Battle Plans

"Regardless of if you accept or not, we're gonna take back the number one spot either way!" The words linger in the air of Attack on Mango's living room. Silence falls over the band's four members, and their housemate. While Deena appears mildly curious, Ruby's face goes serious. The other three, however, show little reaction. "So." Ruby begins, her voice a low growl. "They want to challenge us huh?" To this, Nar offers a shrug. "It was gonna happen eventually." Juno nods in agreement, followed by Asuka posing a question. "Wonder what got them to finally do it. We've been #1 for what, almost 5 years now? You'd think they'd have challenged us sooner, right?" Ruby is stunned by how casual her bandmates are being about all this. They've just been challenged to a battle of the bands for their position at the top of Vanhoover's music charts, and they don't seem bothered at all?! Before Ruby can voice her concerns though, Juno speaks up. "Oh yeah, didn't Dragonautica sign a contract with that record label Winston Dreamglow started up recently? It was a multi-million bit contract, right?" To this, Asuka nods. "Yeah. I wouldn't be surprised if that gave them the confidence to finally challenge us. If they lost a battle of the bands, they could lose a ton of fame, but with Winston's money backing them up, it's not as big of a risk." Ruby then interjects. "Wait, so if WE accept their challenge, and lose, WE could lose our fame?" "Yup, but we'd lose all credibility, and reputation if we declined, or ignored them. They've got a good reason to challenge us, and we don't have a good reason to decline. If we do, we'll be labeled as pussies, and people will stop listening to us." Nar answers. "Such is the way of the Vanhoover music scene. Only the strong survive." Adds Juno, with a solemn nod. "So... We either accept, and risk losing our hard earned fame, or we decline, and lose it anyway?" Ruby huffs. "Yeah. Not like it's that big of a deal. It's not like much has changed since we became famous. Yeah, we own a house, and cool van now, but we honestly never though we'd get this far as a band." Asuka responds, still quite casual about everything. "So... You guys are okay with losing what you've worked so hard for?" A dejected Ruby asks, her head hung. "Everything? It's not like we're gonna lose our jobs, house, money, or anything if we lose. Yeah, we'll probably end up back to playing at seedy rock clubs again, but we're not gonna go broke. Not like we were doing anything with all our money anyways." Nar shrugs. "At least we'll have some fun before we fade into obscurity if we accept." Asuka stands from her seat at the couch, and begins to stretch. "Yeah. It does sound pretty fun, going up against Dragonautica. If we win, we'll probably keep our spot on the charts for another decade or so too." Juno also stands, nodding in agreement. "Yeah. We've sorta coasted through band stuff lately too. It'll be fun to have a challenge for once." "Agreed!" Cheers Nar, shooting up from his chair. The three then look to Ruby, who shares an uneasy look with them. Their stares pierce through her very soul, and before long, she finds herself unable to do much more than agree. "Alright. Fine." She utters a long sigh. "But if we lose, I'm going back to my old band. I don't want Winston holding that over me for the rest of my life." Ruby's tentative agreement is quickly accepted, and Nar beams a grin to the rest of the band. "Then we're in agreement. Next gig's tomorrow night. They'll be waiting for our answer then. Then, the fun begins."