In the nation of Voltiana…
Luca and Saori were in the living room of the S-1 Mansion, sitting on the couch.
"First Marachii, then Hikari and Dachii, now Akari!" Saori cried. "Those meanies are taking us one by one!"
Luca shrugged. "I want to go. It's boring here."
Saori looked at him, confused. "But what if it's a bad place?"
"Saori, EVERYWHERE we go is a bad place."
He sat up, yawning. "General Fujii hasn't come out of that library room yet. Must really be searching."
Saori stood up. "Should we go back and help him?"
"Sure."
They walked to the library room and opened the door. Inside, they found the library a mess, books scattered across the floor, and a message left by Fujii, which read:
"Sorry, kids! Went with General Morino to find your teammates! Won't be long!"
"And he's gone," Luca remarked. "Well, guess that leaves the mansion in our hands."
Saori began to panic. "What if they take him too? What will we do then? I'm scared!"
Luca popped some beef jerky in his mouth. "It will all be fine. They've got this. Now, if you need me, I'll be rolling around outside."
He turned into a wolf and walked outside, the door closing behind him. Saori looked around the room.
"Portal? Can you hear me?"
But unbeknownst to her, a man behind a shelf, with glowing green eyes, was eavesdropping on her.
Meanwhile, in Raijin Arena…
"Ladies and gentlemen, prepare yourself for one of the most epic spectacles you'll ever see, it's ZOK vs DACHII!"
As the crowd cheered, Zok walked toward Dachii with his axes in hand.
"Let the games…BEGIN!"
Dachii grabbed a sword and held it up as Zok swung his axes. The force of the axes nearly knocked the sword from Dachii's hand, and Zok elbowed him in the chest.
"OOF!"
Dachii held the sword in front of him, attempting to stand firm. "I got this, COME AT ME."
Grishna took note of his stance. "He's never used a sword before, has he?"
Hikari and Akari shook their heads, and Aoki slapped her forehead and stood up, annoyed.
"Swing it at his head! What are you doing?"
Dachii looked over at her. "Hey, I'm not trying to KILL anyone now! I've got the basics—-!"
Zok backhanded him, sending him flying. The crowd gasped.
"OOH, that looks like it hurt!" Venus announced. "How will Dachii retaliate?"
Dachii got himself up, gripping the sword. "Come on, Fujii does it, Aoki does it, I'm sure Grandfather can do it, how do you USE THIS THING?"
He remembered Toru's words and tried to calm himself down as Zok charged at him. "Haha! Come on, can't you even use a blade?"
Dachii tried to swing his sword at Zok's chest, but Zok easily deflected the blow and sent the sword flying away, before kicking Dachii hard in the stomach.
"OOH, that's a rough one!" Venus called out.
Aoki scoffed. "What have you fools been teaching him? Pathetic."
"Screw this," Dachii muttered, kicking himself back up. As soon as Zok came in for another strike, Dachii's gauntlets enveloped his arms and he punched Zok square in the chest.
"DACHII! DACHII! DACHII!" the crowd cheered.
"See?" Akari said, looking at Aoki. "He's doing fine to me."
Grishna watched as Zok recovered. "Don't underestimate Zok, now. Fella's a tough pack of iron, I'll tell you that."
Zok took a moment to breathe, sizing up Dachii. "So, we're ditching the blades now?"
He tossed his axes aside, cracking his knuckles. "Good."
Dachii came in for a punch, but Zok dodged it and brought both of his hands down, slamming the ground.
"CRASHING WAVES!"
The entire arena floor began to shake, and Dachii nearly fell over but managed to keep his balance. "Do all you orcs have a special move?"
With faster speed than before, Zok came at Dachii, attempting to hit him. Dachii managed to get out of the way.
"That's the speed of a dolphin, for ya," Zok pointed out. "Now let's show you what a pirate is made of!"
He clapped his hands together, causing the arena to shake again. Dachii jumped into the air and tried to punch Zok, but he countered with his elbow, causing a massive amount of force to erupt.
"Your Elemental tricks are cool, but you don't have that thick skin of an orc!"
He grabbed Dachii's arm and slammed him into the ground, but Dachii kicked off of him and managed to gain some distance.
"Come on, Dachii!" Hikari cheered. "You got it!"
Zok cracked his neck and stretched his arms. "Enough toying with you, boy!"
He tried to grab Dachii, but he rolled out of the way. Dachii backed up as Zok approached.
"Don't play defense," Dachii thought. "Don't play defense…"
He got into a running stance, and he took off toward Zok, who prepared for the attack.
"Charging at me? What a fool!"
Dachii pulled back his arm, preparing to punch, but at the last second, he noticed something.
"NO…"
His arm had shifted again, resembling a dark void. And Venus noticed it too.
"Is that…? STOP THE MATCH!"
BOOM.
Zok went flying into a wall with a THUD. Dachii's arm began to shake violently, and Akari, Hikari, and even Aoki were surprised.
"He's doing it again!" Grishna realized. "That weird energy!"
Dachii immediately tried to grab his arm, but to his shock, it seemed to gradually shift back to normal.
"What…?"
The shimmering void disappeared, along with his gauntlets. The entire crowd remained silent, stunned by the events.
Venus hopped down, taking in the sight. Zok was on the ground, bleeding from his chest, and Dachii was still in the middle of the arena, confused.
"Well," she said. "Glad no one got killed! Since Dachii is still standing, even with that outburst, he is the WINNER of this match!"
The crowd roared. "DACHII! DACHII! DACHII!"
Akari and Hikari shared a look.
"Is that…the power from the Forest?" Hikari asked.
Akari nodded. "I think so. Why would he start using it again now?"
Aoki put a hand on her chin. "Hmm…"
Venus pointed at Zok. "Guards, escort him to the nearest hospital."
A group of Zharians came from a tunnel, putting Zok on a stretcher and taking him back with them. Venus walked up to Dachii, holding the microphone to his face.
"Well, winner? How do you feel?"
He rubbed the back of his head. "I mean, I won. As weird as it was. So I feel…good."
"There you have it!" Venus announced. "Dachii earned himself a feel-good win!"
"DACHII! DACHII! DACHII!"
"Don't you think we should cheer too?" Hikari asked.
Aoki scoffed. "Don't be children."
Akari waved her off. "Ignore her. She seems like a depressed lunatic."
Grishna began to cheer. "Dachii! Dachii! Dachii!"
Venus motioned for Dachii to head up the stands, but not before giving him a medal. "Dachii's team has earned one medal! The team with the least by the end of Round Two is hereby eliminated!"
Dachii climbed up to the row with the competitors, walking past the angry orcs from Zok's team.
"Pfff. What a show-off. We'll get our medal back," an orc stated.
Dachii sat down in between Akari and Aoki, and Akari gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Great job, you won. But that power of yours, I'm worried about it.
Aoki just rolled her eyes. "He'll be fine. He just won, idiot."
Hikari glared at her. "Look, do you have to be so rude and dismissive?"
Aoki took a knife out of her pocket. "Yes."
Without warning, she stabbed herself in the ear with it, causing Hikari, Grishna, Dachii, and even some other competitors to jump back.
"What the hell?"
Akari just scooted further away. "Like I said, she's definitely crazy."
Aoki examined the blood dripping from her ear. "What? It's fun."
Venus made her way back to the top of the arena. "Now, I don't want to keep you all waiting, so let's begin the next match! Ayana's team against Balgrim's team!"
The crowd cheered. Dachii noticed Ayana get up from her spot and walk past him with a wink.
"Wish me luck."
"Do you even need it?" Dachii responded.
Akari narrowed her eyes. "That girl doesn't give off a typical human vibe. Is she from here?"
Dachii shrugged. "I don't know, but she definitely knows how to fight."
Ayana landed down, and Haruto cheered her on from above. "Do what you do best! Win!"
"Seems they've chosen Ayana for their fighter! That means by default, she'll be fighting Balgrim!"
Dachii noticed a small dwarf heading down to the arena floor. "Wait, that's the one from the Gladiator Brawl!"
Grinsha squinted, trying to get a better look. "Yeah, but he's not much. Think he's got some fire in him?"
"He's a dwarf. If she's a human, he has the advantage," Aoki muttered.
Balgrim tried to stand tall as he took his side of the arena. Ayana gave him a polite wave.
"Hi! Uh, nice to meet you?"
He quickly gripped a spear, pointing it at her. "Sorry, I really need this win!"
"Well, okay then."
The crowd eagerly waited as Venus took her spot. "Well, are you both ready?"
They both nodded.
"Then let the games BEGIN!"
Ayana took a sword from the rack, rolling out of the way just as Balgrim tried to strike her.
"Another sword," Aoki remarked. "You humans never learn."
But to her surprise, Ayana quickly deflected all of Balgrim's strikes with her blade as he tried to attack.
"Woah," Dachii said. "She is REALLY good with a sword."
Balgrim tried to go for her legs, but she flipped over him and smacked him in the face with the butt of her sword.
"Send him home, Ayana!" Haruto called out.
Balgrim spun his spear around, attempting to hit Ayana, but she ducked under it and rolled to the side, slicing it right in half with a well-timed slash.
The crowd cheered, and Dachii clapped. "Nice!"
Aoki began analyzing her moves, and even Akari and Hikari were surprised.
"She doesn't move like a human," Akari noted. "At least not the ones back home."
"She's better at fighting than I am!" Hikari blurted out. "What the hell?"
Balgrim grabbed a mace and shield and tried to hit her numerous times, but Ayana sidestepped each one, before delivering a back kick to Balgrim's head.
"Ow! How are you so good?"
Without hesitation, Ayana used her blade to disarm Balgrim once again, making him jump back. "No!"
And in the blink of an eye, she unleashed a barrage of attacks, rendering Balgrim helpless.
"AHH!"
He tried to throw his shield at her, but she blocked it and swept his legs from under him, pointing the blade at his face.
"Good effort! But, not good enough."
Venus made her way down to the arena floor. "Congratulations! Ayana's team wins this match, and takes home a medal!"
Balgrim slammed his hands on the ground. "Damn! Can't ever win!"
Haruto stood up, cheering loudly. "Yes! Let's destroy this competition!"
As she walked back up the stands, she passed by Dachii again.
"Wow, you're a good fighter…" Dachii said.
She awkwardly laughed. "Yeah, well, practice makes perfect! Don't sweat it, you'll get there!"
"I guess," Dachii replied.
She waved and continued walking, while Akari, Hikari, and Aoki stared after her.
Grishna smirked. "She's a tough one! I like her too!"
"A tough one, alright…" Aoki muttered.
"Now that we've gotten a few matches into Round Two, I'll give you all a short break to game plan! We will resume shortly!"
She headed into a tunnel and disappeared, leaving the crowd and competitors to talk amongst themselves.
Meanwhile, in an underground dungeon…
Marachii slowly opened his eyes, taking notice of the cold cell he was in.
"Ugh…not again…"
He sat up, realizing he was chained to a bed. When he tried to use his powers, he found he couldn't, and the chains on his arms were glowing purple.
"Is this…from Nullus?"
He heard a knock on his bars, which immediately caught his attention. When he was able to clear his vision, he saw Ionix standing outside his cell.
"You!"
Ionix held up his hands.
"Marachii Jones, isn't it? I'd like to have a chat with you."
—-