[center][abbr=Primrose][img]https://i.imgur.com/4DgO1VH.png[/img][/abbr]
[color=FFC6C6]Word Count: 2042 (+3 exp)
[u]Level[/u]: [b]8[/b] - [u]Total EXP[/u]: 228/80 
[b]Location[/b]: The Under - Crypt of the NecroDancer[/color]
[color=gray]𝙱𝙿[/color] [color=gold]●[/color][color=gray]●●●●[/color][/center]
It turned out that what Tingyun had said (as relayed by Therion) about the undead being bad dancers was completely true. It was to be expected, Primrose supposed, since their limbs would be stiff and their brains would be... well, not all there depending on the undead. So it was that after a few laughably easy dance battles against the undead as a warm-up, Primrose and Nadia decided to go after bigger fish. Much bigger - as they'd be targeting the floor bosses. With Primrose leading the way for once, they walked the crypt's halls in search of one, or anyone that could point them towards one. It didn't take them very long.

They heard the music pumping well before the got to the room, spilling into the hall outside and echoing off of the stone. The large wooden doors were already thrown open, so the girls went right in. 

The inside was more dungeon than dance hall. It was all stone from floor to ceiling, the speakers built into the walls above ominous looking spikes. In each corner of the room there stood a white coffins emblazoned with crosses, and along the edges zombies, skeletons, and shades of all kinds moved to the beat. A closer look at the floor in the dim lighting showed that a checkerboard pattern of light and darker gray ran across it, and between the grooves where each brick was laid something electric buzzed. This was the [url=https://i.ibb.co/JnKfSGV/p.png]domain[/url] of the Floorboss Frankensteinway, and it was impossible to miss [url=https://i.ibb.co/qk5trzD/Bosscreen-frankensteinway.png]him.[/url]

He was a hulking monstrosity of muscles and maggots wearing a skull as a belt buckle. He stood in the room's center, idly bobbing up and down, but as if sensing a challenger he slowly turned to the newcomers in the doorway. Though his arms and legs looked human enough, from his torso a ghastly piano rose, half flesh half instrument. The keys extended up and gave Primrose the sense of teeth missing an upper jaw, and from the shiny welding that kept his entire being together some kind of green liquid oozed out.

The first thought that occurred to Primrose was that he was grotesque. The second, though, was that this couldn't be just a dance battle. Unless she was missing something, Frankensteinway looked much more suited to actual, visceral combat than dancing. She narrowed her eyes. [i]So it is like the Canopy Club. Only this time, it won't be a spellcaster I'm up against.[/i] 

Undaunted, Primrose strode farther into the room and stopped a few feet from the boss. 

[color=D34C25]"I'm here to challenge the floor boss,"[/color] she declared, earning a few surprised noises from the crowd. Frankensteinway sized up his opponent (presumably, he didn't have a face after all), heaving but otherwise still. Then he snapped his fingers, and the jazzy yet eerie piano [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHFLSfRc0lI]tune[/url] grew even louder.

There was no preamble. The giant tapped one foot and alternated shaking a shoulder. Primrose smiled, beginning with the same movement. As the beat continued she leaned toward him and shimmied, and Frankensteinway leaned back while doing the same. They traded directions, then they began to move. They circled each other while maintaining the dance, looking for all intents and purposes that they were dancing with each other rather than against. Primrose was not so fooled however, so when things changed she was ready.

The floor lit up, that checkered pattern coming to life with panels of bright green and blue joining the dark brick. The lights flickered on tempo with the music. With no overhead spotlight, the dancers were lit from below giving the affair an slightly more ominous feel. This time when it was Frankensteinway's cue to lean in, he instead took a step forward. He advanced menacingly towards Primrose, and she let him, making her own steps backwards deliberate and timely. She didn't intend to play keep away, just the thought of backing down made her irritated, but she had to see just what he would do.

Their steps pushed Primrose toward a corner, which she realized not a moment too soon. The nearest coffin rattled until a skeleton burst out from inside it. It reached its bony arms out to Primrose, but she stepped aside with a dramatic sweeping motion. At the same time Frankensteinway stomped one foot down just before charging forward in a tackle. He bulled through the skeleton, throwing bones everywhere around the room. Frankensteinway turned back around, pausing for just a moment before he resumed his dancing. 

[i]So that's how it is.[/i] Primrose swept across the dance floor away from the monster, long legs stepping in time with the music as she bent her torso around in a circular motion. Her arms here pulled close to her body, elbows up, until they unfurled like petals when she came to a stop. Her balance was thrown off when Frankensteinway immediately charged again and she had to jump out of the way. As any professional would do, she got back into the groove swiftly and without even acknowledging her mistake. [i]I suppose it's time to stop playing nice.[/i]

Flames flared to life in her hand just as the ground started to change once more. Some squares of light changed, growing brighter and brighter with each passing beat of the song. Primrose had the sense to avoid these patches of light, and was thankful that she did when the spaces erupted in a burst of lightning. It wasn't a one time thing - every few seconds glowing patterns would show on the floor, forcing Primrose to dance away. She carefully kept her movements in time with the music, feet crossing each other as she swayed over the ground. At the same time, Frankensteinway kept on his attack. The lightning didn't bother him whatsoever, and he kept up the same simple tactic: line up and charge. 

The coffins in the room began to rattle again, and a host of skeletons began to march out of them. They, too, moved in time with the music, only taking a step when the metronome dictated. They slowly started to close in on Primrose, surrounding her and starting to narrow the area she could dance in. She scoffed, more than capable of dealing with small fry like this. She spun in place, beginning to form a ring of fire. Her intent was to throw the flames out and give her more breathing room, but to her surprise neither the skeletons nor Frankensteinway stopped their approach. [i]Not afraid of fire, hm?[/i] She thought. [i]Then come and get burned.[/i]

The crowd of undead that wasn't participating, or at least the more sentient ones, grew more excited at the prospect of the spell burning their fellow undead. From the center of the floor she could make out a little of what they were saying, things like "the song's not even half over," and "done already? show her the steinway to heaven!" It was these that made her pause, her flames sputtering. She wasn't even close to finished, Frankensteinway hadn't even landed a hit. So why did they assume the battle to be over? 

The spot beneath her feet signaled the coming lightning. The bones around her tip-toed forward. The floorboss bobbed up and down on his knees and took off, hunched with his arms spread wide to snatch Primrose anyway she dodged. She killed her spell and jumped up, placing her hands on Frankensteinway's shoulders she pushed off of him to land outside the circle of skeletons after a midair twist. She landed coolly, drawing herself to a standing position with upward jerks of her shoulders that pulled her body up like a snake in motion. 

While she was in the middle of dancing, Primrose's face was always molded into an expression that rarely changed. It was meant to be beautiful, alluring, but not distracting. A small, soft smile with closed lips, her eyebrows drawn down only slightly. Now, though she still held the professional smile her eyebrows were knitted closer together as she tried to figure out what was going on. The crowd murmured amongst themselves, trying to decide if her maneuver "counted" and whether they should tell the crypt's master. One mentioned that it didn't seem like an attack, so it most likely didn't count.

The pieces fell into place as she faced down Frankensteinway and his back up bones. [i]The contract.[/i] Right, they were forbidden from fighting weren't they? While the NecroDancer held their souls, they could only dance. There was nothing physically stopping them from attack anyone else besides the fact it would breach the contract, and who knew what would happen to their souls after that? Primrose wanted to sigh. [i]So it's survive until times up, then.[/i]

This she could do, although she would have liked to retaliate with her magic she'd just have to win with her skill. So long as she could avoid being hurt to the point it threw off her dance entirely, she already knew she would win. Though Frankensteinway had a little more groove than she'd thought at first, and beneath the horrific appearance was almost cute in the way he kicked out his legs and shook his shoulders and arms as she moved, his movements were simple and repetitive. As far as dancing went, he was no match at all. And as far as fighting went? Even without attacking back she thought she stood to do pretty well.

[color=D34C25]"I see what's going on now,"[/color] Primrose said. [color=D34C25]"But if all we're going to play is keep away, I wish I'd picked a more challenging opponent."[/color]

It was still difficult to tell what if anything Frankensteinway was feeling, but after her remark the monster got a little more aggressive. With a stomp of his foot the electric patterns on the floor changed again, this time coming in much quicker waves that washed over the tiles. Immune to the lightning, Frankensteinway clapped his hands and charged. He covered the entire room in one rush, uncaring to the skeleton back up he broke along the way. Now that she knew what she had to do, Primrose evaded it all with poise - save a few seconds zap while she performed part of her Panther Dance for herself, but the pain only energized her. She could relax her steps, stick to a more simple dance that would still easily put her on top while she focused on staying out of harm's way, but it wasn't in her character to do so. Though it wasn't her best dancing, Primrose still put effort into each step she did as she danced out of Frankensteinway's range and over the arcs of electricity that surged over the ground. She did it for herself and her craft, but also because her friend was the audience. It wouldn't do to show Ms. Fortune a lame performance. 

Two minutes and fifty eight seconds later the music began to fade out. The generators around the room dimmed, the lightning effect coming to a stop. The skeletons that had spilled from the coffins jerked and slowed like their own energy was being cut off. Frankensteinway made one last ditch effort to corner Primrose, and when he charged she waited until the last moment to spin out of the way. She stopped her twirl by planting her feet and raising one arm up, the other resting against her hip. Only once the song was entirely over did she release her pose. She thought she heard a grumble coming from Frankensteinway, the monster clearly discontent with this outcome, but since the dance battle was over he didn't continue attacking. 

When she stepped off the dance floor, its lights still blinking as another song came on to fill the silence, Primrose was catching her breath with a hand on chest. It had been a lot, but nothing she couldn't handle. Her hair had been frazzled by the electricity though, so she went about fixing it as she found Nadia in the crowd and gave the girl a smile. 

[color=D34C25]"Not so bad,"[/color] she said. [i]Thankfully no wardrobe malfunctions.[/i] Primrose shook out her ponytail to start redoing it after wiping some sweat from her brow. [color=D34C25]"Now let's get you some more wins too, and we can see about meeting this [i]NecroDancer.[/i]"[/color]