"Take your places, boys," Nakada ordered as she and Morino stepped back.
"Everyone else, give them some space. They aren't as…experienced with damage control as us Generals are."
Everyone backed up as far as the walls, leaving Kia, Dachii, Marachii, and Luca sitting in the middle.
"Try not to kill each other," Luca said, backing away himself. Kia wrapped her arms around the two.
"Morino! How can you let them fight each other?"
"Kia, it's a friendly spar! They won't get hurt! Any injuries they suffer will heal due to their powers."
"Are you SURE?"
Morino put his hands on their shoulders. "Of course! This is just to see where their progress is."
Kia reluctantly backed away. "Be careful, kids! Don't try to impress these creatures in ANY way, shape, or form!"
"Hey, lady! No one liked you guys anyway!"
"Hush!"
She stood by the wall, away from everyone else. Morino and Nakada shared a nod before backing away as well.
"Ready, kids?"
Dachii and Marachii stood face to face in front of each other, nerves evident.
"Don't kill me, okay!" Marachii exclaimed.
"You? What about me?" he replied. "With all those weird things that come out of your body, you better not kill ME!"
Mashimo walked up beside them and began to count down. "Both of you ready?"
They both nodded, reluctantly.
"3…2…1…"
Everyone in the warehouse held their breaths, anxiously waiting.
"FIGHT!"
Marachii shifted his arm into a gun and shot a massive plasma blast at Dachii.
"HEY!"
"Sorry! Overdid it!"
Dachii's body began to glow gray and he jumped over it. "Fine, how about THIS!"
He attempted to punch the ground where Marachii stood, but Marachii formed a pair of thrusters that pulled him out of the way.
"Missed!"
He formed another cannon, which shot lasers at Dachii. Dachii put his arms up, reflexively, and the lasers bounced off.
"Keep it up! A little more intensity!" Nakada called out.
Dachii looked at her. "Woman, are you crazy—-?"
But a metal tendril wrapped around his body, flinging him into the wall with a loud CRASH.
"That's it, Marachii! Push each other to your limits!" Nakada remarked.
Dachii, landing on the ground, dusted himself off. He heard a voice in his head, only saying one thing:
"Fight."
Dachii, with newfound determination in his eyes, looked up.
Marachii's tendrils went after him again, but Dachii grabbed the first one, severing it in half. He caught the next two in his arms and stomped on one to stop it from reaching him.
"Hey, this is getting too dangerous!" Kia cried out.
Another tendril shot towards Dachii, but he caught it in his MOUTH.
"Ew, Dachii!" Marachii stated.
Dachii crushed the two in his hands, before yanking the one in his mouth, pulling Marachii towards him and kicking him in the chest.
"OOF!"
Marachii went flying backward, nearly hitting the wall.
"Dude, they're really going at it!" Kai said, a look of awe and excitement on his face.
"Reckless, I tell you," Obara remarked. "Look at the property damage they're causing with their imprecise attacks."
Luca and Yuri, who were side by side, watched the fight intensely.
Marachii rubbed his shoulder. "Well, if that's how we're gonna play, then…"
He held out his arms. "Elara! Shift me!"
A light blue screen appeared on his right arm and began to speak in a female voice.
"Fighting detected. Would you like to initiate Advanced Combat mode?"
"Will it help me win?"
"Advanced Combat Mode increases attack effectiveness by 69%."
"Okay, do it!"
"Activating Advanced Combat Mode."
Immediately, a thick, metal, nanotech substance began to coat all of Marachii's body, forming armor around him. It finished off with his head, forming a mask with glowing blue eyes around it.
"Let's teach my brother a lesson."
Dachii stared blankly. "Oh shi—-"
Outside the warehouse, just a few blocks away, a young couple, Elliot and Emara, were dining in an elegant restaurant named Ayone.
"Thanks for taking me out, Elliot," Emara said, as she smiled and stuffed fish into her mouth.
"No problem. Hey, wanna check out the Tech Expo tonight? I hear they're gonna unveil some BIG technology!"
"Sure thing, babe! Afterwards, can you take me to see the sunset? It'll be a nice little place to kiss—-"
BOOM.
A boy in a military outfit went flying through the window of the restaurant, hitting the bar with a painful CRUNCH.
"What on earth?"
The boy got up, using a table to defend himself from a massive plasma blast that destroyed the table, leaving it in pieces.
"Where'd you get that upgrade?" he asked, dodging another plasma blast.
"I've got my own set of tricks!" the other boy responded, as a barrage of lasers shot out from his arm. "You aren't the only special one!"
People began running in terror, screaming. Elliot and Emara sat in shock, watching as the two boys collided fists, which caused a shockwave that knocked everyone and everything to the ground.
"That tech can't help you for long!"
"I don't need it to! Take this fist!"
Marachii's fist formed a massive metal gauntlet and he punched Dachii through the roof of the restaurant. His legs formed thrusters and he jumped after him.
Elliot and Emara got up, rapidly breathing and sweating all over.
"What was that, Elliot?" Emara asked, frantically.
"I don't know! Are we under attack?"
The manager emerged from behind the bar, holding a rifle. Nakada and Morino quickly entered the restaurant.
"Sorry, guys! Situation kind of got outta hand!" Morino stated.
"We'll control it, don't worry!" Nakada added, and she and Morino jumped after the boys.
"Were those…the Generals?" the manager asked, as he anxiously dropped his rifle.
Outside the restaurant, Dachii had jumped on top of a building, and Marachii was firing missiles at him from the ground.
"Aim needs work, BROTHER. Dachii stated, mockingly.
"Oh, you want to see aim?" Marachii replied, holding his hands together. "Elara! Maximum output!"
"Maximum output activated."
Marachii's arms combined to form one GIANT missile launcher, firing a massive missile at Dachii, which narrowly missed and blew up beside him, destroying a part of the building.
The explosion sent Dachii flying off the building and landing on top of another, smaller building. "WOAH!"
Marachii summoned thrusters in his arms and legs to jump up onto the building. Just as he did, Nakada and Morino came down the street.
"Hey, that's enough! You can stop now!" Morino called out.
"Cease this! We've seen enough of your skills—-!" Nakada began to add, but Marachii was already gone.
"Fistfight, then?" Dachii scoffed. Marachii swung at Dachii, but Dachii dodged and countered with a punch to his stomach.
"Low…blow! But not as low…as THIS!"
He used one of his tendrils to sweep Dachii's legs from under him and then used another to slam him to the ground and toss him into another building, causing immense damage to it.
Morino and Nakada chased after them, taking note of the damage.
"Maybe this wasn't a good idea!" Morino admitted.
"You're right, Sir! No time to dwell on it now, or those boys will wreck this entire city!"
In front of their eyes, Dachii and Marachii crashed into several buildings as they fought, sending people screaming out of them and triggering various alarms.
"ALERT. ALERT. DANGER DETECTED."
Luca and Kia caught up to them. "Oh…wow."
"You guys are supposed to be back at the warehouse!" Morino stated.
"Father! Stop my children, now! This is crazy!" Kia said.
Luca pointed behind them. "Yeah…and they also came as well."
Behind him, the members of Squad S-3 and S-4 were present watching the chaos unfold.
"All of you? You gotta be kidding me…" Morino groaned.
Behind them, Dachii and Marachii crashed into another building, attacking each other relentlessly.
"No combat skills, so how are you gonna win?" Dachii asked.
"Like this," Marachii replied. "Elara! Make me a better fighter!"
"Downloading combat techniques. Selected style: Karate."
"Hehe."
"Oh…great."
Marachii's body, on its own, began using karate moves to attack Dachii, who had to maneuver and dodge them.
"Damn it, what do I do?" he wondered, but a voice in his head spoke…
"Give in."
"Give in to what?"
"Give in. Let go."
Dachii took a deep breath, focusing. Seemingly, his eyes began to harden, partially turning black.
As Marachii continued to attack, Dachii began to react more effectively, countering with powerful attacks of his own.
"Blow for blow, ehh?" he remarked.
Marachii's body began to move even faster, swinging and kicking so fast the wind began to shift directions, but Dachii still managed to keep up.
"Elara! Heavy attack him!"
"Heavy attack enabled."
Marachii's body shifted into a massive truck, revving towards Dachii. It unleashed a barrage of powerful cannons from its sides.
"You wanna go heavy, then?" Dachii asked, as he jumped and clung to a wall, turning his body gray. He began to form a fist from his free hand.
"Full speed, Elara!"
The truck began to take off, driving towards Dachii, who kicked off the wall in preparation to attack Marachii.
Just as both of them came close to hitting each other…
"Ahh!"
"Huh?"
Both of them found themselves restrained by chains. Morino had his axes wrapped around them, with an unamused look on his face.
"Fight's over. Let's go back to the warehouse."
"Aww man…" Marachii said, his truck disappearing. Dachii's eyes returned to normal. "Ugh…."
Nakada looked around at the damage. "We are in for one HEAVY fine."
She turned back around to the other squad members. "Everyone, back to the warehouse!"
Once they got back to the warehouse, Kia admonished her children. "You boys could have seriously hurt or killed someone, or yourselves! No more of that!"
"Sorry, Mom…" Dachii said.
"Yeah, sorry Mother," Marachii added.
Tomoko walked up to them. "Haha! That was so cool! Let me join in next time! Let me!"
Yuri watched them from afar, along with Ka and Obara. "Dude, who knew humans could get so, destructive."
Morino slapped his head as Nakada cleared her throat. "Well, we're going to take a 10-minute break, and then we will pair you up for individual matches. No more demonstrations."
She turned her attention towards Morino. "Your grandkids are something else, indeed."
"I know, they care for each other but they can overdo it when it comes to competition."
He sighed. "Always have." he thought to himself.
6 years ago…
"I win! Again!"
A young Dachii and Marachii were playing basketball in an arcade, shooting hoops against each other. Takashi sat at a nearby table close to them, busy on his phone.
"35 to 31, my skills are TOO good. Get better, Marachii!"
"Whatever! Let's do it again, I know I'll win!"
They played again, and this time, Dachii won 34 to 28.
"You lose again. Man, you suck!"
"Fine! Play me in racing! I know I'll win!" Marachii stormed over to the nearby racing game, sitting in one of the chairs.
Dachii shrugged and sat next to him, and they started the game, going head to head.
"Look at you! In 5th!" Marachii stated, laughing.
"I'll come back, just watch!"
They finished the race, and Dachii placed fourth, while Marachii finished in first place.
"Easy win! How's it feel to lose now, sucker?"
"It's still in my favor, so don't even—-!"
"Boys, boys!" Morino called out, walking over. "No need to take it so seriously, it's just a little fun."
"We know, Grandfather…" Dachii replied.
"Yeah, we're just tryna see who's better," Marachii added.
"How about you both play something that requires teamwork? Takashi, show them that shooting game you always play!"
Takashi reluctantly got up from his phone and directed them towards a booth with two toy guns inside, and he started the game for them.
"Climb in."
They did, quickly beginning to enjoy the game. Morino put a hand on Takashi's shoulder.
"See, all three of you would make one hell of a team, wouldn't you?"
"Sure, Grandpa. I guess."
"And you, kiddo! Let's get you more social and active! You'll be fourteen soon, so no reason for such anti-social behavior!"
Takashi turned away but managed a smile. "Yeah, yeah."
Present day…
"Takashi…"
Morino shook himself out of the memory. "Alright everyone, let's get ready to begin individual sparring."
Outside of the building, footsteps could be seen approaching the back door to the warehouse. Unbeknownst to anyone, the door gently opened, and SOMEONE could be heard entering inside.
—-