Voltiana

In the S-1 Mansion…

The next morning, Dachii woke up and grabbed his phone off the dresser. "Crap, 157 missed calls from Mihina, she's going to KILL me!"

He got up out of his bed and put on a shirt while he frantically texted Mihina back, who appeared very upset.

"Yeah, she's pissed."

As he approached his door, he heard arguing downstairs, and he walked down to see what was going on. As soon as he made it downstairs, a vase came flying toward him. "Woah!"

"Shut the hell up! No one even KNOWS you!"

"Oh, so fame makes you strong now? If that's the case, I'm a celebrity, you fraudulent little—-!"

"Hey, hey, stop it, girls!"

Dachii blinked a few times, and he saw Aoki and Akari yelling at each other, with Hikari in between them, holding them back.

"Oh," Dachii realized. "This again."

Luca, Marachii, and Saori were sitting on the couch, eating popcorn, while watching the chaos unfold.

"Do something then," Aoki growled. "Stop hiding behind your friend."

"I'm not hiding, sweetheart," Akari snapped back, her hand glowing. "You're the one that needs to hide."

Dachii attempted to creep back upstairs, but the second he took a step, Luca pointed him out. "Look, Dachii's awake."

Everyone immediately turned to look at him. "Oh, crap."

Akari walked up to him and grabbed his arm. "Come on Dachii, I'm taking you and the others out of this house!"

Aoki grabbed his other arm. "No, you're NOT. He possesses the power that our enemies seek, so by default, he's MY responsibility as Vice-General."

"Girl, go AWAY!"

Dachii felt himself being tugged left and right.

"Well, I always wanted girls to fight over me, but not in THIS WAY!" he thought.

Hikari groaned. "Where's the General when you need him?"

Marachii tried to pull Dachii out of their grasp. "Can we not rip my brother apart before breakfast, PLEASE?"

"Ow, ow, OW!"

Akari finally relented and let go, but not before firing an energy blast at Aoki, who ducked under it.

"Since clearly we all need to blow off some steam," Hikari remarked. "Why don't we go visit Asuka? I heard they are basically finished with their repairs!"

"Great idea, Kari!" Akari said. "Everyone not named Aoki, let's hit the road!"

As they started to head to the door, Aoki quickly moved in front of them, blocking the door. "Hmph, you'll have to go through me."

"That's perfectly fine," Akari stated, her eyes glowing.

Dachii looked between the two. "Guys, we should run."

BOOM.

Five minutes later, Aoki stood next to the rest of Squad S-1 as they examined the damage of the now-wrecked S-1 Mansion.

"So, lead the way, folks!" she laughed.

"Our home!" Akari exclaimed. "Look what she's done to it! She's a monster! A monster! Let me go, I'll rip her apart!"

Hikari tried to calm her down, patting her on the back. "What did we learn, Akari?"

"Not to fight in the mansion…" she groaned.

"Exactly."

Saori picked up a half-destroyed table. "Is there any way we can fix this before General Fujii comes home? I don't want him to be upset with us!"

Akari sighed. "I'll call my royal servants. They should be able to fix this up within the next few hours."

"Great!" Hikari replied. "Now let's go to Asuka before anything else gets broken. Marachii, do you want to do the honors?"

Marachii held his arm out. "Elara, go to work."

"Working…"

And then his arm transformed into a missile launcher, firing missiles everywhere. "No, no, stop, stop!"

By the time his arm had returned to normal, a missile had flown over Akari's head, nearly taking off her hair. "Marachii! What was THAT?"

"My body still hasn't fully recovered! I guess this computer can't decide between vehicle or violence!"

Aoki simply slapped her head. "Imbeciles."

Dachii raised his hand. "I think I can fly now, but only three people can get on my back at a time. Akari, Hikari, Aoki, how about I get you three first, and then I come back for the others?"

"You'd take them over your own brother?" Marachii interrupted.

"Well, you know…ladies first?"

Luca yawned and stepped forward. "Just get on my back."

And then he transformed into a large Hydra.

"That works," Akari said.

One by one, the squad mounted Luca. Aoki stood back, eying Luca with a skeptical and nervous look.

"I'm not getting on that thing, no way!"

"Good," Akari said. "Then you can stay here."

Aoki folded her arms. "I'll meet you there."

"Go, Luca," Akari ordered. "Go now, before she can follow us."

Luca took off, leaving Aoki in the dust. Once they were out of sight, Aoki chuckled to herself.

"Such misguided children."

A few minutes later, General Fujii came walking up to the mansion, bags of food in his hands. "Kids, I'm home—-!"

He took one look at the wreckage, and he dropped the bags of food, running a hand over his face.

"This is what I get."

Meanwhile, in Asuka…

Luca walked in front of the Asuka mall, and a bunch of terrified civilians began running away.

"This is good," Akari stated. "You can stop here, Luca."

They all hopped off, and Luca shifted back to normal. Hikari's eyes lit up as soon as she saw the mall. "Wow, we get to go SHOPPING?"

She grabbed Akari and Saori's arms and pulled them inside. Dachii, Marachii, and Luca all watched from afar.

"Isn't this where we almost died?" Marachii pointed out.

"It is," Luca confirmed. "Judging by how brand-new it looks, the wealthy must love their malls."

"So do we go in?" Marachii asked. "Because it seems they haven't even noticed we aren't with them."

Dachii's stomach grumbled. "Well, I could use some food, so…inside it is!"

Marachii just shook his head as Dachii drifted inside the mall, and then he and Luca followed after him. Once they were inside, they almost got lost in the crowd of people.

"Any clue where they went? It's hard to see with all these people!" Dachii called out.

"I think they went straight ahead!" Marachii shouted back.

After some more pushing and shoving, the three ended up in the food court, but there was no trace of the girls.

"Well, at least we're where we need to be," Dachii shrugged. "Any of you want some pizza?"

They walked over to a pizza stand, and the owner immediately perked up when he saw them. "You kids are from Squad S-1! And you two, I saw you fighting on TV just a few weeks ago!"

"Yay…" Marachii commented. "More fame to our names."

"Well, can we get some pizza to go?" Dachii asked. "Like 5 boxes."

"You got the money to pay for that? It's 2,000 coins, plus tax."

"Two THOUSAND?" Dachii gasped. "For PIZZA?"

"Yeah, well I'm the best pizzeria in this entire nation. Quality comes with a price, do humans not work that way?"

Dachii nudged Luca. "Do you have any money on you?"

Luca dug around in his pockets and pulled out 5 pieces of beef jerky. "Spent it on these."

"You kids are in the top military squad in all of Voltiana," the owner noted. "And you're all broke?"

They all stared at him, embarrassed. When the owner moved to shoo them away, someone placed a jar of coins on his counter. "Eh?"

"I'll cover the tab, no problem!"

Dachii, Marachii, and Luca looked to their left, and they saw a human boy with a backpack on, waving at them.

"Haruto?" Dachii recognized. "How, wait, WHY are you here?"

While the man took his coins, Haruto pulled a letter out of his bag. "I was invited by a friend to attend the Batango Party! Since I'm human and all."

"Who's this?" Marachii asked.

"A human I met in the Arena," Dachii answered. "He and his friend, Ayana, they're incredibly skilled for just normal humans!"

"Heh…you know," Haruto stammered. "It's just years of training, dedication, and willpower, not super cool Elemental Powers like you two!"

"That sounds cool," Marachii said. "So there's other humans besides us who are strong?"

"You should see Ayana," Haruto replied. "She's a BEAST when she gets mad."

"Ayana…" Dachii murmured. "If Haruto is here, does that mean she's coming too?"

"Nope!" Haruto answered, overhearing Dachii. "She's super busy with her village and stuff!"

"How the heck did you HEAR that?"

"Trained ears. I'm a natural."

The owner set down the pizzas, and Luca picked them up. "Well, the food is ready."

"Great!" Haruto rubbed his hands. "Let's chow down!"

Once they were seated, Haruto began taking an interest in Luca and Marachii. "So your element is Technology, and yours is Beast?"

They both nodded.

"That's super cool! Imagine transforming into a DRAGON, or turning into a full-sized killer MECH."

"Dragons are sadly out of my wheelhouse," Luca pointed out.

"Can I even achieve a mech form?" Marachii wondered. "That seems like overkill."

Haruto stuffed his face with more pizza. "Are you guys going to attend the Batango Party? It's gonna be AMAZING!"

"Yeah," Dachii confirmed. "Our Grandfather invited us."

"Nice! I wonder what it's gonna have? Maybe awesome games, amazing food, or even a cool fighting tournament like the Raijin Arena!"

"THAT'S something I can do without," Dachii interjected.

While they continued to eat their food, Hikari, Akari, and Saori began heading their way, their hands filled with bags.

"Well, do you feel better?" Hikari asked, nudging Akari.

"No," Akari said. "My anger knows no bounds."

"Here, have some more clothes." She placed three extra bags in Akari's hands.

Once they got closer, Saori pointed to Dachii's table. "Look, there's the boys! And with a new friend!"

When Hikari and Akari noticed where she was pointing, their eyes immediately widened. "Is that…?"

Dachii saw them. "There you guys are! Look who decided to join us for lunch—-?"

Akari immediately appeared next to Haruto. "How did you get past the security? Why did they let you in Asuka? What even brings you to this place? This is far from any deadly arenas, I'll tell you that much!"

"Uhh…?" Haruto stammered. "I kinda got special permission to be here, since there's a huge party taking place in Batango."

"A party?" Akari asked. "What party?"

Haruto leaned in to whisper to Dachii. "Is she always this demanding?"

"Only on weekdays."

Saori dropped her bags. "Party? I love parties! I want to go to a party! Can I come? Can I?"

"Eh-heh," Haruto scratched his head. "You know, this is getting a bit crowded, I think I'll hit the door now! Nice seeing you all!"

Before Akari could protest, Haruto quickly grabbed a box of pizza and ran into the crowd. Marachii slapped his forehead.

"Well look at that, you've scared him off."

Akari waved him off. "It's fine. He'll be tracked down and investigated later. What was that party he was mentioning, though?"

"Morino told us there'd be a special event for humans," Dachii remembered. "So I'm guessing it'll be some huge party in Batango. It starts tomorrow."

"That's surprising," Hikari said. "I wonder what they'll be doing."

Akari opened her mouth to speak, but her demeanor quickly changed when she saw Aoki walking through the crowd, heading straight for their table.

"Not her again!" Akari moaned.

"I heard something about a party," Aoki said. "What should I wear?"

"Wait, don't tell me…" Dachii's eyes immediately widened.

"I'm coming with you."

Later that day, at the castle gates…

As night began to fall,, four armed guards were stationed next to the gates, keeping watch over the entrance.

"Is it about time for break yet?" one asked.

"Five more minutes," another said.

"Thank goodness," one more added. "We've been here all day. Hey, did you catch rumors that those humans were having a party?"

"I know right?" the last chuckled. "They think THEY could ever host an actual PARTY?"

Just then, a figure began walking toward the gates, hands in his pocket. The first guard shined a flashlight from his rifle onto him.

"Hey…halt! Who are you?"

"I am but a lost traveler," the man said. "Wandering through the lands aimlessly."

"What business do you have with our nation?" the second guard asked. "What's your race? Human? Orc? Monster?"

The man stepped closer, revealing a young male in a t-shirt and jeans, with olive skin, red hair, and black eyes. "A human!"

"Yes, I suppose that title could work. Can I come in? It's awfully cold out here…"

The first guard shook his head. "Nope! If you don't have express permission, you aren't allowed anywhere near our gates! Now scram back to whatever gutter you came from, human!"

They pointed their guns at him, stepping forward.

The young man narrowed his eyes at them for a moment, but then he laughed, unnerving all the guards. "I like your backbone! You've got some spunk to you, don't ya? Hehehe, you, my dear lads, are ones I can respect!"

The guards shared a look, and when they looked back at the man, his eyes were glowing orange.

"Now, let me show you MINE!"

In the distance, the guards could be heard screaming, as a large explosion occurred at the front gates.

BOOM.

—-