Voltiana

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

Citizens watched on in horror as Dachii did his best to avoid the fiery attacks of his opponent. A flaming blade came right toward him, but he managed to block it with his gauntlets.

"HAHAHAHA!"

BOOM.

The blade exploded in a massive burst of fire, causing Dachii's entire clothing to catch aflame.

"Hot, hot, hot!" Dachii immediately started patting his clothes, attempting to put out the fire. An older man walked up, confused.

"What the hell is going on, kid?"

"Run!" Dachii insisted. "Everyone run! It's dangerous!"

People turned on their heels and took off, but Ravos instantly appeared next to Dachii and tried to slice him, but Dachii got out of the way.

"This guy is like a raging flame! Is this what an Elite is?" Dachii thought.

He remembered Ionix and Kuroten's words, but before he could dwell on them, the fiery silhouette of Ravos stood before him.

"Come on, kid! Give me a challenge! Show me how you FIGHT!"

Dachii pulled his fist back and threw a heavy punch at Ravos, but to his shock, his foe stopped it, even as Dachii pushed with all his might.

"Gravity….BEAUTIFUL!"

With a single jerk, he ripped Dachii's arm off, gauntlet and all. "OW!"

Dachii used his free arm to punch Ravos and jumped to safety, slowly regenerating his arm. Ravos formed another blade of flame, and he started violently slashing the air, causing flaming slashes to head straight toward Dachii.

"What kind of CRAP is THIS?"

Dachii jumped into the air to avoid the flaming slashes, and he made his body incredibly heavy, preparing to smash down onto Ravos. In the blink of an eye, he descended…

…but Ravos easily side-stepped his attack.

"Poor technique!" Ravos lamented. "Don't tell me you lack the ability to properly fight?"

As more fire blasts erupted from Ravos's body, Dachii used his gauntlets to protect himself. "I'm…not…really…a…fighter! So…stop!"

Ravos narrowed his eyes. "I see. The opponents you've faced lack the power and skill to really push you! Brace yourself. This isn't gonna be EASY!"

His entire body began to glow, and a massive plume of flame erupted high into the sky, where tons of bystanders looked on.

Ravos spun his sword a few times and stabbed it into the ground, where fire burst out in every direction and shot out of the ground like a geyser.

Ravos's entire body began to shift, and pitch-black armor coated it, with a dark black crown covering his head. As flames carved through the streets, Dachii noticed a group of young human girls trapped under some rubble.

"The hell—-?"

"Help!" one of them cried. "I can't move my leg, I think it's broken!"

Dachii went over to them, noticing three other girls lying unconscious next to the one crying on the ground. "Uhh…just hold still, I've got this!"

His body started to glow grey and he lifted the massive wreckage off of the girls, and the one on the ground immediately hugged him.

"T—thank you, Mr…?"

Dachii couldn't help but smile. "Dachii, you know, Dachii Jones? The S-1 hero?"

The girl opened her mouth to respond, but before she could, she immediately pointed behind him. "Watch out!"

"How noble!"

Ravos swooped in and punched Dachii so hard he went flying into the sky.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Batango…

Mina grabbed Aoki's arm, who was preparing to leave. "Hey, hold on! Shouldn't we wait a moment? Try to get in contact with the others?"

"There's no time!" Aoki replied. "The only time stuff like this happens is during an attack, and there's only one person they'd bother attacking directly, so…"

She began to stomp off. "I'm going."

"We aren't even 100% positive it's Dachii being attacked? What if it's just a simple break-in, or a blown fuse, or—-?"

BOOM.

Right next to them, a figure collided into the wall, groaning as he hit the floor. "Ugh…"

Saori jumped up. "Mr. Dachii!"

He weakly looked up. "Hey guys, don't worry about me, just the typical life-or-death battle, unbeatable enemy, and PLEASE HELP!"

Before they even had time to process what was going on, a giant fireball came and scooped up Dachii, rising over buildings as it left the scene.

All the animals and people froze, watching the spot where Dachii had landed. Aoki immediately pulled out her katana and climbed up to the roof.

"What are you two waiting for?" Aoki asked. "Come on!"

The fireball landed in the center of the party, where a large gathering of people dancing and singing was occurring. The moment Ravos and Dachii touched the ground, people fell over, screaming.

"What's going on?"

"An attack! Is it the Voltians?"

"Hey, it's that kid! Dachii!"

Ravos got up, his face blazing. "Sorry to crash the party! You all might wanna run! It's about to HEAT UP!"

He aimed his hand at Dachii, but before he could fire an attack, his arm got slashed off. He stared at it, before breaking into a laugh.

"Morino! You've got some good reflexes, don't you, old man!"

He swung behind him but missed. Morino landed in front of him, axes held out. "I might be old, but never slow!"

"What do we do, Grandfather?" Dachii asked. "He's nothing like Nullus, Vapron, or even Ionix!"

Morino stared Ravos down. "He'll either leave, or he'll be forced to."

"That's what I like to hear!" Ravos exclaimed. "Now back it up!"

Ravos clenched one fist, the air around him seeming to heat up. "COMBUSTION."

Morino realized what was happening and quickly pulled Dachii away, just as blue flames burst out from Ravos's body, instantly incinerating all the surrounding buildings and booths.

When it was clear, Morino launched an axe at Ravos, but Ravos easily caught it without looking. "The material of this blade, very nice!"

It started to melt in his hands, causing Morino to throw the other one at Ravos to distract him. As the axe dropped to the floor, Ravos studied Morino.

"I'm very impressed, Morino! Not only are you a human serving as a General of beings far more powerful than yourself, but you've clearly got the skill and battle senses to back it up! All at your advanced age!"

"I'm sure you're much older than I am," Morino remarked. "The way you move, this clearly isn't your first fight."

Ravos appeared to think. "Approximately 1,756th, but you know, who's counting? After all, being an Elite means you get to experience the joy of fighting the STRONG!"

With that, he leaped forward and tried to slash both Morino and Dachii, but Morino used his weapons to intercept the blade. Ravos flipped over Morino and tried to slash his legs, and Morino responded by wrapping the chain around Ravos's arm.

"FURY!"

The chain began to glow, superheating and causing Ravos's arm to burst into flames, and while he curiously gazed at the foreign fire on his arm, Morino grabbed Dachii and created space between them and Ravos.

"You were right, kiddo," Morino said, breathing hard. "He's a cut above the rest."

Ravos moved in a blur, slashing both Dachii and Morino's shoulders before they had time to react. "On your toes, warriors!"

"So…fast!" Morino thought. "This can't keep up, or he'll win!"

Ravos turned his head to look at them, preparing another strike. "COMBUST—-!"

A red card zipped toward his head, and he spun around, grabbing it and throwing it back at the sender.

BOOM.

Aoki dropped from a roof, standing protectively in front of Dachii and Morino.

"I see you two need my help," Aoki scoffed.

"Aoki! Good thing you're here!" Dachii said, relieved. "Because we're all about to die!"

Morino grabbed his shoulder wound. "Be careful, Aoki! This man is nothing to play around with! His power is off the charts!"

"So is mine," Aoki shot back.

Ravos's expression immediately changed once he saw Aoki, becoming more serious and detached. "Huh. I didn't know Voltians would be at this party. Either way, this isn't your fight to jump into, girl."

Aoki didn't wait to attack, immediately lunging at Ravos with her katana raised. Ravos let the blade get close to his head, and then….

BOOM.

A massive blast knocked Aoki to the ground, with Ravos standing there holding her katana. "This sword…very unique…"

Aoki got up immediately, her face red with anger. "Give that back!"

He tossed it to the ground at her feet, surprising her. "Take it. After all, it's dishonorable to fight an unarmed warrior, especially one that's a girl."

"You—-!" Aoki exploded in a fit of rage, charging right back at Ravos, which made him smile.

"You've got some FIRE to you!"

They clashed blades, with Ravos effortlessly countering and parrying each one of Aoki's attacks. Aoki struggled to keep up as Ravos's speed got faster and faster.

"Don't you…ever…cool…off?" Aoki muttered, beginning to tire.

"You want cold?" Ravos laughed. "Not my style, but try this!"

He closed his eyes. "COLDFLAME!"

A pale white flame shot out from his skin, hitting Aoki and making her drop to the ground and shiver, before burning her skin. "The hell is this trickery?"

"Coldflame," Ravos explained. "It's only right I tell you what it does, since it did hit you head on. First, it freezes. Then, it burns!"

Aoki struggled to pick up her blade, only managed to close it around three fingers. She weakly went for Ravos's right leg, but the blade merely bounced off of him.

"Oh. It seems to have hit you pretty hard," Ravos remarked. "Take a moment and warm up, I wouldn't want the battle to end just yet!"

He deflected axe attacks from Morino, who relentlessly tried to gain the upper hand, but Ravos remained one step ahead. While Morino and Ravos engaged each other, Dachii helped Aoki up, getting her away from the scene.

"Aoki, are you alright?" he asked.

She nearly collapsed, and he used his arm to support her. "Dachii…don't stay here, child…you need to go…as far away as possible…if he snatches you…it's over…"

"Running? That's a very cowardly thing to do."

They looked up to find Ravos hovering over them, a wide grin on his face. "You guys can't run just yet! THERMAL BLITZ!"

Aoki barely had time to push Dachii out of the way before a massive plasma blast hit them both, dropping them to their knees.

"Ugh, what did I get hit with?" Dachii groaned. "I can't even think straight…"

Aoki summoned three yellow cards. "PULSE!"

They hit Ravos head-on, causing large electromagnetic blasts that caused him to blink a few times. To Aoki's horror, he was still standing, wiping his eyes.

"Strong stuff! How do those cards work? Is it a trigger? Or is it on impact?"

Aoki summoned three blue cards. "Here, how about you find out? SHROUD!"

She dropped them, causing a giant cloud of blue mist to form around them. Ravos examined it for one moment before setting his hand on fire. "Hehehehe."

BOOM.

One fire blast was all it took, and the mist dispersed, revealing Aoki attempting to get Dachii to safety. "Damn you! What are you made of?"

"Heh, draw your weapon, girl!"

Aoki tried to pick up her blade, but it slipped through her fingers, causing Ravos to shake his head. "It seems your body can't handle the burden of this fight."

"You don't know what I can't handle," Aoki growled.

She tried to punch him, but he blocked it with his palm. "That determination! Very good!"

Without missing a beat, he fired a fire blast to his left, narrowly missing Morino, who jumped over it. "Step away from those kids!"

Morino slashed Ravos's neck, barely cutting through, and once it immediately healed, Ravos began to break down with laughter.

"Ha! I haven't felt this much fun in decades! Let's turn up the intensity."

His eyes began to glow. "HEATER!"

BOOM.

Meanwhile, at Morino's house…

Atomu, Nishiyama, Tomoko, Mashimo, and the rest of Squad S-3 watched along with Marachii and Kia as a massive burst of fire rose up into the sky, swallowing up tons of buildings and even causing wind to fly and hit the group.

"That must be the scene of the battle!" Atomu realized. "Everyone, we've gotta make haste and help out the General!"

"Right!" they all agreed.

As soon as Atomu took a step forward, a spear landed next to his feet.

"You ain't going anywhere."

And in front of him and the others, was a large army of Zharian Soldiers, each armed to the teeth and advancing on the Squad.

And at the gate of the Batango District, even more soldiers swarmed in, marching as they chanted in unison.

"RAVOS! RAVOS! RAVOS!"

—-