This Isn't Your World

Chapter 3

Following the Kikita incident, Daun, Air and Api had taken up the liberty to search the city for her green tracks. However, this search proved to be futile as their trail was led to a dead end. Angin trained for his final match on the breakdancing tournament, and everything fell back to normal after a week.

Air drove Api and Daun to the tournament, where it was held at the same place at the swordsfighting tournament three years ago. The memory of Petir getting impaled was still fresh in their minds.

Now they were sitting here once again, the remnant of the seat that Tanah had once destroyed worn out and had yet to be replaced.

"I'm so excited for Angin!" Daun cheered. "He'll win for sure! He's worked so hard for this. He has to win!"

Air nodded in agreement. They had seen his improvement over the years, excluding the occasional accidental slaps that Angin gave them when his hand movements were messed up.

The tournament's lights died down, leaving only the spotlights on the catwalk-like stage present. It was like a corridor, with doors at each end. It was something like a boxing match but for dancing.

"Are you ready, folks?" The commentator shoved as much enthusiasm as he could into his tone. "Today is the finals of the international breakdancing tournament! Please give it up for our familiar contestant, Angin!"

The crowd cheered wildly as rock music played and a door slid open. Girls waved banners featuring Angin's face. Guys whistled and banged their heads to the beat. Angin stepped out of the door, shrouded in smoke as blue and yellow lights shown his path, driving the crowd insane.

He beamed and waved hello to his fans, before walking to the centre of the stage. A semi-sphere raised at the centre, which had neon lights embedded into the ground. It flared ocean blue, signalling Angin's colour.

Striding towards his designated spot with confidence, the crowd fell silent as they awaited Angin's challenger to appear.

"This challenger has appeared quite abruptly!" The commentator announced. "We hadn't anticipated this, so the lightings won't be pla—"

The lights all pointed towards the unopened door, silencing the commentator. Lightning flared like a professional concert, featuring red and gold as its colour. The metal door slid open with a hiss, and neon bursts of illumination followed her path.

The podium rose from the opposite of the semi-sphere, completing the round stage at the very centre. It glowed red, and it was the opposite of Angin's serene shade.

Angin's eyes widened. He stared at the challenger as if he'd seen a ghost.

Petir stopped in her tracks, standing at the opposite of him to complete the starting phase.

"Looks like you've made it," she said emotionlessly, cocking her head ever so slightly. The crowd went absolutely crazy, screaming and shrieking at the previous champion's sudden return.

* * *

Api, Air and Daun couldn't believe their eyes. Air was tempted to scream, but she didn't.

"She's awake?" Api blubbered. "She's awake! Since when?"

Air swore she had her jaw hung open.

As the contest escalated, Angin had no choice but to compete. This was what he was always training for. He'd promised himself and Daun to win, so that's what he's going to do. It was a freestyle challenge, so they would have to do an impromptu breakdance from random songs. As challenging as it was, Angin loved it.

But seeing Petir here... alive, had startled him. How can he beat her? She wasn't a champion for four years in a row for nothing. If she hadn't underwent a coma—which she miraculously woke from—she would still be reigning as the eternal queen of breakdance and combat.

"How are you awake?" Angin demanded.

Petir didn't answer him. Her eyes were on somewhere else. He followed her gaze to the back of the tunnel to where she had come from, and could only make out a flash of gold before it disappeared.

"Contestant Angin, start dancing!" The commentator yelled.

A familiar beat of a tune rung in Angin's ears. His body moved on its own, moving like no one's business. Closing his eyes, he soon forgot the fact that Petir was standing next to him, breathing and awake; he forgot all the pain and anguish he was put through to stand here today.

With every movement, it was like he was pushing his sadness and pain away from him. He might enjoy any form of surfing and skating, but breakdancing had given him another level of serenity. It was something only the highest levels of creators, musicians and dancers could communicate through. There would be no words exchanged, only their works.

He is going to win this. No matter how good Petir might be, he'll give it is all. He'll win this for Daun. For Api. For Air. For himself.

The song started, and Angin was on his two feet again, his back soaked in sweat.

He saw Petir looking at him, eyes cold and calculative. She was shorter than Angin before, and she is now. She hasn't grown one bit, and Daun was taller than her after three years. That will not go well for her self-esteem.

It was Petir's turn. Her eyes were closed as well, and her body acted as if it was the music and the music was it. Her body was way more flexible than his, and her every movement precisely calculated and graceful. This was when Angin realized that he was totally out of her league. Petir was an entire new level of grace and deathliness.

Petir dropped herself to the ground and spun her body with only one hand on the floor, which earned raucous cheers. Angin noticed that she was wearing arm guards on her wrists like she usually does, but the one on her right wasn't what she had sported back then. They were fingerless guards that went up to her elbow, but it was only her right hand. Her left hand only had one regular wrist guard.

He frowned. That's where the experiment had been focused on to extract Halilintar. He remembered her right arm with glowing red veins back then.

How did she wake up?

The music stopped as Petir finished her dance number. The entire stadium screeched and all chanted Petir's name.

"The international champion is..." The commentator checked the judges' scores. "Petir! For her fifth active year!"

* * *

Petir disappeared as soon as the results were announced. Angin didn't even notice her departure. He just stared at the ground, in disbelief of the results. He didn't even realize that the place was clearing until his sister and his friends came up to him.

"Was it really her?" Air asked, pale.

Angin nodded weakly. It was as if all the energy had been sucked out of him.

He'd worked so hard... for what? He still lost. There was no way he can be as godly as Petir would be.

"This can't be," Api muttered, sliding into the car. "We only checked up on her last week. We didn't even get a notice from the hospital."

"If you remember clearly, Petir hates hospitals," Daun pointed out. "Maybe she woke up and snuck out."

"And the first thing she does is shove herself in a breakdancing tournament?" Air shook her head, revving up the engine. "This makes no sense."

Angin spectated as the rest of his family debate about Petir's sudden appearance and their plan of search and rescue.

All this work for nothing.

* * *

A white-haired late-teen stared at the television in an American bad, wide-eyed as he choked on the alcohol that he had attempted to consume in peace. The sudden arrival of the previous champion had startled his senses to another level.

Recognizing the faces, Tanah cursed at the barista and ran towards his apartment, red eyes glaring into the dark night.