughing at Jay whenever he tried to improve his score as he never quite reached the necessary amount of points to surpass that other dancer.