The Console Wars

by BlackNoire

The CPUs are at each other's throats, but not in Celestia but in Gameinudstri. This is not done from Neptune's perspective or any CPU for that matter. A male arrives in Gamindsutri who appears to be from somewhere else. All is not as it seems as this is not from the Neptunia universe but a general gaming universe. This is a fanfic unlike any other. Rated M for violence.

137. The Duel of Swords and Debates

Chapter 137: The Duel of Swords and debates

Note: Readers please listen to Johto Rival Battle Remix v.I Theme while reading this:

I am in for the fight of my life right now as I am not just in a sword duel against the cruel Cody Gears, who threatens not just my life but the life of my nation, my history, my people, my hope, this fight is with arguments, tactics, agility and strategy. I will need all the qualities in an excellent form I can get if I am to defeat him, since while I know he won't win in the argument, since shaming people for history is absolutely wrong, my gut tells me that his swordsmanship will be his forte.

While I am skilled in all vehicles, all weapons and in battle tactics, along with platforming, swords not so much. However, that's only due to training more in guns, because guns are superior weapons and are more effective with who I deal with. Nevertheless, I still know how to use swords and he will not intimidate me, and I will find a way to defeat him, I must do so especially with all that is at stake and maintain composure and confidence, considering how far I have come, and all the obstacles I have dealt with and have gone through.

Moments before he is able to strike, I choose to try and strike only for him to block. I do this because if I go on the offensive albeit cautiously, I won't have to worry about deflecting his blow as he rushes towards me, as his running will make him quick and unpredictable. I realise that while he's the better fighter, I need to balance the offensive with not giving an opening, force him on the defensive so that he cannot strike me down and kill me.

While I may end up spending more energy than Cody in this fight, I can't see it being that much more than him, even if my experience in this nightmare will have decreased my energy greatly, not to mention make me susceptible to aches. Furthermore, he is wearing a suit of armour and so he will be hotter than me, and even hotter still if I can find a way of getting this room to be ever so hot that he will collapse of exhaustion, or at least not be able to move due to him sweating and being exhausted. This is of course if I can get there, it will be a battle for endurance, a battle for survival, I must hold out against his swings, and go on the offensive so that his swings are more deflecting mine rather than trying to strike me down.

As I find myself striking my sword in response to his sword, in places that make my arms stretch, I find that as I feared, it takes its toll on my arms due to what happened earlier with me having to hold onto the rungs towards the chopper. This concerns me greatly as this exhaustion can slow me down, and distract me, and I worry that I could end up being wounded or worse being killed.

Oddly enough, after a few strikes, our swords clash and we push each other's away with our own, where he tries to intimidate me with the way he holds his sword, while I hold my sword close to my chest as if I am holding a bat ready to strike an incoming ball, he then talks to me. Interesting how this is like a samurai fight in the movies where both of them would trade blows for a while, before pausing with possibly some dialogue.

He then speaks to me in the same tone he did to my fellow Britannians. I cannot see his face but I sense that he's so smug.

"Look at you, you thinking that you can defeat me, a master samurai in a sword fight. I can see your aches, your exhaustion, it will only be a matter of time before you bleed and I will kill you. Just as I will kill your sisters if they are not already dead, along with the entire absolute monarchy and the people who represent the current parliament which is clearly ceremonial and have no real power. You are wrong to resist, you are postponing the inevitable, and you and your people will pay for what your absolute monarchy has done. " Cody Gears says to me with much arrogance in his voice.

I know just what to say to that, and it pleases me that as I fight him and hear him speak, my knowledge of the history of this nation and of others, all of it comes crawling back despite my amnesia, and it won't be very long at all, before I know of the history needed to demolish his arguments.

"I don't think I can defeat you in a sword fight, I know I can defeat you and I will defeat you. And look at you, thinking that you can defeat me in this debate when I know too well of your history as I know of mine, and oh boy oh boy are you delusional. Britannia doesn't have an absolute monarchy, in fact it never ever had an absolute monarchy, and not once in the history of this land was there an absolute monarchy, not compared with other nations. And your nation is included as one of them." I respond to him with confidence, calling him out on his nonsense.

While I talk, I with as much subtlety as possible signal the two Britannians to find a way of heating the room, hoping that it will eventually get warmer, and that eventually the warmth will take a toll on him. After the exchange of words I don't ache as much, but I worry that it will again, and I can only hope that with it probably being several clashes with our swords, I can manage this. I do wish I had more bullets and guns, because then I can kill him quickly.

Then again considering his armour, would the bullets have harmed him? In fact would it be allowed since he is one of the bosses I must kill, and sometimes in situations like this, bosses can only be killed by certain means and in a way that is a challenge. This is indeed a challenge, as while I know I need to keep going so that he will get hot, how can I kill him? Well I can't think about that right now, I'll have to think when I am in a batter position, who knows maybe during the fight it might come to me. I really hope it does, it has to for all that's at stake.

He then tries to strike me which I barely block, and after this we clash swords about several times at a fairly quick speed, as I hope to buy whatever time I can to get him hot. The thing is though, a few times during this clash he almost struck me down, concerning me deeply as it was almost, and I fear at this rate it's only a matter of time, before he does get lucky and hits me or worse, kills me.

After a few more blows I find myself in a position where both blades are touching each other, with the pair of us using them to push the other's sword out of the way, and this proving to be a complete struggle, especially as my arms ache some more while I do this, not to mention me getting warmer.

"You see you claim you know you can, but it's clear who's winning here. Funny isn't it it's just like you once ruled a third of the world, and now you will be ruled yourselves. It's Karma, isn't it and it's so sad how you react this way, being against it instead of accepting guilt and acknowledging your punishment." Cody Gears says to me with much smugness.

"It's not about who dominates the majority of the match, but who wins at the end. And as for ruling a fraction of the world? What's your point? It was a game of empires with people from all over the world becoming empires as big as possible. In the places before our rule there was much fighting and conquest, and there have been numerous attempts to conquer us, and make us part of their empires. In fact at the beginning of our history we have been a part of a few empires, and do you not think that to keep ourselves free and to survive as a people, in fact to help keep as much of the continent we are in as free as possible; we would have needed to expand?

Honestly, to be the empire that would rule a significant fraction of the world, to be the biggest empire ever, and for it to circumnavigate the world is an achievement to me, especially since there are people who admired the empires of ancient times. Furthermore there is the irony that it was not planned at all, it was just a sequence of events and circumstances that led to it. You prove your hypocrisy once again, as your nation once had an empire, and that your arguments are a joke as big does not necessarily mean evil despite what fiction likes it to be, and it is crystal clear that your empire was a lot worse than my nation's empire." I respond to him knowing that I am correct in what I say, as more information that I knew before comes back to me.

He doesn't respond to me and instead he withdraws his sword and tries to strike me down. Interesting when he can't respond to my point, he tries to use his might to prove he is right. Once again we clash with our swords several times with much aggression, and they were held in different places trying to outwit the other, as I come up with strategies to keep him at bay. At one point I thought that he cut me in my arm but it turns out he just missed by an inch. I sense he knows this and then boasts to me once again, as he can clearly see me getting exhausted and aching from the pain I'm already in, and though it's getting warmer, it doesn't seem to be working. Then again I just need to give it more time.

"It looks like your luck is running out, I almost cut you, you are becoming exhausted. It's only fitting that when I kill you, I will be one step closer to ruling this land, and it's only fitting that I will call this land justice, as this is where it will be served against the people who would conquer and rule my land and have the gall to call it Area 11." The moron in armour says to me.

"We'll have to see whether it makes a difference in this fight. As for ruling your nation, what are you on about? We Britannians never ruled your land in the same way that you say, in fact the closest was our cousins to the west, and even then it was a mere temporary occupation, which would actually help your land out.

The occupation was to protect you from a communist empire, who tried to conquer you previously. If they had succeeded, there wouldn't be the significant chunk of consoles that come from your nation, your culture would be suppressed, and for starters your stupid anime wouldn't even be a thing as there would be no anime.

Furthermore, countless numbers of your people would be killed if not everyone, and there would be no freedom or prosperity, and everyone would be poor if there were to be any survivors. Is that what you prefer as opposed to the infrastructure and ideas provided by the occupation, that would lead to your population increasing, you becoming free, rich and prosperous and to have new things added to your culture, that is admired throughout the world, like your skyscrapers, gameshows, businesses, manga and bullet trains?

You moan about a temporary occupation and lie about who did it and how it went, why do you think it happened? Has it not occurred to you that in reality your empire tried to conquer my empire, and would without warning attack both us and our allies when war should be declared?" I respond to him with passion and rage, pleased that whenever he mentions his pathetic arguments, my knowledge of that point quickly comes back so that I can respond to it and destroy it.

I think you readers know how he responded to that, instead he tried to let his sword do the talking, which I have to admit is a better talker than him, but I have to keep going as the amount of close shaves gets bigger, and I wouldn't be surprised if I end up with significant wounds that will require medical attention at least, especially as my body is struggling more and more to keep up with his strikes as it aches, tires and heats up, trying to buy time so that I can eventually take the advantage.

It gets to a point where I find he's moving his sword quicker than me and it's becoming a struggle for me to keep up.

"No skills, no hope, and what's more no democracy in what you call a nation. But rest assured there will be no Britannia shortly, not with all the close shaves you're getting. It's only a matter of time before I will hit you, and it will only be a matter of time before I will kill you." The moronic samurai tries to boast to me.

Oddly enough what he says, along with my desire to rebut him and destroy him, is what fuels my adrenaline as now I feel able even if it may be a short while, to move my sword quicker, and it's this sudden surge that catches him off guard. However all it does is that he's on the defensive, as I am repeatedly striking his sword, while at the same time trying to distance myself from him as much as possible so it will be harder for him to counter hit me.

"Really? Really? Really? What are you on about again? If that's the case then why are you on the defensive right now? I think you'll find that democracy is an excellent concept that doesn't appear everywhere overnight, and once again I have to correct you on your stupid nonsense.

Our parliamentary democracy is the oldest continuing democracy on the planet, and while fair enough not everyone would be able to vote from the first day, overtime more and more of the population would. As a matter of fact different places ruled by us would get increased democratic representation, with even our neighbouring island having members of parliament in our parliament. Not to mention that by the time we would leave, many places, most places, would get functioning democracies, and are considered free places. In fact the exceptions would be places that simply didn't get sufficient time to be ruled by the Britannians.

What other empires had democracies in them in the same way as the Britannians? Furthermore you talk about us not having democracies, are you even aware that we've had democracy sooner than you by at least two centuries, and had people voting in elections in different places sooner than you? In fact a bigger portion of our empire would have elections compared to your empire with you only managing to get elections in one country you ruled, just one.

Not only that while my empire was on the side of democracy fighting against tyranny, genocide and totalitarianism, yours and I stress again your nation, had an empire of its own and were on the side of authoritarianism, fascism and your emperor had significant involvement in the war, and yet where is his accountability?" I respond to him, sensing that it will take time for him to respond to me judging from his breathing of frustration.

It's getting hotter now in the room, but there still doesn't appear to be any effects on my enemy concerning this battle, and worse still I am getting more exhausted because of the pain and heat, and the strain on the brain and reflexes, as we continue to fight and exchange blows. Worse still though, is that he manages to cut me…. Luckily after a quick check it's only a scratch, but this frustrates me as it's difficult to cut him with him deflecting my blows, but then again would his armour negate that? It will be hard as the cuts will lead to more pain as I fight him, and I worry that even this time buying appears to not be working.

It's only when he notices my cut does he actually stop trying to get me and we both pause with our swords in hands, like traditional samurai would in a duel.

"I told you I would cut you. You are 2nd class compared to me when it comes to sword duels. In fact I am confident that you'll be 2nd class compared to most warriors of my nation. It's only fitting considering the amount of people who were called numbers after the area, and considered 2nd class citizens by your empire." Cody Gears says to me smirking, smug that he's finally managed to cut me.

He may have done, but again it's going to take more than that before he can defeat me.

"It was only a scratch and you're going to have to do a lot better than that. The idea of a hierarchy is hardly unique to Britannians, and has been the idea long before the empire of the Britannians came into being. In fact that was done to help society to run, as different skills were needed, while at the same time the number of them with the skills, and the difference that the individual makes to society is different. It's done that way otherwise there would be no civilizations, just tribes fighting each other, which would have resulted in deaths way more frequent than in civilizations.

While there would be people at the bottom rung who were treated with contempt, that's due to the contributions each individual would do, or the culture, or the actions, or potential actions of them, as far as those on the higher rungs are concerned, and it can happen the other way again due to the actions or the culture of them. In fact did it always happen or was there at least some mutual respect?

Do I think that contempt is right? Of course not they are still people, but the difference between me and you is that I focus on today's problems, not problems that no longer exist. I understand why those things happened, and be pleased and be half full that humanity learns from its mistakes and improves. Are you not doing the same thing yourself right now, to us we are 2nd class citizens to be killed, to not be proud of who we are, to pay up? All because of how we may have treated different peoples in our empire, and yet what about the way you lot treated others during your empire, with all of your atrocities and what not?

We on the other hand would abolish slavery, the most bottom rung of society, abolish infanticide so that even if the baby is not wanted they still have a right to exist, abolished sacrifice so that people don't have to die through no fault of their own. We would contribute massively, the most, to human rights that are considered vital today, as we would provide along with philosophers concerning this, the magna carta leading to habeas corpus, the bill of rights, a continuation of this, and the common law which culminated over our history, the best system that values the individual, laws that applied to everyone regardless of who they are, this would spread across the empire, and the people that were ruled given access to vital infrastructure like healthcare, education, benefits of transportation and industry, giving increasing numbers of people a hand up.

Thanks to our values of liberty and tolerance that would develop over time, there are Britannians who cared about different people, and who wanted to make things better for them. If Britannians treated its subjects with such horror and contempt like you make out, why would there be all those soldiers throughout our empire who fought for us in two world wars? Why would they not just visit us but become citizens to this nation, this nation which you wish to destroy? That's more than can be said for your empire, who treated it's people a whole lot worse than us, us who compared to the alternatives at the time along with our predecessors, treated the people overall the best." I say to him which much pride, almost forgetting the fatigue from this fight, and the cut on my arm.

This angers him which pleases me very much, as hopefully he won't be as sensible in his attempts to strike me down, and there'll be an opening where I like to think I can strike. Though with that said, I am quickly reminded about how I feel that his armour will be tough against my sword. I attempt at the appropriate time to do a low kick so that he'll fall down, in the off chance that I can slow him down. The trouble is that as I do the low kick, he moves away and manages to perform another cut on my arm hurting me a bit even more, adding yet more strain to my body when it's already in increasingly bad shape as it is.

"Hurt again are you? Looks like you're not going to survive this, nor is your nation. Would you still support the scientist behind the concept of survival of the fittest? After all your emperor was once named Charles, and yet you are clearly not the fittest and you won't survive this. I suppose foul creatures have to die out eventually, which is only fitting since they want certain other people to die out." Cody speaks to me in the same tone as before, and I know just what to say to that.

"Now you're going to pick a famous biologist from our country and vilify him? Regarding his theory of evolution and survival of the fittest and how he was referring to different animal species, he has a point. Different animals do well in different environments due to the different attributes that they have, be it their appearance or their body parts.

Concerning his legacy and what people took from what he said about survival of the fittest, and therefore the inspiration that some people are more useful than others in certain environments, I would like to stress that it never meant that we would actually breed out certain people so that we have more useful people. All it was was that people pointed out that different individuals contribute more to society than others, in fact we never allowed sterilization or downright killing of people that were considered useless, and it never happened in the countries that we ruled.

This is more than can be said for the main nation that we fought in the war who you sided with, and all the people they killed. We on the other hand, would do reforms for them like improving the lives of the poor, try and encourage criminals to reform and not just punish them, and help disabled people out, and this would improve over time and spread throughout our empire.

While the biologist ideas would lead to policies of lasses faire and capitalism, it's an amazing system, Noire herself uses it in Lastation and it's thanks to that, that the people are the freest, the most prosperous people there, who live in the safest and cleanest nation there. It's the best system ever as it allows the best to compete so that they can produce the best products, at the best prices so that it benefits society greatly. All the inventions of the modern world would come from this concept; they were come up with by individuals.

The system also involves limited government, allowing the people to be freer, and I've seen the changes that capitalism has done to our nation, and these ideas would spread to the empire, increasing wages, reducing taxes and allowing access to cheaper goods, and with the adoption of these ideas throughout the world, extreme poverty reduces and the definition changes, so that it means them not having things which a lot less people would have had if they were lucky ages ago such as phones, cars or internet.

Furthermore, the quality of life would improve, and if you dislike capitalism then what would you prefer socialism? A policy used by our enemy in the last war who you sided with, a policy which the lazy incompetent Neptune uses in Planeptune and advocates for here? The policy just never ever works no matter where it's tried, because it simply reduces overall wealth, because it reduces productivity, encourages laziness, and just reduces aspiration, freedom and increases suffering, starvation and tyranny under it. We've made the world a better place with our policies; we will not let you make it worse with your policies." I say to him with much passion and aggression, only for me to go on the offensive with my strikes, so that I can buy more time.

I try and strike his sword, time and time again, but then I become too tired, too hot and in too much pain, and find that I am having to step back as he swings his sword time and time again in my direction. I do this as I hope to conserve energy, hold my sword and just moving it a bit to try and block him as best as I can. This tactic doesn't last as I realise I am close to a wall, and so I switch back to trying to block his sword swings with my sword. It's not long before with our swords we try and push the other away after clashing.

"You cannot hide from me, just because I have cut you, and the next step that follows is the killing of you by me. Your death will be the start of many deaths by my forces, and it's only fitting since your empire has killed so many, that there will be massacres upon massacres against your people after what they have done to others." Cody Gears says to me, while his body language screams in confidence to me. Ill-founded confidence but confidence none the less.

"I am not hiding from you, why would I do that, when I know that I will defeat you just like I defeat all of your arguments? Including this one in which concerning massacres, what empire or nation hasn't done them in its history? And let's not forget there is the issue of context to contend with as well. I struggle to know what to make of this to be honest, when once again you try and provide a statement to suggest we're bad people who should be punished, when really the statements suits your empire a lot more, especially since your empire has killed far far more than our empire, and this is even considering the fact that your empire covered less land for less time.

Not only that but other empires in our time have killed a lot more than us, and yet we will have contributed greatly to their defeat. You really are full of hot air aren't you, I figured that this debate you wish to have would get heated, and I was getting warmer to my tactic in defeating you." I say to him laughing, laughing with glee that my plan is finally working at last.

His body language is not confident any more, in fact I can sense his frustration as he's sweating so hard, and would like to take his armour off so that he doesn't faint and continue to fight. However, he realises that he will lose his advantage of armour over me, and he'll have to rely on his skills alone which while they've been enough to cut me, it's only a few times and that will not stop me.

I feel pleased to now be winning the sword duel along with the debate, but I cannot get too cocky, for he can still kill me. The trouble is I am getting ever so hot and sweaty too and the increasing pain doesn't help me, and so I wonder if this will make a difference, and all I can try for now is to tire him out even more so, and then kill him when he's unconscious but it's seeing if I can do it.

"So you think you can defeat me with heat can you? It will not work and I can see the heat having an effect on you already. That is not honourable to try and do that, but then again you lack honour, the only Britannians who don't are those like Lelouch who has helped my people to become free." Cody Gears says to me while panting quite a lot, clearly suggesting the opposite with regards the effectiveness of my plan.

"That's rich coming from a guy in a samurai suit that appears to be impregnable. I think you'll find that our sense of fair play has significance with our courts, and how unlike us your atrocities to innocents are unbelievably horrific with the methods and the numbers, just like the enemy you supported during the war.

As for betraying us if that's what you getting at, he only exists here and in the stupid anime, when in history has there actually been treacherous Britannians in the Britannian Empire in the same level as Lelouch? The closest I know is that during that war when captured troops fought for our enemy, who were so few.

Let's not forget that despite it being clear you lost the war, your generals were happy to have all the people fight to the death like in the island battles before. Is that really good that your generals would throw your nation away rather than surrender, when we had no desire to massacre the entire population of your nation? Doesn't sound honourable to me all those innocent people dying like that, while your generals probably wouldn't even have been in the front lines with them, in fact even if you was hoping to take your enemy with you it wouldn't have worked out." I respond back acting increasingly smug now.

My nemesis clad in samurai armour didn't like that one bit, and so he charges at me with his sword in hand, ready to strike me down and yet that does not work as I manage to trip him up, which hurts him a bit. Annoyingly though it's not enough as he is able to get up again. Hmmm maybe trying to remove his armour and then hitting the exposed part, but can I do it? It's worth a try since considering the declining condition of my body right now; I'm willing to try different options.

"Once again a dirty trick, but I expected nothing less, and it matters even less for I will end you just as Lelouch ended your empire." Cody Gears says to me, his body language suggesting increased irritation with me.

Before I can speak he then charges at me and attempts to strike me down, but I block his blows as best I can, only for me to then at the opportune moment attempt to trip him up again. I do this in the hope that I can buy some more time still so that my body can recover while he is having to get up again.

It is a real battle of attrition of mind and body, along with wit as although I trip him up again, he gets up again, his body language showing defiance as he holds his sword in a defensive position, waiting for me to approach him before he strikes.

"Lelouch didn't end our empire; in fact technically we still have it since we have overseas territories that formed part of our empire. They are quite numerous and encircle the globe such that the sun doesn't set on it. Furthermore we have the commonwealth with dozens of members and most of our former empire being in it, and there are even countries in there that were never ruled by Brits. Oh I can go one better than that, there are actually significant amounts of people, in a few countries that want us to rule them again.

Sure the empire at its peak would mostly go, but it was gradual so that they can be left with infrastructure and democracy, and can prosper as best as possible when they become independent. It was intended for them to become dominions at the appropriate times so that they would have autonomy while being with us, and it was down to cost from the war, and a desire for independence which we would try and provide reforms in response.

It cannot be said that the empire was destroyed like in the anime, and the truth is the destruction applies more to the empires we fought including yours, and not only that but it's thanks to us that there's nations not empires in our world today. What else you got Cody, I want to hear it, and I want to see it. Come on." I say in response, as confidently as I can despite the exhaustion and pain I'm in.

It is then that after saying that does he come charging towards me, but I then fight back, just before his blade hits me. Not only do I dodge it, but I even manage to hit his armour a few times. It's unfortunate how it has no effect because his armour is that tough, there are only a few scratches after its hit. Just as I thought, I'll have to frustrate him then, pin him down and if possible remove part of his armour and strike the exposed part. It may not work, but it's better than no plan.

We're both exhausted after this as it's becoming a real puzzle in not just coming up with a method to defeat the other, but in applying that method, and while he's hotter than me in temperature, I am in more pain than him increasing all the more quickly, as we both think on what move to do next to try and break this stalemate. I like to think he cannot go on for much longer but how much longer can I go on for?

He suddenly, though I did sort of look out for this, tries to surge forward with his sword again after walking towards me, moving his sword to try and catch my flank. With perfect timing I manage to dodge to the side when his sword was furthest away from me, quickly strike his arm and even manage to kick his leg at the back with enough force that I force him onto one knee. I quickly strike his head repeatedly knowing that while I won't be able to kill him, the noise and rattling will with luck, give him such a head ache and with that, his ability to defeat me will be significantly difficult.

I have to stop hitting him, as I notice a sword lunging towards me, forcing me to dodge, and that was by a few millimetres, any closer and I could have suffered a large cut, or worse I could lose my arm. I retreat a bit and hold my sword defensively, while he gets up himself and he holds his sword in the same way, ready to strike.

"You fight like a thug, no grace, no honour. You fight like a mercenary, as though you're from a military corporation who incidentally would conquer lands. Just as your empire would have." The frustrated samurai says to me.

I'm pleased I'm frustrating him; it could potentially be his downfall.

"And what about you threatening unarmed people, or your soldiers killing innocents? We weren't the only empire to have corporations in the way you said. In fact they didn't last all of the time, and have helped to unite tens of millions of people, and would set up the means to provide increased representation and therefore democracy. There is also the rule of law, that no one is above the law, along with the biggest amount of railways back then, and has brought trade and reforms.

Corporations can be such a good thing, they create efficiently, and they make products in massive quantities cheaper. They also create less risk for employees, and are held to account by senior executives who are held to account by directors, and are held to account by shareholders, who often get richer as a result of investment. Your nation today has numerous corporations and they make a difference to lots of people." I respond to him with much confidence in my voice.

After I speak to him, he slowly walks towards me cautiously, clearly trying to hold back the rage which is clearly building up inside him. This pleases me as he'll be more reckless, even more so than before. I just need to deflect his blows, trip him up, and try and pin him so I can see if I can remove his armour.

Annoyingly though he just walks slowly towards me until he's close enough to try and strike me down, in which the both of us strike our swords at each other, and do this repeatedly, who tires out first, my aching muscles and pain in which who knows when they'll just give in, or his suit which I use against him, as he's getting increasingly hotter as our fight continues.

Due to the fact that neither us are prepared to give in, after several clashes we end up pushing each other's swords once again, both of us grunting, yelling as we try to push the other's sword away so we can press the advantage.

"Why can't you just be a good Britannian and die by my sword, all the other good ones are doing it? You need to set an example for all of them including the monarchy who is responsible for many deaths, as a result of members of them in the same family fighting each other, which happened a lot." Gears says while struggling to push my sword away with his own, frustrated with my refusal to fall, and no doubt my response will make him even more frustrated.

"Why can't you die by mine, it would save a lot of innocent lives? Or better still go against your culture and surrender for once, instead of throwing your life away like so many that have gone before you? As for family members of the monarchy fighting each other? That's never happened in the Britannian Empire.

Interestingly enough, your nation has had wars over succession in fact more years have been spent over that than mine, with one in particular lasting for over a century. And not only that, but there have been a lot more deaths during wars of succession in your nation's history, than mine even when taking higher population into account.

You've even had revolts later on than in Britannia. It's just like the war we've had you attack us when there was no war, act all tough and then eventually, reality hits home. What's the matter is the heat making it harder for you to fight both in argument and in sword? Why not take off your armour, and cool down?" I say to him with the intent of provoking him, making him angry which will affect his ability to fight this duel.

After I say that he pulls his sword away from mine, and with as much force as he can, swings his sword with the intention of delivering a fatal blow to me. I see this coming and I quickly dodge out of the way, tripping him up in the process as he lands on his front.

Before anything else happens, I press my foot firmly on one of his ankles. The armour will protect him from the pain, but it will prevent him from getting up, hopefully. I take a look at his armour closely to see if there's any way I can remove the lower leg part, but before I can he kicks my lower leg really hard with his free foot, knocking me onto the floor.

Ahh! That hurts like who knows what. My back really hurts after falling from it, but I cannot rest it for he would have killed me there and then. With all my strength remaining with the very thing that is hurting me the most now, I launch myself so I'm standing up, even though I feel a bit groggy as I stumble a bit, but I quickly recover and even though I'm in pain, I am still ready to fight.

I may be running out of ideas to kill him, but I refuse to give in, there must be a way. It's a bit odd for him to not strike me when I was down, but then again he could be toying with me or figured that I could trip him up.

"This is quite an unequal match, for I have hurt you and yet you've failed to hurt me. Eventually I will live and you will die, an unequal outcome, and then we will rule you and yet you will all die the next unequal outcome. Inequality for society, for the social inequality your empire has brought to all. Face it Britannian, you cannot kill me, but I can kill you." Gears boasts to me.

What rubbish he keeps coming up with. I know just what to say to that.

"Only because you are wearing armour and I am not, and yet even so I have still made you sweat, I have given you a head ache and have hurt your ankle. It is I who will live and you who will die. It is also my ideology that will live, and your ideology that will die.

As for social inequality what's wrong with that? What's wrong with different people having different amounts of wealth? Does that not bring aspiration, inspiration and an appreciation when they get what people richer than them before had? If anything it's good because while some people are richer than others, that's due to them earning it or at least them having a massive responsibility, or their predecessor did or a combination of those reasons.

How can it be bad when everyone gets richer, and it's thanks to the rich investing wealth in products so that they're cheaper or in improvements of existing products? Why do you complain about us having social inequality, when your empire had it? And not only that, had a system equivalent to feudalism for longer, whereas in my nation's case it has been gone for a few centuries before the formation of Britannia, in fact it was one of the first in the continent, and the world?

We would try to improve conditions for poorer people in the empire too, be it by education, medication, access to infrastructure and higher paid work, and thanks to the infrastructure and ideas put in place, that continues." I respond back in defiance refusing to yield to him.

Upon hearing the remark, the samurai oddly enough calmly approaches me, though that might be concealment of his rage after my argument provokes him very much. His sword is held in a position as though he was holstering the blade before he quickly swings the blade towards me, in which the only thing I can do is to jump backwards, but after swinging he then lunges the samurai sword towards my stomach. I dodge out of the way, but though I don't get stabbed at all, I still get hit on the arm, it is a cut, but it's more significant than before. Ouch.

This annoys me, that he has managed to get me so easily, as although it's a cut, what's to stop him from it being a bigger injury or worse, as this is how these sort of things tend to go? Despite this, I do my best to not show to him that I am in pain or sweating from the duel. In response to his cutting me, I swing the sword at him with aggression but with caution, forcing him to block my strikes only for me to then trip him up, only for him to get up quickly before I could do anything else to him, and he then retreats a bit.

I can hear him breathing heavily through the armour that he wears, he is clearly getting more tired and I believe that big strike and lunge has taken a significant toll on his energy levels. It is unfortunate that the same can be said for me.

"You fight like you are experimenting and yet they fail, just like all those experiments you have done to all of those innocent civilians and children, for no valid reason whatsoever, resulting in countless deaths and suffering." Gears says to me as we both encircle each other.

"Once again you come up with a load of rubbish, there are nations and empires around the world who have performed unethical experiments, and there are those who have done them to large numbers. This includes your empire with half a million innocent people experimented on and 40% of them resulting in deaths. If anything what you accuse my empire of doing actually applies to your empire right down to a T.

You mention numbers with regards what the Britannians supposedly called people they ruled, you have Neptune brainwash me and it starts with numbers, yet I know a number that is a significant part of your empire. What about a three digit number starting with 7, and ending in 1? Does it ring any bells? You should really stop talking about your empire; it's doing you absolutely no favours." I respond to Gears with the nonsense he says, with a confident smirk.

The pair of us then charges to the middle, the pair of us clashing our swords with much vigour and speed despite the fatigue and aches, and at the best moment I kick him such that he falls to the ground. Hopefully after that I can buy time and find a weakness for me to exploit. Tragically as I kick him so he falls to the ground, he swings his sword towards me, in which while I dodge it so that it doesn't hit its original target, it hits my arm and worse still, the cut is more painful than before. It makes me scream quite loudly making the samurai laugh at my expense.

I still refuse to give in, even if in these last few clashes, he has managed to injure me and injure me more and more as time goes by, at least I may have noticed a possible weakness, but I need to have the opportunity to have a proper look to see if it is a genuine one, and if it is, think of a strategy to exploit it to the best of my ability. There is still a chance that I will win this duel yet.

"I get all the laughter, you get all the pain. That is torture is it not? After all your empire used it, it used it against C.C. in attempts to kill her which were failures. I will torture every Britannian I can find, and it will be long and slow, you should thank me for not having to see it. Especially since as a patriot to this nation, you should see the torture inflicted on your own people, just as they have done it to others." Cody says to me sounding ever so smug, thinking he will win and his insane fantasies will be a reality, he is wrong of course, and I will explain it to him now.

"You don't half talk a load of nonsense, torture is only done by a small percentage of the population, and you go after Britannians over this? Yet torture was done all around the world throughout the ages, and yet we were the first to ban it in a country and it stayed banned.

We would also try to ban torture in the empire we ruled, and there would be attempts to stop it when and where it happened. Your empire on the other hand was full of it, countless victims in the hundreds of thousands suffered from your torture, all of whom innocent, and the things that have been done to them the most unbelievable horror, with removing parts of the body that are so useful, and painful executions that lasted for days. That's what your empire has done, we have never ever reached that level, and the funny thing is you have a go at what we did to your nation and yet the truth is what about what your empire has done to my people including things such as torture?

You will not torture another Britannian soul, that I promise you." I say to him with much anger, much defiance in my voice, as I hold my sword in a position that says come on, bring me all you got.

He charges towards me, swinging his blade only for me to block and we both end up trying to push the other's sword away, it is then that upon looking at his weakness again and having a good look at it, that it's a good spot to exploit him. Finally a means to get him after all this time, and what seemed like impenetrable armour, in which all I could do was to make him hot, and if I am lucky, knock him on the ground which hurts him but not enough.

I wish I could have thought of this earlier, but then again it isn't easy when I am required to not just hold off his attacks as best I can, but to respond to his points effectively, as I'm sure these responses enrages him, making it easier for me to defeat him. Then again I wonder if it's part of a boss battle in this nightmare, that certain things are required before I can kill him?

We pull our blades away and try swinging them at each other, only for us to dodge each other's strikes, and I then try and sneak past him with all the energy I have left from all the fighting, the pain and heat, so that I can trip him up, and while I manage to trip him up, he somehow manages to swing his sword such that it strikes my back hurting me really hard, and knocks me on to the ground on my front.

"Like the evil Britannian you are, you are cut down, cowardly begging for mercy despite not granting it to your victims. I will not allow you to surrender; you will die by my hand as will the others. It is only just as all Britannians are evil; in fact it's even a trope." Cody says to me in a triumphant tone.

He approaches me ready to deal to me the final blow, but despite the pain I am in, the most I have felt in this fight, along with the sweat, grunting, trying so hard to conceal it, I manage to get up before he can kill me. He stops as I hold my sword ready to strike him, knowing his weakness and quickly coming up with the best plan I have to finally kill him, and going into all my reserves so that I can pull this off, as I feel another adrenaline surge in my body. Perhaps this is the last one before I have to take it easy relatively speaking considering the circumstances.

"EVIL!? Whatever the nation's history that may have occurred, whatever the nation, no nation's people is evil, it's just a case of whatever dictators that rule over nations. Despite what the tropes may be, BRITANNIANS ARE NOT EVIL! I AM NOT, A VILLAIN! And under what metric is that the case, when any metric that concerns bad aspects are mild, when compared to other empires of the time, or the alternative.

We have defeated empires that inflicted horrific torture and deaths on countless people, defeated ideologies that caused the greatest harm, suffering and poverty, along with tyranny like fascism and communism. We have defeated dictators, spread democracy, invented the industrial revolution that would overtime lift people out of poverty, provided inventions that saved hundreds of millions of lives, provided the mother of all parliaments, a commonwealth that seeks free trade, and shares the same values as us and is growing strong, making a difference to communities throughout the world, and the common laws, the fairest of the laws, and laws which provide the best economic growth.

Furthermore we are in the top 10 of the world giving index, not to mention being one of the best when it comes to looking after animals. Unlike you I do not wish to deny you the right to be patriotic for your nation, to be proud of your history. I do not demand apologies, shame or regret, all I demand is that my people can be proud of our accomplishments, our history and not be killed for it.

If you drop your sword, and call the whole thing off, I am prepared to let you go, but if you won't and you carry on with this insanity, then you along with your idiotic ideology, along with anyone stupid enough to carry on with it will die by us, that is a promise. We merely want us all to be patriotic, but for the patriotism to not be at the expense of others, to get on and to live in peace. I will not allow your ideology, your desires, your dreams, to happen. They will die here, whether you and your soldiers join that is up to you and them." I say to him with much defiance, determination and patriotism in my voice.

"I will never yield to you, for you must yield to me, and die by my hand. The sooner the better." Cody speaks, with much anger, no doubt annoyed at my suggestion of him surrendering.

"I expected you to say that, people that support your ideology never see sense. Maybe your soldiers might be smarter than you. If you wish to carry on the duel, very well, but don't dawdle." I say to him calmly.

My gut tells me that this is it, the final fight between us here, as we clash each other's swords looking for an opening. At exactly the right moment, I manage to trip him up and was about to go for the kill with my blade, but then his blade comes towards me. I do my utmost to dodge it, but I am unsure if I have the time to do so.

I guess this is it, to have lost in the nightmare, my first loss to that nasty Neptune, and yet it was not to her but someone else from a different series. Yet while the series may be different, the principal is still the same. I didn't want to lose, not to him, or them or their ideology, as I know how it's not just wrong but it's destructive, dangerous and deadly for the people. It can encourage depression, suicide even, and then there's the loss of money, health and lives, not to mention culture and progress.

It is then that the sword reaches its target through the flesh, spelling certain death after a few moments left to live in painful agony, living with the knowledge of defeat being inflicted by the victor.