In Raijin Arena…
Dachii, Hikari, and Grishna were sitting in their locker room, drinking water bottles.
"Man, I hope I don't have to fight," Dachii remarked. "Ever since I've gotten here, my powers have been acting so weird."
Grishna accidentally crushed her water bottle. "I'd love to fight! Wish I could get a piece of Zok, but he's still recovering."
Hikari wiped her mouth. "There's still no trace of Himeka or Marachii, so what will we do?"
Just then, they heard Venus on the speakers. "Everyone, please return to the stands at once, so we can finish Round Two!"
Dachii, Hikari, and Grishna made their way back to their seats, where Akari was waiting.
"They still won't let you participate?" Hikari asked.
Akari shook her head. "No. They said it's the rules, since I lost."
"Where is that girl, anyway?" Dachii looked around, but he couldn't see where Aoki was.
"Who knows," Akari replied. "Maybe she's busy stabbing herself again."
Venus walked to the middle of the arena and pointed at the board. "We've got a few more matches to finish up, folks! Then we can move on to the third round! Team Zok, come choose your fighter!"
To Dachii's surprise, he saw a heavily bandaged Zok brush past him, heading down to the arena floor.
"Runt," he muttered. "You watch your back."
He jumped onto the floor, approaching Venus.
"Is he NOT hurt?" Dachii blurted out, confused. "I could have sworn I punched a hole in his CHEST!"
Grishna shrugged. "Orcs are tough folk, mate. If we ain't dead, we ain't done."
"Now, come on, Team Nori! Bring out your mascot!"
A lion monster jumped from the stands, sizing up Zok, who simply grunted.
"You're not much to look at, pal."
Venus walked back to her seat and began the match. As the two fought, Dachii felt an arm on his shoulder.
"Dachii Jones, come with me."
Before he could process what was happening, he was back in the locker room, with Aoki standing in front of him.
"Aoki!" he realized. "Why the hell did you drag me here?"
"It's Venus," Aoki replied. "I overheard her planning something, so you'd better stay here for now."
Dachii groaned. "Oh great, don't tell me you're planning to hide me from their watchful eyes."
Aoki began to walk to the door. "Hmph. If they catch you, you can't say I didn't try."
"WHAT?"
She tightened her grip on her blade. "Just stay here until the round is over. If you're lucky, they won't even notice you're gone."
She walked out of the door, leaving Dachii by himself. "Huh, despite being a scary, psychopathic swordswoman, she actually cares."
He pulled out his phone, attempting to call Marachii, but there was no response. "Great, still can't reach him. Where could he be…?"
As the match between Zok and Nori finished, Aoki approached Hikari and the others, sitting down without a word. As soon as she did, Hikari immediately rounded on her.
"Hey, what did you do with Dachii?"
Aoki rolled her eyes. "I killed him."
"You did what?"
"I hid him away, you idiots. Can't you see that this entire round is one big trap?"
Akari straightened up. "Well that part is obvious, but if they wanted to snatch Dachii, they would have done it already. What's the point of this entire tournament?"
Aoki drew her blade, admiring it. "It doesn't matter. He's now out of their sight. I'll need one of you to check on him every 2 to 3 minutes."
"He's in the locker room, isn't he?" Akari asked, almost mockingly.
"Well, if you want to be a smart-ass, go find a better place," Aoki muttered.
Akari just shook her head.
Grishna stretched out, yawning. "I'll go watch him. Fighting ain't really all that if you're not doing it, anyway."
She got up, heading down toward the lockers, but Aoki whispered something in her ear, which the others couldn't hear.
As Venus began the next matches, she shifted her gaze over to Aoki's spot a few times.
"What's that girl plotting?" she thought. "Whatever it is, she's got the wrong idea."
Inside the locker room, Dachii began listening to music, when he heard Grishna walk in.
"Oh," he said, stopping his music. "Hi, Grishna. Why are you here?"
"Your pal wants me to watch you," Grishna answered. "Said it's something urgent."
"I guess," Dachii said. "Missing a ton of cool fights, but if it saves my life, then I'll go with it."
Grishna waited to make sure no one was listening, before she leaned in close to Dachii. "I'm not a fan of this plan. Anyone with a brain in their noggin knows that if you want to keep someone away from a person, you don't keep them close to where you are."
"Or, it actually could be pretty smart," Dachii noted. "No one would expect us to be hidden in the locker room next to the arena, so they'd probably go looking in Raijin City or somewhere."
Grishna shrugged. "I hope so, mate. Where we are, it screams sitting duck."
She looked around. "Well, there isn't exactly much to do, so…"
She began to get on the ground and do pushups. Dachii watched her for a moment before playing more of his music.
The matches continued, and eventually, Ayana's team was up next.
"Team Ayana vs. Team Farron!"
Ayana's group debated amongst themselves, and they sent out a female dwarf to battle. A snake monster came from Farron's team, and Venus began the match.
"Let the Games begin!"
While the fight was taking place, Ayana and Haruto walked up to Aoki's team.
"Hi…" Ayana greeted. "Where's Dachii?"
They all stared at her, hesitating to respond, but Aoki scoffed. "He's left."
"Left to go where? I wanted to ask him something, it's really important."
Aoki shrugged. "No clue."
Ayana narrowed her eyes, but she stepped back. "Well, okay. If he pops back up, let me know."
Haruto waved to Hikari. "Sorry about that fight, didn't mean to lie to you!"
"It's…it's okay," Hikari said, nervously.
Ayana led Haruto back to their area. "Those creatures are super suspicious, Haruto. Do you think they kidnapped Dachii?"
"What? No, no, Dachii doesn't seem like the type of guy to get KIDNAPPED, especially by a group of girls!"
Ayana folded her arms. "Is that supposed to mean something?"
Haruto had an awkward look on his face. "No! Not at all!"
Ayana scanned the arena, but Dachii wasn't anywhere to be seen. "Something is up with this place. I don't like it."
Inside the locker room, Dachii and Grishna were playing cards.
"So, do you usually bet actual money, or do orcs have their own currency?" Dachii asked.
"Gold," Grishna answered. "We usually use gold."
"That's cool! Do you have any right now?"
"No, but—-"
Dachii and Grishna both froze as they saw a glowing yellow hand push open their door, and standing behind it was Ionix, who had a smile on his face.
"You…!" Dachii recognized him immediately, preparing to fight. "Where's my brother?"
Ionix appeared to be offended. "Come on, do we have to bring that up now?"
"Yes! Yes, we do!"
He stepped into the room. "Relax, I'm just here to PLAY THE GAME."
In an instant, his form shifted into his human-like form. "She's foolish, thinking she can hide you here like this. That girl is bold, I'll give her that."
Grishna picked up her axe, standing next to Dachii. "Play the game? What's that mean?"
Outside, they could hear Venus announcing Ayana's team as the winner of the match.
"Next up, we'll have Dachii'a team fight in our last match of the Round! Are you all excited?"
Dachii's eyes widened. "Don't tell me you're gonna…"
Ionix's eyes began to glow yellow. "Oh, YES."
He snapped his fingers, and a portal opened below all three of them, and Dachii fell into it.
"AHHHH!"
Inside the arena, Aoki nudged Hikari. "Go, nurse. Whoever they choose, they're probably weak. I'll go check on Dachii."
"Hey! Stop calling me weak!"
As Aoki prepared to get up, she noticed a portal opening above her.
"Ow."
Dachii fell face-first into the stands, shocking Akari, Hikari, and Aoki.
"Dachii!" Hikari immediately went to help him up. "Are you okay?"
Grishna ran up, breathing heavily. "Guys, I lost—-!"
She saw him on the ground. "Oh! Nevermind!"
As Aoki looked between Dachii and the arena, she saw Venus smiling at her. "And now for our newcomer, bring in the one and only: IONIX!"
"What…is this…?" Aoki thought.
In a flash, Ionix was standing on one side of the arena, and the crowd cheered.
"IONIX! IONIX! IONIX!"
Ionix basked in the cheers, his arms wide open. "Hello, wonderful crowd! I saw all the fights and I couldn't help but join in myself! And as the one who orchestrated this entire thing, it's only right I get the most POWERFUL FIGHTER!"
He shifted his form briefly to his true form, making Hikari and Akari gasp.
"He's the one who's responsible for all this!" Hikari yelled. "He's got my sister!"
Akari prepared to get up. "Then we handle him, right now."
Ionix pointed to Aoki. "Aoki Amasani! Raijin Champion! Come down here and fight me!"
The crowd cheered. "AOKI! AOKI! AOKI! AOKI!"
Aoki growled and grabbed her blade, preparing to head down.
"Wait," Akari said. "That guy is strong, what if this IS the trap?"
Aoki brushed her off. "Please. I've got this."
She jumped down, landing in front of Ionix. The crowd silently waited as Venus went back to her spot.
"Is she stupid?" Akari said, annoyed. "Why would she try to fight him all by herself?"
Hikari reached out and felt an electric barrier blocking them from the floor. "Well, not like we can stop her now."
Dachii felt an uneasy feeling in his chest as Venus lifted the mic to her lips. "Are you both ready?"
Aoki readied her blade, while Ionix simply stood there. "Yes. Start it, Venus."
"You heard him! Let the Games…BEGIN!"
The crowd roared as Aoki lunged at Ionix faster than the eye could see.
"Nice. You're fast."
But as she got close, a powerful blast of lightning came out of his body, heading straight for her.
"Sh—-!"
She used her blade to block it, but part of it still grazed her, sending a small shock through her body that she shrugged off.
"Hmph. Just a small spark."
She summoned a few red cards and threw them at Ionix, which blew up in front of him. When the explosions cleared, she noticed he was gone.
"…!"
A hand swung at her head from behind, but she managed to dodge and cut it off, surprising Ionix. "That…that is impressive movement, girl."
"Woah…" Dachii thought. "Is she actually holding her own against him, by herself?"
Hikari nervously fiddled with her hands next to him, while Akari kept shaking her head. "She's gonna get killed. She's reckless."
Ionix immediately regenerated his hand and sliced downward, summoning an arc of lightning from his hand, which barely missed Aoki.
"Hmph, pathetic."
She moved in a blur, nearly slicing his chest, but he got out of the way just in time, watching her carefully. "You warrant a more…intense approach!"
His eyes began to glow. "FLASH."
And just like that, he zipped past her and knocked her to the ground, and just as she got up, he zipped around her and hit her again and again.
As he came in for another blow, she tossed down a blue card, surrounding the area in mist.
"Don't try and hide!"
He looked around for her, but all he could see was the mist.
"Who will win this EPIC battle?" Venus announced. "Let's make some noise, crowd!"
"YEAH!"
In a flash, Aoki sliced Ionix's hip, but when he turned around to try and spot her, he found a white card waiting on the ground.
"BLINK!"
The light blast caused Ionix to put a hand over his face, and it cleared away all the mist as the crowd roared again.
"She's actually doing it!" Dachii exclaimed. "Woah!"
Aoki delivered another slash to Ionix's back, and he slammed the ground, sending electricity through it.
"Enough of this, girl!"
Aoki threw down her purple card, and she began floating over the electricity. "You're right. This is over."
As she landed back down, she threw her black card on the floor. "CORRUPT."
A bunch of inky hands spawned from it, and she absorbed them into her blade.
"She's using that move again…" Akari thought.
Ionix charged up his fists, preparing for her attack. "Come, then!"
"It's all come down to this!" Venus announced. "Who's going to win this match?"
Aoki took off in a burst of speed, aiming right for Ionix's head, but he began to laugh.
"Idiot."
And as she got close, a PORTAL opened in front of him, and she went flying through it. On the other end, was a shadowy void, and she couldn't see a single thing.
"What the HELL?"
Back in the arena, Dachii and the others immediately stood up as the crowd gasped.
"Hey, he tricked her!" Dachii blurted out. "Where did you guys send her?"
"I knew it, I knew this was some stupid trap!" Akari added, charging her hands with energy.
"Oh my!" Venus said. "Looks like it's been a change of plans!"
"Change of plans?" Ayana wondered.
"The hell is going on?" Zok asked, pointing at Venus. "Don't tell me you're all some schemers!"
Ionix reverted to his original form, smiling. "Be proud, contestants. You've made it to the next Round!"
With a snap of his fingers, a portal opened under the frets of various contestants, including Ayana, Haruto, Zok, Grishna, Hikari, and Dachii.
"What the—-?"
As the others fell in, Akari tried to follow, but the portal closed. "Guys! Damn it!"
"Let the UNDERGROUND TOURNAMENT COMMENCE!" Ionix announced.
As Dachii and the others fell through the air, they noticed a large plateau surrounded by lava below them, with a giant volcano next to it. There was thunder and lightning everywhere, and a giant Colosseum in the distance.
"Crap! Why? Why?" Dachii said. "Why can't it ever be simple?"
Floating platforms began to appear, and various competitors began landing on them.
Grishna and Hikari managed to land on a nearby platform, and Hikari reached out for Dachii.
"Dachii! Grab my hand!"
He tried to grab it, but he narrowly missed it.
"OH NO."
"Dachii!"
He began falling towards the lava. "C'mon, c'mon! Float! Float!"
But his arm began to take on a void-like appearance again. "COME ON!"
As he got closer to the lava, he braced himself…
…but just then, a figure quickly caught him on their back and darted out of the way, jumping from platform to platform.
Dachii saw who it was, and his eyes immediately widened. And so did Hikari's.
"Hey! It's Dachii, right? I'm SO glad we're finally meeting face-to-face!"
"HIMEKA?"
Himeka smiled at Dachii, before landing on the plateau. "Welcome to the Underground! It's gonna be SUPER FUN!"
—-