"I never expected to be cornered by the Blood Dragons. But I see you made it this far with your grand army to siege my castle."
Niko Tanaka raises his eagle banner, glinting in the sunlight. It raised his army's morale and stamina. Below him was the Blood Dragon's mighty armies hungry for battle, sieging his castle, Silvercastle.
The Blood Dragon's leader, Tatsuo, rides with his crimson horse. With a threatening dragon helmet, he mocks his opponent.
"You have remained resistant to defeat, however this competition will end in five minutes. If you don't want to end in humiliation, I suggest you surrender now."
Niko gazes at the horizon, a wild wind breezes his face as he smiles. Already, he could see the timer panel ticking as the siege will end with a defeat, ending the match and losing his prize money.
"My lord, the siege will end in one minute. What is your order?" One of his commanders approaches him, advising him to act now. Niko has sacrificed too much in this game of life and death. A thread is loosening, a timer is ticking. For him, for his sister, everything depended on his correct predicament.
He stares at his loyal followers. although they are nothing more than NPCs, he regarded them with respect. He lifts his chest and faces Tatsuo beyond the corners of the castle, and announces a shocking statement.
"Tatsuo, I have won."
This declaration shocks Tatsuo, as it is madness to consider an early victory since Niko hasn't made any moves. His army was confused. He was already surrounded. Tatsuo's teammates have carved glorious victories during the campaign, giving them a first spot in the scores. There was no way he could lose. But a sound of a horn paused his anger and instead, panic stirs his body as he turns his head to the wall of trees on the hills.
"Tatsuo, did you expected that my divided armies remain busy dealing with capturing settlements while I muster my defenses to protect my capital? You are mistaken. This campaign gave me a valuable lesson about you."
Tatsuo's face grows red. "Shut up. You don't know anything."
"The Blood Dragons are considered the number one player team in all of Japan. Considered to be aggressive and strategic at best, you crushed many players in the years since virtual gaming has launch worldwide. You carved a name for yourself. Everyone knows you and your teammates. Which gave me an advantage when I learn your strategies."
Niko continued. "You are an arrogant man. You mock me and my friends because we are different than you. Inferior. Weak. Poor. With just three friends, we created a strategy to defeat each and every faction that the competition brought to us. Still, you advanced quickly. But now," Niko points his finger at the approaching armies ready to clash on Tatsuo's tired armies.
"We are superior to you. We will win the prize money."
"Then we shall fight to the end, then."
Tatsuo realized he was surrounded by three of Niko's friends, controlling portions of their armies. He was confused and hesitant to attack, realizing that sieging the capital was a mistake. His dreams of winning again the competition shatters as Niko Tanaka announces to his men they will attack at once.
His valuable friends emerged from the shadows of the trees. Ichigo, the pink hair maiden, controls the infantry, all wide spread into different groups. The other was Juro, who controls the lancers, deadly agaisn't cavalry. And finally, Otomo, the aggressive cavalry commander with a horde of knights eager to charge and break enemy formation.
"You arrived on time, guys." He taps his ear as he listens his friends chatting, laughing at the cornered Tatsuo.
"I couldn't believe the Blood Dragons fail to realize our movements. That was a great gamble, Tanaka." Juro laughs.
"That's what you get from our genius Niko. He knows what he's doing, Juro. Shall we begin, then?" Ichigo swipes her hair gracefully.
"Yes, Ichigo. Proceed with the plan. Otomo, are your cavalry ready to charge? Are they equipped with Gold rank armors?"
Otomo melts from the shadows into the sunlight as the horde of horsemen arrives near the armies position. "Whenever you are, Niko. Already equipped with powerful armor and weapons."
The gates of Silvercastle opens as Niko ambushes the feared Blood Dragons. The goal of the game is simple: If the leader of the team is defeated or captured, the faction loses. Also, if a capital settlement falls, you automatically lose. This was the moment Niko was waiting for. Knowing that his enemy was agressive expanding thoughout the game, he needed to make a plausible plan to trap the leader of the Blood Dragons. It was impossible for his army to invade the enemy's capital. And knowing that Tatsuo was planning a full assault on Silvercastle, he ordered his men to spread misinformation around the roads, mimicking moves to surround settlements while Niko acted as bait for Tatsuo's grand prize. In the end, he fell for it. Spending turns while the timer for the siege ended was a grave mistake.
Otomo, Ichigo and Juro smashed the frontlines of the enemy, making poorly coordinated attacks and the sword meets the flesh of the enemy. Niko, advancing his Guard Cavalry to the field, he meets Tatsuo on the battlefield, angry at the deception he has fallen. With the armies smashing between the flanks of the Blood Dragons, they faltered and lost many of Tatsuo's teammates. With each soldier captured, points are gained on the scoreboard.
Niko raises his sword and Tatsuo clashed together. Horses with horses. Swords with swords. The battle rages on. As the flames of fatigue reaches them, their horses were killed by their own weapons, dismounting over by the meadow.
"Niko, are you alright? We can still assist you!" Juro yelled on the mic.
Niko scratches his ear. "You worry too much. Juro. I'll be alright."
Tatsuo stared each other in the orgy of battle. Niko raises his long ebony sword. Evening Star, it is called. A valuable weapon, obtained by a defeated faction, many had feared the sword for it's powerful Strength capabilites, damaging severely HP to enemies. Some say, it is an invincible sword, much like Excabilur.
"Die!" Tatsuo charges like a minotaur, raising his Dragon sword to fighting stance. With a swing, Niko blocks and pushes himself toward the grass, while he runs with speed to outflank him. Tatsuo was quick. Like a wild leopard, he pounces on Niko, swinging and hacking while Niko defended. Still, this delay of Niko's attacks is what he was counting on. Already, he could see the pressure of his friends dealing with the Blood Dragons. Little by little, Tatsuo loses ground, his friends defeated or captured and the morale of his army plummeting to the ground.
Niko pushes him to the meadow as he fall by the weight of the armor. Tatsuo, still distracted over the fact that most of his comrades has been captured or defeated, lost the will to fight. With Niko approaching him, Tatsuo clicks his tongue and, for the very first time, he threw the sword to the ground, offering surrender. Niko didin't expect for him to surrender, since he could fight him and settle the matter once and for all. A 50% chance to win if he defeats him in a duel. Yet Tatsuo bows his head, a screen pop between him and Niko.
"Do you accept Tatsuo's surrender?"
There was silence on the battlefield. He looks at his friends who worked hard each and every day, practicing with him before the competition, seeing them with pride that they were witnessing this victory. Their very own first victory.
"I accept."
A roar of applause echoed the grand coliseum of the hosted competition. Thousands of viewers cheered. Niko and his friends removed their virtual reality helmets from their heads and stood up as the announcer praised their team.
"Congratulations to The Little Eagles who conquered the undefeated Blood Dragons. Let's hear it."
Niko and his friends were overwhelmed with joy. From the opposite side of the panel, the defeated Blood Dragons lowered their heads, each of them wearing their fancy clothes and technological gadgets. Tatsuo gives Niko an evil look, swearing he will seek revenge for this humiliation. without saying anything, he retreats to the crowd.
"That was awesome, man. We did it!" Ichigo jumps, her pink hair flowing into the air.
"It's all thanks to you, guys." Niko bows his head.
"Can't you believe it? Who would have thought that Tatsuo will even surrender?" Otomo exclaims, still excited for the victory.
"He was a coward, that's what it is." Juro said.
Niko still didn't understand why Tatsuo will bow to surrender so easily. Nevertheless, the whole competition was a game, and the prize money was all he was after. Finally, with the money he will receive, he will be able to live better conditions with his little sister. He promised her that once he wins the competition, he will retire from gaming and retire. After all, the competition's reward money was 50,000,000 million dollars. Pretty enough to retire.
With the end of the tournament, the four friends received their promised money. Which they fell disappointed. They didn't receive fifty million dollars, but rather a five thousand dollars. They were tricked by the upper elitist who control the gaming industry.
"That bastard! It was him, wasn't he?" Otomo rages as he punches the wall.
Niko sighs. "Tatsuo is an elite gamer with a reputation. Japan's elite powers gambles on their favorite gaming teams,each gaining sponsors, ads, commissions. With it, they gain money and profit from those gamers who win and sponsor their companies. As for us, we gain little from small companies. As a result, the prize money will depend how much profit the companies gain from chosen gamer teams."
"That's not fair! How will I begin to financially stabilize if I don't have enough to live on good conditions? Good bye, America..." Ichigo covers her head with tears.
"We Slums are nothing to them. We don't exist. They only profit those who have potential, and money and power." Juro admits. Niko agrees with him.
Niko looks at his bank account on his Data Wrist. His dream of escaping his dark past has stopped in an instant. Perhaps it was time to look elsewhere. Look for opportunities around Tokyo, or perhaps in America. But how he will do that? He only works as a librarian, and jobs around Japan has lowered their wages, since the increasing amount of virtual reality currency has taken hold of the economy. The Yen has lost it's values.
As they stay in silence near the building, Niko taps his wrist and types a few numbers. Then, he looks at his friends.
"Guys, give me your bank account numbers. I will split apart my own prize money."
The three friends gasped, confused and shocked of Niko's offer.
"Niko, we worked hard to get this far. You earned this. We can't accept that money." Ichigo repplies, cleaning her face from the tears.
Niko smiles. "It's alright. Money is worthless to me. I want you guys take it. As thanks for winning and staying with me."
Juno grabs his shoulder. "Niko, we won't accept your money. You are our friend. You can't sacrifice yourself because of our problems. We are Slum kids. We have survived ordeals. And we will continue to do it."
Otomo nods as he smiles. Ichigo makes a cheery smile and winks at him.
Thunder boomed beyond the clouds. Trickles of rain pour down on the Little Eagles. As they swallow their disappointing day, they promised to each other again to meet up, and plan something fun. Something to put their minds at ease as they find their own paths of destiny. Niko raises his hand in farewell as he rides his bike to Shibuya, with his mind settling toward a new goal. Be with his sister and take care of her and never return to the video game industry again.