Warm Welcome

After a long, 4 day drive, Attack on Mango has finally made it to the city of lights, Manehatten. The tour van pulls into a parking spot at a fairly well known Manehatten hotel, and the occupants all begin to pile out. As Asuka steps out of the tour van, she heaves a sigh of relief that she can finally stretch her legs. The band, and Deena meet on one side of the van to discuss plans for the rest of the day, but are stopped before any of them can get a word out. A group of 4 approaches the band from the hotel. Behind them, a camera crew appears to be filming their approach. Not just some local station either. That's an Equestria Tonight film crew. Oh shit, are they broadcasting to the whole nation right this second? Though, compared to the group approaching Attack on Mango, the camera crew isn't even an after thought. (https://youtu.be/dF6ZZe7fmYI?si=Ps6RCoJO8RwqBkso) Clad in their concert attire, Def Metal, the number one band in Equestria, approaches the band that would dare to challenge them for their spot a the top of the music charts. Attack on Mango forms a line, and Def Metal moves to match them. Def Metal stops around 10 feet from their challengers. On the left stands a gryphon in typical skater getup. Black graphic tee, checkerboard pattern jeans, skater shoes, oversized beanie, and skateboard tucked under his wing. Across from him stands Nar, an excited grin slowly forming on his face. Beside the gryphon stands a pegasus who looks straight out of 2008. Her mane is black with a single pink streak across the middle. It's long enough to cover her eyes completely, but she's swept it to one side, allowing her to see with her left eye. Her face features a nose, lip, and 2 ear piercings. Across from her, stands Asuka, a grumpy scowl on her face. Beside the pegasus stands an earth pony in what could only be described as a crude attempt at mimicking the band KISS. Across from him stands Scrappy, who is growing visibly uneasy. Finally, there stands a yak with the full metalhead getup. Long, curly hair that goes well past his shoulders, a black vest with no undershirt, black jeans, and a pair of military style black boots to match. Across from him stands Juno, stone faced. The first words to be spoken are by the yak. "You Attack on Mango?" Juno responds curtly. "Yeah." The pegasus spreads her wings in a flurry, and points one of them at Asuka. "Then you're here to challenge us for the number one spot." Nar's grin is now nearly ear to ear. "Hell yeah we are." The skater gryphon speaks next. "Then let us tell you how it's gonna go down. Here in Manehatten, we don't do all those 'challenges' you pussies in Vanhoover do. When we have a battle of the bands, we have a real battle. Mano e mano. One on one. The person across from you is your opponent." Nar can't GET any more excited! An excuse to let loose and brawl? Yes please! "Alright, then who's first?" The earth pony interjects. "We don't go all at once. Gotta keep things interesting see? We'll have one pair duke it out today, but after that..." The yak continues where the earth pony left off. "We, as the champions, can challenge you whenever, wherever. You leave the city before everyone has a go, you forfeit. We don't challenge you within a week? You win." At this, Juno, Asuka, and Nar all nod. Juno responds with "I'm game." Scrappy, however, begins to shake her head, visibly beginning to shake. "i-I'm not a fighter." The pegasus laughs. "Then you'll take an automatic loss, pussy!" Juno places a hand on Scrappy's shoulder, and gives her a reassuring smile. "Don't sweat it Scrappy. We've got this." At this point, Def Metal's agent interjects, informing the two bands of the waiver they must both sign before any fighting can take place. It essentially turns the fights into sanctioned events, in which both sides agree to not try to kill each other. After everyone, except Scrappy, and the Earth pony, signs, the Yak steps forward. "I don't like that look you've been giving me, shitbag. You and me, right now." Juno does not respond. He simply takes two steps forwards, and the yak steps to meet him. Def Metal takes a few steps back to give the two room for their bout. Behind the yak, the pegasus begins to shout cheers such as "Kick his ass!" and "Shove his stupid face into the pavement!" Juno simply looks back to his bandmates, and gets a solemn nod from Asuka, and Nar. 'Destroy him.' He gives a nod of his own in response.   (https://youtu.be/VVeQYr26ehI?si=JqDg8hCMg2lnoXaN) There is no indication of when the fight should start. The yak simply throws a left hook the moment he's within range. Juno weaves to his left, and responds with a quick right jab. His fist collides with the yak's snout, but he barely reacts. Instead, the Yak goes for a knee, which Juno quickly sprawls to defend against. He catches the knee with his hands, stopping it from colliding with his stomach. The yak's hands then come in for a grab, which Juno reacts to by pushing himself off of the yak's leg in order to narrowly avoid his grasp. The yak does not waste the movement. Instead of trying to stand back up straight, the yak charges forward, as if trying to gore Juno on his horns. Juno reacts by sidestepping, and twisting his body, like a matador escaping the charge of an angry bull. He lands a solid elbow on the yak's back, but the yak seems unfazed. He responds with a wild backhanded swing with his left hand. Juno is unable to avoid the blow, and ends up taking a fairly meaty hit to his side. He coughs slightly, then hops back a few times to get some distance. Scrappy lets out a concerned gasp. From the other line, the pegasus continues to cheer her bandmate on, while simultaneously calling Juno every vulgar insult known to Equestrian kind. The yak dips down as he goes for a leg sweep. Juno manages to jump just in time to avoid the sweep. When he lands, the yak is rising to meet him. Juno flashes his left wing out, and the yak begins to respond. Juno then ducks right, avoiding a left hook, and plants a right hook of his own into the yak's chin. That one seems to elicit a response, as the yak's head jolts to his right, and he stumbles backwards a few steps. The yak lets out a frustrated growl, then quickly lunges forwards with a left haymaker. Juno brings his right arm up to deflect the swing. The impact is so powerful that Juno feels as though his arm may have almost broken. Regardless, he responds with a left jab to the yak's sternum. The yak grunts, and throws a quick right kick. It connects with the side of Juno's left knee, causing him to momentarily crumple to that side. The yak goes to capitalize with an overhead swing from his left. That's when Juno pops up with a left uppercut that catches him in his jaw. The yak stumbles back once more, then... He topples backwards. The pegasus, and earth pony quickly catch their bandmate before he hits the pavement. He tries to rise again, but is unable. At this, Def Metal's agent steps in to call the match. With the yak unable to continue, Juno is declared the winner. He simply turns around, and is met with a grin, and a nod from Asuka, and a fist raised towards him from Nar. Juno bumps Nar's fist, and then moves back to his position in the line, now with a somewhat noticeable limp. "You won the first round." The pegasus growls, as she helps the yak to his feet. "But there's still two more to go." The earth pony adds. "Watch your backs." Ends the gryphon, as he slides a talon across his neck. The four then turn to leave, as a reporter begins to comment on everything that just happened to the camera crew behind them. Attack on Mango stands in silence as they watch their rivals slink away into the streets of Manehatten. This silence is only broken when Asuka lets out a frustrated sigh. "Can we check in now? I'm STARVING."