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8 PM, Vanhoover Time, Channel 10, Vanhoover Tonight Entertainment Program. The show begins on an opening shot of two hosts sitting behind a desk in a relatively minimalist studio. Behind them are two large screens. Each displays the logo for one of two different bands. On the left, Attack on Mango. On the right, Dragonautica. In between the two logos, is a giant, stylized "VS" logo. After a second of pause, the host on the left perks up to speak. "Good evening Vanhoover! I'm Maple Drags!" Then, the right host speaks. "And I'm Steve!" There's a brief pause. The left host does her best to hide her sudden confusion. The right host beams a nervous smile. Sweat is already beginning to form around his brow. "Tonight, we have some of the biggest news in Vanhoover entertainment history!" Maple cheers. "For the first time in decades, Vanhoovers top two bands are going at it in a Battle of the Bands!" Adds Steve. "That's right! Just over a week ago, Vanhoover's #2 band, Dragonautica issued a challenge to the #1 band, Attack on Mango! 2 days later, Attack on Mango accepted the challenge! Tonight marks the official start of the battle, and we have live footage from the Glorian Amphitheater where it's about to kick off!" https://youtu.be/aw9IMpvWo0w?si=WynBTL27iRgRyO4n The feed cuts to a shot of a yak with the hair of an 80's metalhead, standing behind a large crowd inside of the Glorian Amphitheater. The reporter can only barely be heard over the roar of the crowd. "Hey Maple! Things are getting pretty wild in here! The crowd is electric! I don't think I've ever seen a crowd this pumped before! Except for back when A.D.R.O played their reunion show 10 years ago! We've just gotten word that the bands are getting ready to come out on stage!" As if on cue, the camera quickly pans up to the stage, where a large plume of fire shoots up in the middle. The crowd erupts into ecstatic cheers as one by one, 5 dragons emerge from the fire. First is a red dragon with wild, spiky black hair, and an outfit straight off of a barbarian from DnD. Next is a blue dragon with long, blonde hair that appears to shimmer. She wears a ripped, silver dress, which appears to have been torn at just above her hips. It only barely covers what it needs to. Next is a young white dragon. He appears to be no older than 11, and bounces around the other dragons in a hyperactive daze. Next, comes a black dragon, chained, and shackled to a dense, metal dolly. His mouth has been covered in a  thick, steel muzzle, which drips acid from the corners. Lastly, comes a green dragon wearing a nice, 3 piece suit with the sleeves ripped off. He is the one wheeling the black  dragon onto the stage. The first three dragons wave to the crowd below. Screens behind the stage show close ups of the blue, and red dragon's cocky smiles, and the white dragon's genuine, beaming excitement. The black dragon thrashes in an attempt to break free of his constraints. The green dragon scowls. He appears to search the crowd before making eye contact with the Vanhoover Tonight's camera. The camera zooms in, only to be met with a middle finger. The fire on the stage quickly dies out, and the dragons take their place on the right side of the stage. The camera zooms back out to get a shot of the stage in full. A thick fog begins to emerge from the left side of the stage. It rolls down the stage, into the crowd below, creating a faint haze. The lights on the left side of the stage are dimmed, with lights coming from underneath the stage illuminating 4 silhouettes, rising up from below. When the figures fully emerge, the lights cut on, and reveal the members of Attack on Mango, already arranged, and posed. The camera then zooms in to slowly sweep over the band. Nar stands at the front, with his fist clenched, and a large smirk across his face. Asuka stands beside him with one hand outstretched towards Dragonautica, giving them a thumbs down. Her other hand pulls at her left eye, with her tongue stuck out. Behind her stands Ruby, one hand on her hip, and the other pointing towards Dragonautica. In the back stands Juno. He appears to be happily waving to the crowd. The crowd erupts into uproarious cheers. The camera zooms out to get a shot of the two bands. Then, a voice comes over the amphitheater's speakers. "Vanhoover! Tonight marks the start of a historic event!" Then, the figure of an alicorn in a VERY shiny, sequin suit steps out onto the middle of the stage. The camera zooms in to focus on the alicorn. "Tonight marks the first time in 30 years that the top two bands in Vanhoover have gone head to head in a battle of the bands!" More cheering erupts from the crowd. "Let's not keep everyone waiting then! Allow me to go over the rules for this battle!" The camera zooms out, showing a shot of the stage in full. The screens behind the stage now show stylized graphics of sheets of paper with writing on them. "This will be a best of 5! The first band to win 3 challenges wins the battle! The challenging band will chose the first challenge, then the defending band will chose next! We'll repeat until one band has 3 wins!" The graphics on screen change to overly-stylized representations of each thing explained by the alicorn. "If both bands end up with 2 wins each, it'll go to a popularity vote, following a performance by each band! As for the challenges themselves, the rules are simple! Each banc can challenge the other to whatever challenge they see fit! Though, challenges with a high risk of serious injury, or death are not permitted! Both bands must compete with the same amount of members for each challenge! Though special exceptions may be made!" The camera then zooms in on the lead guitarist of Dragonautca, as the alicorn turns to face him. "Dragonautica! As the challengers, you get to issue the first challenge! I hope you've got something good in mind!" To this, the red dragon smirks. "Well, we COULD just start with a good old fashioned fight!" He pauses to allow the crowd to cheer, gasp, and ooh. "But where's the fun in that? We're dragons! It wouldn't be remotely fair! So! We thought long and hard about the best way to start this battle of the bands. And what better way than Vanhoover's past time? Hockey!" The camera quickly pans over to Attack on Mango. Nar has a visible glint in his eye. His response is quick, and eager. "You're on!" The camera then pans back to the alicorn. "Then it's a date folks! Next Monday!, Timberwolf Arena! Attack on Mango vs Dragonautica in a hockey match for the ages!" The cheering from the crowd reaches a fever pitch. "Tune in! This is gonna be a match you won't want to miss!" The camera zooms out one last time before the feed cuts back to the studio. Both hosts sit with bright smiles at the ready. "There you have it! 6 PM, Monday! Timberwolf Arena! Of course, if you can't go in person, we'll be broadcasting the full match live!" The left host beams, before the right host speaks up. "It's sure to be a great start to this historic battle of the bands! Don't miss it!"

"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."

Central Headquarters. By far, the largest of the E.S.E.E's HQs. Though on the outside it was no larger than the a small office building, the inside was much larger. Though Nar expected that when he noticed the Astral Highway door on the front of the building. He, and the 9 other members of the E.S.E.E's northern branch who came with him arrived at central HQ just moments ago. They'd practically stepped off of the train, and into the HQ with how close to the station the HQ was. The outside of the building was decorated like a castle. Though, a rather simple one at that. Less "Canterlot Castle", and more "Medieval Fortification." The inside however, was deceptively big. However, once one passes through the Astral Highway door at the front, they enter the HQ proper. The inside was almost like a small town packed into one warehouse sized building. There was an office space on the right, a food court on the left, a massive job board near the front, an area for seating, and dining next to the food court, and so many Astral Highway doors along the walls that Nar couldn't count them all. At the back of the main room was a stage, raised to be around 30 feet off of the ground. In front of it, was a large, open floor where all of the explorers for this operation were gathered. Nar had never seen so many E.S.E.E explorers in one place before. He knew Central was the largest branch of the organization, but it never occurred to him just how many of them there actually were. Central was by far the largest, with 63 Explorers, and 22 Staff, bringing the branch to 85 total personnel. North was the second largest, with 31 Explorers, and 8 staff, bringing it to 39 total personnel, and south was the smallest, with 9 explorers, and 1 staff member, totaling 10 personnel. From what he'd heard, Central was sending 43 personnel on this operation, while North sent 10, and South sent their 2 best explorers. As Nar and his comrades begin to mix with their Central, and Southern counterparts, a single, aging stallion walks onto the stage from an area behind it. Every person in this room knows who the man is. It's Hurrain Gust, the current President of the E.S.E.E, and descendant of the original founder, Fervent Gust. The whole floor of explorers goes silent as Hurrain's voice booms throughout the room. "Explorers! Today, we begin the largest operation in the history of our organization! 62 of you have gathered here today in order to investigate the nature of unusual occurrences which have begun appearing in the central quadrant of the Astral Highway System! Some of you have come from as far as our Northern, and Southern branches to assist us in this investigation, and for that, you have my deepest gratitude! Before I brief you all on the nature of this operation, I shall issue a warning! This operation is expected to be overwhelmingly arduous, and though we hope to avoid them, casualties are quite likely! You were made aware of the risks you would undertake when you were briefed of this operation, but I will give you all one last chance! If you do not feel you are capable of participating in this operation, or fear for your own health, and safety, you may exit the building at this time. We all understand your apprehension, and you will not be punished for doing so." Hurrain pauses for a moment. During this pause, Nar notices about 7 explorers make their way out of the HQ, 2 of which are from his branch. For a moment, Nar thinks about following them, but he stays put. He was chosen for this operation for a very good reason, and he wasn't about to let his comrades down by abandoning them. Once the 7 explorers have left, Hurrain surveys the remaining explorers, and continues. "Very well. For those of you remaining, I thank you for your courage, and dedication. Now! We have reason to suspect that a powerful, magical entity may be influencing various Astral Highways in the central quadrant! We fear that if this entity were to gain access to certain highways, it may cause untold damage to the material plane at large! Our mission for this operation is to track down this magical entity, and put a stop to it's deeds! There will be 11 teams of 5, and 4 team types! First, we will have the survey teams! Their job will be to investigate the abnormalities, and determine any means of countering them! Second, is the tracking teams! Their job will be to locate this magical entity, and update the other teams on it's whereabouts! Third will be the combat teams! They will be tasked with engaging, and eliminating the magical entity, or any hostile entities encountered during this operation! Lastly will be the Forward Team! Their job will be to explore as far, and deep into the central quadrant as possible to assess the extent of the abnormalities! You will have received a slip which informs you of your team number when you entered the building today! You may now head to your teams assigned location! You will be given 2 hours to prepare with your team. Then, we shall begin the first excursions into the Astral Highway system!" Nar looks at the slip he was given, and sees that he's been assigned to team #1, the forward team. When he arrives at the area designated for his team, he finds 3 explorers from central, and one from the south waiting for him. The group introduces themselves, starting with the central guys then moving clockwise. The first is a paladin from Central, who will be acting as the team's leader. He uses powers granted to him by a Princess of the Sun, and will be the team's primary fighter, and healer. Second is a druid, who will act as the primary investigator for the team. She's an experienced explorer who's been with central for 10 years now. Third is a Wizard, who will act as the team's advisor on all things magical. He's an aging man, but he appears more than capable of keeping up with the rest of the team. Then, there's the explorer from the south. He's a talented gunslinger, and will act as the team's rearguard. Then, there's Nar. With his modified skates, he will be acting as the team's forward scout. Which means, he has the most dangerous job in the entire operation. After spending the next 2 hours planning, Nar and his team are called up, and enter an Astral Highway door. From here on out, they'll be in the Astral Highway system until the completion of the operation.