And we're right on to the very next chapter. It's always awkward to split up fight scenes into multiple segments, but I think the story would suffer if I were to condense the entire fight scene into one chapter.
Anyway, a special thank you to LightZephyr for not only reviewing the previous chapter but also for catching up to the story with your reviews. Thank you!
Disclaimer: I do not own BanG Dream! Girls Band Party.
The tournament that Moca, Ran, Tomoe, and Tsugumi were participating in was unable to provide a battlefield for all its combatants at the same time. Ran, Tomoe, and Tsugumi were amongst the lucky few, or unlucky few depending on one's perspective of the matter at hand, who could participate in their first round's fight immediately. Moca, on the other hand, was stuck waiting in the waiting room for her turn to arrive.
The one silver lining was that Moca could watch her friends fight each other from a safe distance. There were a multitude of monitors dotted around the area that showcased the fights that were currently being held. With this view, Moca watched with a smile on her face as Peace confronted Endymion.
'You've grown a lot, Tsugu,' Moca thought to herself as Peace managed to avoid the barrage of attacks from Endymion. Moca knew that Tsugumi might have reservations about fighting her friend this early in the competition so seeing the brunette give it her all was a heartwarming sight for Moca.
This feeling of pride would soon be replaced by a different kind of emotion.
"Someone caught your eye, Moon-san?" Moca asked the amber-colored avatar that was standing beside her. The other player had not said much after they had introduced themselves to Moca, but Moca was fine by this. Moca couldn't read what Moon was thinking or how Moon would react to Moca's words, so Moca was keeping her distance.
"Not necessarily, I was trying to see how Kite-san was doing. I have been playing with Kite-san for a while now so it would be a shame if they were to lose in the first round," Moon responded, and Moca voiced her agreement, "What can you tell me about Red Endymion-san, Blue Chaos-san, and Yellow Peace-san?"
"Nothing much aside from their obvious playstyles that their colors already give away," Moca decided on saying, torn between revealing her friends' weaknesses and avoiding her partner's question. Moca, therefore, decided to give a vague enough answer where she wouldn't be called out for it, and also took a chance by returning Moon's question with one of her own, "What about Kite-san? That is a metal-based avatar so their playstyle would be fairly unpredictable."
"Do not worry about Kite-san. If Kite-san and Endymion-san manage to win their first round and face us in the second, I will take responsibility in fighting Kite-san," Moon responded, and although Moca wondered whether this was a good idea or not she did not voice these doubts. A short period of silence followed where Moca and Moon watched their friends fight each other on the screen.
A silence that was destined not to last long at all.
"I am a yellow-colored avatar, and I rely on disorienting my opponents before launching close-ranged attacks," Moon began their description of their playstyle, and Moca voiced her understanding and appreciation for having this information given to her. But Moca knew that this information would come with a price, and Moon was here to collect, "Lotus-san, you are… of the rare and exclusive black color. What is the playstyle of such an avatar like, I wonder?"
"Is it really that rare?" Moca asked, trying to change the subject. In truth, Moca already knew about the rarity of her avatar's color; it was never mentioned in the game's beginner's manual. In addition, Moca hadn't seen any other black-colored avatars in the game since she had started playing with her friends. Moca had hoped to run into at least one other black-colored avatar in this tournament, but she wasn't so lucky.
"I have played this game for almost a year now and only ran into two other avatars that were based on the color black," Moon responded, and Moca nodded to herself silently, "Which means that you have a huge advantage over the other players in this tournament because your avatar is of such a rare color. Most if not all of our opponents will not know how to properly face you in battle."
"On the other hand, I have only played this game for a few weeks now. A month, at most," Moca admitted with a sheepish chuckle, feeling slightly embarrassed at her own admission. Although, Moca couldn't help but frown as she wondered this fact, why was she feeling bad? Everybody had to start somewhere, and it wasn't Moca's fault that her starting point was only a handful of weeks ago.
"It looks like Peace-san managed to use a high-level skill. Or, pardon my bluntness, a relatively high skill considering you have not played this game for that long," Moon added the last bit after a moment of hesitation, and Moca could not blame her partner for doing so. Moca knew that Moon was more experienced than she was, so a high-level skill in Moca's eyes would mean something different in Moon's eyes, "I wonder if Kite-san will be able to adapt to this competition's setting fast enough."
"Kite-san probably can. After all, weren't you the one who helped train them?" Moca asked, hoping that the indirect form of praise was enough to satisfy Moon's desire. Not even looking up to see what Moon's reaction was going to be, Moca turned her attention to the big screens. Or one specific big screen that showed footage of the fight that interested Moca the most.
As Moon had said, Peace had used one of her newest skills and it shook the battlefield. The skill that was responsible for this was one that Moca remembered helping the brunette to perfect. Tsugumi had begged Moca to help prepare her for the new event and to train her to become stronger. The result of that training was Peace Blitz, a skill that would bring forth many bolts of lightning that would cover the battlefield.
Or so it would seem.
'Peace is a yellow-colored avatar and Peace is the avatar of the Tsugu who wouldn't hurt a fly. Keep that in mind, Ran, or you'll get consumed in the illusion,' Moca thought to herself as she watched her closest friend fight some of Moca's other closest friends. Moca knew that Ran, Tomoe, and Tsugumi must be feeling bad fighting each other in the first round of the tournament. But for Moca, standing around on the sidelines watching the fight develop wasn't an easy thing to do, either.
The issue for Moca was that she had to cheer for both sides of the fight. Cheering for one side would mean hoping for the other party's defeat, and Moca was struggling to decide what she had to do.
Almost as if Moon read Moca's mind, Moon spoke again, "How difficult is it to be supporting people on both sides of the battlefield?"
"It's… not easy. Endymion, Chaos, and Peace are all good friends of mine, I don't want any of them to lose this fight," Moca explained after a moment of hesitation. Moon remained silent after this declaration, something which Moca could only assume meant that the more experienced player had nothing else to say on the matter. Moca, on the other hand, was not done talking, "But worrying about who I should cheer for is a moot point when the match was already fixed from the beginning."
"What do you mean, Lotus-san?" Moon asked, turning to face Moca's avatar as the words reached Moca's ears. It was clear that Moon was unable to follow along the line of thought of Moca's brain.
'So, Moon-san hasn't realized it yet. How interesting… a high-level player like Moon-san missed something that the great Moca-sama picked up on immediately,' Moca thought to herself with a mischievous smirk plastered on her face. A part of her was keen on explaining to her partner what Moca had meant by those words. Another part of Moca wanted to drag this secret down with her to her grave.
Letting out an audible sigh, Moca settled on a little bit of both.
"What I was trying to say is that one side of the match cannot beat the other no matter how hard they were to try."
"Lotus-chan and I have been working on this for a while now," Tsugumi said as a bolt of lightning struck the dirt a few steps to Peace's right. Tsugumi let out a muffled yelp when the blast hit the ground, but she stood her ground, "This is what I can do to protect us. I'm sorry, Endymion-chan."
Before Ran had the opportunity to react to anything that Tsugumi was saying, a large bolt of lightning struck one of the round's combatants.
The flash of light was so intense that Ran had to look away from her screen, shielding her eyes in the process. Ran had gone into this fight expecting her childhood friends to take advantage of any little opening that they could find. What Ran had not anticipated was for Tsugumi to be going this far.
Aside from the pain in her eyes, Ran had another worry on her mind: Endymion was completely defenseless. Without Ran to control her avatar's movements, Endymion would remain unmoving. And based on the way that Tsugumi used her skill to blind Ran, this was something that Tsugumi and Tomoe had planned. Something that the two of them were relying on to work to win.
"Kite-san, are you all right?" Ran asked her partner. She wasn't able to look at her computer screen and not feel the strong urge to look away yet, but what she could do was try to communicate with Kite's player. Ran was hoping that Kite had better luck avoiding being blinded by Tsugumi's move which was why Ran tried to get an answer from her partner as soon as possible, "Kite-san?"
"I am not hurt, but I cannot move," Kite responded, and Ran let out a soft sigh of relief. This relief would soon turn to a different feeling when Ran's brain fully processed what Kite was saying. Or, rather, what Kite was implying, "I cannot see anything that is happening on my screen and I cannot help you fight Peace-san if that is what you were asking. I am surprised that Chaos-san has yet to attack me again after Peace-san used that skill."
'Tomoe didn't attack?' Ran thought to herself, replaying Kite's words in her mind to try and make sense of the situation. That did not sound like the Tomoe that Ran knew and grew up with; the redhead would normally pounce at the first opportunity that she could, 'So what is she planning?'
In the time it took Ran to contemplate her friends' intentions, her computer screen was gradually returning to normal. Ran took a moment to take in her surroundings, or as much as she could, and look for any signs of her childhood friends' avatars around her. What would be waiting for Ran's eyes to take in was a horrid sight.
The last thing that Ran saw of the battlefield was an even area of desert, with no trees or mountains or any other form of obstacle to hide behind. But that was not the battlefield that Ran was finding herself in.
Red Endymion was standing in a sandy area with numerous yet shallow craters filling the surroundings. There was no other indication that these holes weren't there from before Peace's attack other than the thin whisps of smoke drifting up from several spots.
"What… just happened?" Ran muttered to herself. Peace was never standing out in the group when it came down to dealing damage so seeing what Tsugumi had done was leaving Ran speechless. Was this really the extent to which Moca had helped Tsugumi grow in their private training sessions, "What did Lotus teach Peace?"
"Endymion-san!" Kite's voice calling out to her was all that was needed for Ran to remember where she was: a fight to the death with her friends. By the time Ran had pushed away any lingering thoughts regarding Moca's teaching methods, she was no longer alone. Kite had appeared by Endymion's right side with troubling news, "I cannot locate either Chaos-san or Peace-san."
Ran was still slightly dizzy from the lightning storm that happened previously and was still trying to get her bearings. In doing so, Ran hadn't properly responded to Kite's admission, so Kite decided to open their mouth again. But the words that left their mouth next were not the ones that Ran would have expected to hear.
"This field is an illusion, please focus!" Kite exclaimed suddenly, much to Ran's surprise. An illusion? What was going on? And when was that illusion cast in the first place?
And then the answer finally hit Ran.
'Right. Tsugumi is a yellow-colored avatar,' Ran thought to herself as she wondered why it took her this long to realize. If it wasn't for Kite's words, Ran might have been wandering around in Tsugumi's illusion until Tomoe and Tsugumi decided it was time to eliminate her.
'What did Moca say we had to do if we were caught in a yellow-colored avatar's illusions again?' Ran asked herself, raking her brain to try and find the answer. But try as she might, she couldn't think of an answer. After a few moments had passed with no results to show for Ran's efforts, Ran knew that she had to take a different approach.
Ran took a few deep breaths. She had to remember what she was doing and who she was fighting. This was no time to panic; if she couldn't break the illusion that Tsugumi had placed on her, she just had to try and fight with the illusions still affecting her.
Now, what would Tomoe and Tsugumi do if they knew Ran had yet to get over the effects of the illusion?
"Chaos is not the type to sneak up behind the enemy's back," Ran replied in a calm and steady voice, trying to reassure her partner that they wouldn't have to worry about a surprise attack. Much to Ran's shock, however, she wasn't sure if she was saying that to reassure Kite or herself. Ran shook her head vigorously to rid her mind of any unnecessary thoughts before adding, "The two of them should be trying to rush us and catch us by surprise."
"When they do, I have a plan and I need you to trust me," Ran finished her sentence only to realize that she had not shared enough information with her partner. Kite did not know what Ran was planning nor how successful of a plan it would be. All that Ran could do was hope that Kite could believe in her enough to follow along with what Ran wanted to do, "When I give a signal, I need you to—."
"Endymion-san!" Kite called out, interrupting Ran. Ran looked around her to figure out what had caused Kite to stop her when Ran noticed it as well. Kite's next few words were barely necessary as Ran was ready for what would happen next, "Your left!"
Chaos and Peace were sprinting towards Endymion and Kite as fast as they could in the hopes of finishing the fight. When she saw her friends run towards her Ran was tempted to try and create some more distance between them. A close-ranged fight was not something that Ran wanted to happen, especially not one against Tomoe.
But then Ran's gaze landed on one of her skills.
'It's probably overkill to use that now, but it's my best shot. Tsugumi used a new skill that she gained before the tournament, so it is okay for me to use that as well,' Ran thought to herself, giving herself the time to contemplate her options. Unfortunately for Ran, she would quickly learn that she wouldn't have the luxury for this.
Chaos appeared out of seemingly thin air and launched a swift attack at the defenseless Endymion. And with how close Tomoe's avatar was to Ran's, Ran knew that she couldn't use most of her skills. There wouldn't be any time to activate them before Ran would have to endure Chaos' right hook.
Speaking of time, Ran only had a split second to try and react to Tomoe's assault.
"Kite-san! Jump!" Ran exclaimed before pressing the jump button herself. Ran watched as the silver-based avatar followed Ran's example before focusing her attention on her two childhood friends. What happened next could determine the result of the fight and Ran was betting everything on this.
Ran pressed the familiar key that would activate Air Bullet twice, watching Endymion silently compress the two orbs of air before firing them in front of her. Unfortunately for Ran, Air Bullet was a skill that Tomoe and Tsugumi were much too familiar with to be caught in the attack's blast.
The two bullets would end up missing their intended targets as both Chaos and Peace simply hopped over them. Even if the Air Bullets managed to hit Ran's opponents, Ran knew that the attacks would deal minimal amounts of damage.
Thankfully for Ran, she wasn't planning on relying on these attacks to deal a significant amount of damage to her opponents. Intentionally missing her first wave of attacks so she could create an opening for a second, more destructive attack was what Ran had been aiming for since the beginning.
'I am sorry, Tomoe, Tsugumi,' Ran apologized to her friends in her mind whilst hoping that her friends would forgive her for what she was about to do. After positioning herself in front of Chaos and Peace, Ran took a deep breath and pressed the new skill's associated button.
Endymion raised its right arm in the direction of Chaos and Peace. The red-colored avatar then moved the arm through the air in the pattern of an upside-down star, leaving a trail of white-yellow light in its path. Once the star shape was complete and brightly lit in front of it, Endymion pulled back its right hand and formed it into a tight fist.
"This fight is over," Ran announced to Tomoe and Tsugumi, knowing that her voice would carry over the severity of the situation. As the words left her mouth, Ran watched as a magenta-colored aura surrounded Endymion's fist.
Ran knew that one of the drawbacks of this skill was the relatively long startup time which was why she needed the opening that Air Bullet provided her. Now that Chaos and Peace were defenseless in the middle of the air, this should give her just enough time to—.
Ran's train of thoughts was interrupted by movement on the screen, prompting her to look up. Ran did so just in time, too, because the moment Ran focused her attention on the fight again was the moment when Endymion struck its right fist against the star in front of it.
The effect was immediate.
A wide, magenta-colored beam of energy shot out from the other side of the star in the direction of Chaos and Peace. Ran could almost feel the shock and fear that her friends were feeling being emanated by their in-game avatars. She would be afraid as well had she been in their shoes, Ran mulled over as her attack quickly approached its intended targets.
Neither Chaos nor Peace had the ability to even attempt to avoid the blast. They were still airborne and didn't possess a skill to move while they were falling. As a result, both Tomoe and Tsugumi were forced to watch Ran's newest attack swallow their avatars whole.
The beam of light would illuminate the battlefield for a solid few seconds before slowly dissipating and fading away. With the attack that kept Chaos and Peace in the air now gone, the two battered and damaged avatars fell to the ground in a sloppy heap.
Ran didn't need to look at the destruction her attack had caused on the battlefield to know the result of the fight. Ran didn't need to hear Kite voice their surprise and admiration to know the result of the fight. Ran didn't even need to read the words that had magically appeared in the sky.
But Ran felt a small sense of pride well up in her heart when she took the opportunity to read those words anyway.
"Winners: Red Endymion and Silver Kite"
And that is all for today! I hope you enjoyed it, please leave a review telling me what you thought, and until next time! Take care!