"Ugh..."
The first thing Dachii noticed when he woke up was the darkness of the room he was in. He looked around to find a set of bars in front of him, and a pair of handcuffs keeping him attached to a metal bed.
"Don't try using your powers. Do it, and you get teleported into MY dungeon. And you don't want to go there, human."
Dachii immediately turned his attention to Kamenashi, who was looking at him with a disgusted expression on his face. There was a faint light in the background, showing a desk and TV.
"What is this? Why am *I* here?"
Kamenashi got closer to the bars, sizing Dachii up. "You attacked Fujii, you caused massive damage on the battlefield, and your interference allowed the dwarves and their Prince to escape. Shall I GO ON?"
"Well....?"
"And you're here because you BROKE INTO our last prison, so now we must use a backup."
"Oh. Can I go home?"
"No. Now wait here, human, while we figure out what to do with you."
As Kamenashi left, Dachii watched the TV, which showed Fujii and the other squads receiving praise for driving the dwarves away from the Forest.
"Wow, even Marachii's there. Seems like he doesn't wanna be, though."
After half an hour, Kamenashi returned with Yonemura, who walked up to the bars and studied Dachii.
"Well, well. Well. Seems you have a rare Element, just like your brother."
"Which is...?"
"Your various physical enhancements. Your gray glow. The suction ability you used."
"Wait a sec..."
Yonemura's eyes glinted in the soft light. "Yes. Your Element, is GRAVITY."
"Gravity? So I made a black hole?"
"I can't say, it's a rare power. So rare, that you're the only known holder."
"Me?"
Yonemura stood up, looking at Kamenashi. "He's something unique indeed, especially with that altered state we witnessed. Let's go discuss this with the higher-ups."
They left, and Dachii was left to stare at the TV again, which showed various Military members being welcomed with confetti.
"This sucks."
Back in the throne room, the King and Queen were in discussion with Ohashi Yakamochi and Shiroma Hachiro. Kamenashi and Yonemura walked in.
"Oh, how is the prisoner? Did you find out his power?" Queen Ayame asked, a curious look in her eye.
"Yes, it's Gravity."
The entire room went quiet. King Ayrad finally spoke.
"We've never had a Gravity user before! I didn't even believe that power still existed!"
Yakamochi put a hand under his chin. "What should we do, Your Majesties? This is dangerous, coupled with that mysterious power that the Dwarf prince used, we could be facing a new big threat."
Before anyone else could speak, the door opened again. Nakano Ryuu came through the door, breathing hard.
"Sorry to disturb, everyone, but the Asuka festival begins tomorrow!"
Queen Ayame perked up. "Oh, I didn't realize! But why are you reminding us?"
"The security detail we've assigned, I can't get in contact with them! It's like they've gone MIA!"
"What?"
As everyone digested this news, Yonemura cleared his throat. "Asuka is where the Military Squads reside, is it not?"
King Ayrad looked at him. "Yes, but what are you getting at?"
"Why don't we send one of them to monitor the festival this year? The rookies have already got their feet wet by fighting dwarves, simple security detail should not be an issue."
King Ayrad and Queen Ayame shared a look. Queen Ayame addressed him.
"Which squad do you suggest, Yonemura?"
"Squad S-1. The most practical choice."
Kamenashi's eyes widened. "What? But that boy, Dachii, you saw what he did!"
Hachiro nodded. "Yes, if we let him loose and he kills some civilians with that power, then we'll have a HUGE problem."
"That's why I said THE SQUAD. Kenshi Fujii should be adequate enough to watch him now that he is aware of his power, and this is a perfect time for him to prove if he is an asset or a liability. If deemed the latter, he can be neutralized."
Yonemura looked at the King and Queen. "What do you think, if I may ask?"
They both took a moment to respond, but King Ayrad stood up, sighing.
"I don't see why not. Gravity is an incredibly rare and unique Element. If managed wisely, it could prove invaluable. IF, it's managed wisely."
Queen Ayame also stood. "Kenshi will monitor the squad closely during all of this? I don't need our daughter being harmed, nor Dachii causing any trouble."
"Yes ma'am. I'm confident this will work out."
"Well then, inform Kenshi he is to take his team tomorrow morning to prepare for the festival. There can be no mistakes, and NO unforeseen occurrences."
"Yes, your Majesty."
As he and Kamenashi were dismissed, Kamenashi whispered to him: "I hope you know what you're doing, Yonemura."
Meanwhile, back in the cells...
Dachii was busy lying on his bed, counting numbers in his head.
"1,834...1,835...1,836...1,837..."
The door opened, and Morino and Kia burst in. "Dachii! Honey, are you okay?"
"Mom? Grandfather?"
"These little bastards locked ANOTHER one of my children up? DAD, you're gonna go up there right now, and tell them you and my kids quit!"
"Well, uh...they got him in here for acts of treason."
"I don't care! It's a surprise he didn't attack them earlier, those damn beasts!"
Morino and Kia approached the bars. "Well, Dachii! Good news! You can come out now, they'll have you do another mission to prove your loyalty!"
"AGAIN? Can't I go home?"
"Of course you can, dear," Kia replied. "Those creatures aren't gonna—-"
"Kia, let the boy do the mission. It's light patrol, Kenshi will make sure nothing happens to him, and if something does I'll step in."
"Yeah, you STEPPED in REAL well the last time, didn't you, when my son was fighting a giant dwarf and locked up for it?"
"Look, I PROMISE, okay?" He tried his best to put on a smile. "Nothing will happen."
"Yep, he's RIGHT!" Fujii stepped in the doors, a smile even brighter than Morino's. "Hey, Kia Jones! General Fujii, at your service."
Kia walked up to Fujii, a look of death in her eyes. "Kenshi Fujii, if either of my children gets hurt, locked up, or otherwise mistreated, me and you are gonna have a problem. Got it?"
She stormed out, but not before saying: "Dachii, if you need ANYTHING, call me, dear."
Fujii, Morino, and even Dachii had looks of shock on their faces. Fujii gave a nervous laugh.
"Well, THAT'S a scary woman. Anyways, Dachii, you can come on out pal, let's get you prepared for the FESTIVAL!"
"Uh, what?"
Fujii took a key out of his pocket and used it to let Dachii out. As Fujii led him away, Morino patted him on the shoulder.
"Don't worry, Dachii, you'll have fun at this event."
"Oh. Right. Bye, Grandfather."
Not too long after, Dachii was brought back to the S-1 Mansion, where Marachii was waiting for him in the living room, hugging him as soon as he came in.
"Thank goodness, they didn't execute you!"
Fujii laughed. "Yeah, they only will if he messes up again."
"WAIT, WHAT?"
Luca dropped down from the second floor. "Sup." Hikari and Akari were nowhere to be seen. Fujii began to stretch.
"Well, let's go ahead and train, boys!"
Dachii and Marachii groaned, and Luca began eating some more meat.
"Okay. Lead the way, captain."
When they got into the training room, Fujii stood in the middle of the room. Marachii looked around, seeing that the entire place was empty.
"What are we training for?"
Fujii winked at him. "You never know what you might face when out on duty. At this festival, anything could happen. A guy might go crazy and need to be subdued, a robot could malfunction and go haywire, or a MONSTER could attack."
"A monster?!"
"Yep."
"Then...what are we gonna be using to train this time? Where's the robots?"
Fujii put a hand on his blade, chuckling.
"Oh, don't worry." He drew his blade.
"You're fighting me."
"WHA—-?" Before they could even respond, Fujii rushed at Dachii, blade aiming for his neck. "Woah!"
Dachii put his arm up, but the slash still reached him, freezing his entire arm. Fujii kicked him back, and he crashed into the wall.
"Dachii!" But before Marachii could help, Fujii lifted his hand and shot an ice blast at him, knocking him into the wall and freezing him in place.
Luca drew his axes, clashing with Fujii for a few seconds, but Fujii easily increased his speed and punched Luca with a fist of ice, knocking him down.
"Haha! Looks like I win!"
"Ugh..." As all three boys slowly got up, Fujii clapped. "Well, nice try! Luca, you lasted the longest! Do you know why?"
"Nope."
"Because you can summon a weapon! So, Dachii, Marachii, we'll have to teach you weapon summoning! Cool, right?"
Dachii got up, coughing. "Man, you went for my neck."
Fujii shrugged. "Good thing your head isn't your weak point!"
"Wait...?"
"Now, try to summon a weapon. Any weapon, just formed from the raw energy is inside you. You too, Marachii."
As they both shared a look and held their hands out, they concentrated on forming something, anything, that could be considered a weapon.
All Dachii's hand did was glow gray, but nothing else happened. "Yet again, no dice."
"LOOK OUT!"
A bunch of metal tendrils came out of his hands, trashing everything in sight. As they began to attack the others around, Fujii froze him to his neck in ice.
"Sorry! Had no choice!"
"It's...fine...was...that...my...weapon...?"
"Nope. That's more of an unstable long-ranged attack. Your weapon will be more..."
He summoned his Ice Katana from his palm. "...CONTROLLED."
He threw it at a wall, letting it stick, and he summoned another one just as easily, as the first melted. "So, that's what you two need to do. Show them, Luca."
"Sure." Just like Fujii, an axe seemed to "emerge" from his palm. Luca tossed it in the air a few times, like a ball, and then it seemed to absorb right back into his hand.
Marachii and Dachii both watched in awe. "How do you do that?"
"You just, think weapon and get weapon. Not too hard."
They both groaned. Fujii clasped his hands together. "Well then, how about you guys practice some more? I'll go do...me things!"
"Wait—!"
And just like that, he zipped away. Luca summoned his axe again. "Welp. Guess we train."
Akari walked up to the door, peeping into the room. "No one told me we would train. What conspiracy is going on here?"
Dachii nervously laughed and twisted his hair. "Uh, you know, just trying to learn to summon a weapon. Nothing a girl like yourself should dirty your hands with—-"
"I want in."
2 minutes later, she was standing in front of Luca as Dachii and Marachii watched. "Okay, so what do I do?"
"Hold out your hands and think weapon."
She held out her hands, and a white energy flowed through them. As she began to focus, the energy in her arms shot out as a powerful energy blast that triggered the alarms.
"Oh. I did it wrong."
"Yes, you did."
Hikari came into the room, yelling: "Hey! I am TRYING TO SLEEP!"
Dachii narrowed his eyes. "You girls sleep early."
Luca pointed Akari to Dachii. "How about you two fight again? It should be a good chance for you both to learn how to use your weapons."
"Okay."
"Wait, dude, oh hell no—-!"
As Akari walked toward him, Dachii grabbed Marachii. "Both of us, we'll fight her!"
"WHY WOULD YOU INCLUDE ME?"
Luca laughed. "Fine, fine. Since you need it, I'll help too."
A few seconds later, Akari had them all on the ground, moaning in pain. "Well, my weapon didn't summon."
"No, but I think some back pain did."
Hikari pumped her fist in the air. "Go, Akari!"
As their training continued, night began to fall, and they agreed to call it a day. As Dachii and Akari both headed upstairs, he caught a glimpse of a human-like skull in her room.
"Uh, what's that?"
"Want to find out?"
"No not really!"
She smiled at him as she closed her door. "Well, okay. She's gonna be hard."
He went into his room.
Meanwhile, in an alley...
A Voltian woman, dressed in gold and silver, was with her young daughter, who was in a gray dress. The woman was busy trying to work her watch, which portrayed a hologram of the Asuka District.
"Look, dear, it's gonna be super fun tomorrow! Dancing, games, challenges, aren't you excited?"
"Yes! Mommy, are you going to dance?"
"Of course I am! Your mommy is the best dancer in all of Voltiana!"
"Yay!"
She gave her daughter the watch, wrapping it tight around her arm. "Here, I think you are about old enough for one! Use it responsibly!"
"I will!"
But her expression changed from excitement to confusion. "Mommy...who's that?"
The woman turned around to see a hooded young man standing in the middle of the alley, watching them. He had fair skin and brown eyes, with short black hair.
"Oh, my bad! Didn't mean to interrupt."
"You...are you a human?"
The guy rubbed his chin. "Oh, I don't know, maybe?"
As he stalked closer, a creepy smile appeared on his face. The woman immediately became defensive, beginning to glow with white sparks.
"Stay back! Leave me and my daughter alone, human, or else—-!"
Instantly, he moved like a blur, holding the woman up by her neck with only one hand. "Quiet now, we don't wanna make the child cry."
"Urgh...stop..."
"Mommy! Put her down!"
But to both of their horror, a massive, bone-like appendage emerged from his back, and it immediately stabbed the woman in the chest, killing her instantly.
"MOMMY!"
As the little girl tried to run, the guy grabbed her by the arm. "Nuh-uh, we'll have a LOT of use for you."
As the screamed, a dark and cold laugh came out of the man, echoing throughout the entire alley.
—-