A Grand Zumba Contest by Marine Spirit Beasts!

Note from Mrs. Mooncat: To enter the mood, please listen one time while watching the video, then, loop this song for this chapter (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S24-y0Ij3Y) or google this BLACKPINK - 'Kill This Love'

In a clearing under the camouflage arcane arts performed by Shiro, the Glacier Mirage Fox, a merry song resounded faintly. Although the millions of spirit ice crystals could bend light and hid the sight from being seen by an aerial view, the sounds couldn't be blocked at all.

Marine animals were struggling hard, making weird moves they had never imagined they'd performed. Besides jumping jacks, the warm-ups had increased to a few complicated movements such as bicycle crunches, lunge knee hops, pistol squats, and burpees. Some were wondering, was this some kind of mysterious arts' posture which could make them stronger. But, indeed, they were tough!

Hana was covering her mouth as she tried her best to stop from giggling. She found all the animals here to be very endearing. Even the giant crocodiles and eels became somewhat charming as they try their hardest to clumsily perform the various warm-ups. She knew that even she couldn't perform those high-intensity exercises before. But now she was not so sure. Maybe she would try it later privately and send a video to Arash.

Nonetheless, she wasn't going to shame herself by trying in public. It was better just to act regal and composed, like the 'Lord' that she should be as reminded many times by her pets. So, she must act it out well on certain formal occasions.

After taking three deep breaths and calming herself, she spoke loudly, "Alright, everyone! I think you guys are already warmed up enough. We're going to continue with more steps! It's going to be a little tough for the first-timers, but let's just go slow, alright?! Most importantly, just follow the rhythm of the song. Don't worry about making mistakes. Once the teaching session is over, the Grand Zumba contest will commence!"

Loud excited roars were heard in response.

A new upbeat song was played at full volume this time, and the sweet voices of Korean ladies resounded, rapping in Hangul. Shiro started to make simple movements using his hind legs slowly while Hana instructed with the steps.

"V-position! Three times!"

"Side steps, left, 4 steps!"

"Sashay!"

"360 turns!"

"Side-step, right, 4 steps!"

"Sashay!"

"Double kicks!"

"Squat!"

"Chest pump! Make it a little sexier! Come on! Three times! Move those shoulders!" Hana shouted out the instruction with fervor as she got a little excited, looking at all the antics of the marine animals. But it was simultaneously translated by Shiro as he blushed heavily under all the white fur while performing the moves. He felt wretched inside but faithfully followed the routine as per instructed by Mom.

The marine animals were speechless, "... "

The pink dolphin whispered to the golden mahseer at her side, "That's.. rather intense, right?"

The golden mahseer blinked his eyes in speechlessness. He couldn't find the right words to describe these... activities. It was rather... ermm.. fun?

The tortoise on the pink dolphin's left added worriedly, "When compared to the 'jumping jacks' move, yes, it does. Even jumping jacks were tough, how am I going to spin 360 like that with my heavy shell?" He had thought his shell was a plus for defense. Now, he was not so sure. He was at a severe disadvantage this time! What should he do?

After sending the image to Kuro and Shiro on how to perform the simplest of routines she once learned in previous Zumba classes through the Soul Hall Domain, Hana smiled with satisfaction. Obviously, she wasn't going to make those embarrassing moves in front of these adorable animals. After all, she's already too old to dance to the K-pop beats. It would seriously harm her prestige.

"Yeah, the chorus is coming! Get ready for the next set of moves!!!"

"Let's kill this love!

Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah

Rum, pum, pum, pum, pum, pum, pum,

Let's kill this love!

Rum, pum, pum, pum, pum, pum, pum" (1)

Shiro swung his left foreleg up over his head just like when one was using one's own hand. He held it horizontally while the other foreleg was placed near to his tilting face in a grasping position, just like swinging a rifle. Following the cue of the song, he 'blasted' the imaginary rifle in style with a shake of his head.

He adjusted his body's position sideways and moved his butt in a circular motion with great flexibility in all seriousness, just like how the ladies in the moving pictures did it.

After that, he, swung his hips wide while flailing both of his forelegs upwards in a circular motion at the top of his head a few times before placing them over his hips again. Most importantly, he tried his best to maintain an obnoxious expression, just like the ones portrayed by the four ladies in strange multicolored manes.

That was damn tough! These lady humans really know their moves! Shiro grumbled in his mind after finally performed the steps he reviewed within the music video shared by Hana a few moments ago during their reviewing session. He was actually quite exemplary, considering he only saw the video twice before attempting the moves. Shiro just realized that Mom's species could really perform some truly awkward movements with only those four rigid limbs. He wondered why Mom was instead just like a sloth compared to the ones in the black treasure (2).

Shiro, you looked so sexy!!! Hana gave him a secret thumbs-up as the white fox blushed deeply again. He regretted asking Mom to make a competition to choose the mount. Others usually compete in their martial prowess, not in these.. awkward movements. He still couldn't fathom how winning this competition could benefit Mom in any way. At most, the marine animals selected would be more flexible than the rest.

The marine animals, "... " O______O

It's getting rather hot in here. Seriously, they need to complete those moves?! Some of them regretted they were born with limbs at this moment.

The next part of the song resounded, and this time it was Kuro to show his moves. Obviously, he wasn't willing to lose to his soul-brother.

"Lucky me, lucky you

Gyeolgugen geojitmal we lie

So what? So what?

Manyage naega neol jiuge

Doendamyeon so sorry

I'm not sorry

Na eotteokae nayakan nal gyeondil su eopseo

Asseo nunmureul gamchun chae, eh

Sarangui sumtongeul kkeuneoyagesseo!"

Kuro swiped his tail in a V-shape while nodding his head. He then slithered to the left suavely, made a somersault from the top, and turned sideways at 360 degrees. After that, he slithered sideways to the right, and repeated the somersault and slithered sideways to the left, before turning glamorously.

For double kicks followed by squatting, he emulated it by jumping twice and followed by just lowering his body deeply.

Hana clapped by the side and showered her doted one with words of encouragement. You did well, sweetie. That's some impressive moves!

Kuro beamed happily while he gave a challenging stare at Shiro, as the fox rolled his eyes upwards. At the moment, they were in sync with the tune, making the same kind of movements, but with different interpretations.

"Let's kill this love!

Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah

Rum, pum, pum, pum, pum, pum, pum,

Let's kill this love!

Rum, pum, pum, pum, pum, pum, pum"

The chorus came again, and this time, Kuro twisted its body midair into the shape of a rifle, making a shot while flapping his maroon wings stylishly.

He turned sideways and wriggled in a circular motion slowly following the tune, inverse to Shiro's move. While the circular motion got larger, he raised his wings high and made a circular motion in sync with Shiro as the fox flailed his forelegs.

Both of them placed their forelegs and wings at their sides in sync while nodding their heads together. Seamless teamwork!

The final marching beat resounded.

Kuro and Shiro started to move their left foreleg and wings and placed it over their head just like saluting.

The first motion was the beginning of a series of sharp chopping movements of different angles which confused the marine animals. Although it looked so complicated, the patterns were elegant, and a feast to the eyes.

Their impression of the two Lords was off the charts! Their eyes were feverish with devotion as if they have become their newest die-hard fans.

In just no time, the song finally came to an end, but since it was looped, it restarted again almost immediately!

"Ready, guys! The contest starts now! Halfway through, we will start to pull the ones who make a mistake out!" Hana announced excitedly.

...

The catchy marching beats made all the marine animals moved in synchronization faithfully. The ones who make a wrong move were quickly pulled out by an Elemental Fiend nearby. They sighed regretfully, but at the same time, was a little bit relieved. It turned out, failing didn't mean being executed or anything. They were just ushered to the side and could even lightly snack on the fishes trapped in the fish trap not too far from the clearing. It was somewhat relaxing and fun. These lowly marine spirit beasts had never taken it slow and enjoyed life like now. It felt slightly sweet, watching their own colleagues contesting each other without hurting each other while snacking on calorie-free food.

"I wish Saras could win." A prawn-like spirit beast with a shell at its back chatted with his buddy, the brown eel. Both of them were disqualified very early in the contest due to their lack of balancing their bodies. They even fell multiple times until Hana couldn't close one eye anymore.

"Why? Sure, she's lovely, but I think her movements aren't sharp enough. You see, Gramps Alpy could handle it much better even with his humongous shell." The brown eel countered back and answered objectively as he referred to the only tortoise in the group. Gramps Alpy had stayed in their underwater cave the longest, was the wisest, the most hardworking, and was considered the strongest among them. That was why he was quite popular. Until the newbie, Chomper arrived. They were indeed not close with Chomper at all, but just followed Gramps Alpy and Saras' decision. It was a kind of herd mentality where one usually followed the steps of the most popular in the group.

Nonetheless, once they were here, they realized it was the best decision ever. Even without the reward of the meaty clams, they could actually enjoy their time on land with zero danger anywhere nearby. The Lords of the area was also kind enough to provide some snacks and gave them entertainment in the form of these.. weird contest. It was just like a laid back festival.

Slowly, more and more animals were disqualified and were dragged out by the Elemental Fiends. By the third cycle of the song, the ones left were less than twelve. Their movements were sharp, as they got acclimatized with the beat and the moves. All of them had memorized the steps well. It was unlikely for any of them to make a mistake anymore.

Hana pondered deeply as she linked up to both of her pets at the same time.

We need to up the game a little. Add more moves in just like how Mommy suggest just now. The ones who become complacent and didn't observe properly will definitely not notice.

She shared with Kuro and Shiro about adding an extra step here and there; for example, added another additional flip of the head, a few additional moves while squatting, making the routine a little bit more complex than before.

Kuro and Shiro were than tasked to dance by mirroring each other; where Kuro's move predominantly started from the left, Shiro's movement started from the right.

The sudden change made most of the marine animals panicked a little. Finally, four of them made a mistake and were quickly dragged out. Slowly, more and more marine animals made some kind of errors and were disqualified, leaving only four behind. Hana purposely sent a mental order to the Elemental Fiends not to exclude anyone anymore once it reached only four contestants.

Hana let these four continued until the end of the song.

"..Kill this love (Yeah! Yeah!)

Yeah, it's sad but true

Gotta kill this love (Yeah! Yeah!)

Gotta kill, let's kill this love!"

Finally!

They already determined the top four!

The beautiful pink dolphin, Saras!

The regal golden emperor snakehead, Mata!

A surprise within the crowd, the introvert giant blue crocodile, Kolo!

And finally, the star of the event, the giant tortoise, Gramps Alpy! Although in the beginning, the old tortoise's movement was somewhat rigid and clumsy, at this moment, he definitely scored the highest! He even did a modified head-spinning, aka tortoise style using his shell. What a sight to behold! Hana was extremely impressed!

...

Authors' Note:

1) This is a song known as "Kill This Love" by BlackPink, a K-pop group. Quite popular, we might add. Maybe it didn't reach readers from the west-side. But yeah, it's very catchy and used heavily in aerobics and zumba sessions over here.

2) Black treasure = Hana's smartphone is referred to as a 'rectangular black treasure' by her two pets due to how Hana treasured it so much.