Voltiana

"Those pesky little creatures are making plans. We'd best respond, lest we be surprise attacked."

In a dark, secluded meeting room, various representatives were seated around a silver table, with one of the eight seats left empty.  One of them, with the name tag "Ohashi Yakamochi," looked at a holographic screen in front of him.

"Look at them. All determined and prepared. I hope our forces can take them down."

Yakamochi scoffed and with one wave of his hand, the hologram disappeared. Another man, with the name tag "Nakano Ryuu," clicked a laser pen.

"The Tryouts occur today. It's clear that there is talent in that group. If all goes well, we'll be adding plenty of new members to our ranks. Members that can end this feud once and for all."

A representative with the name tag "Shiroma Hachiro" walked into the room. He pressed a button in the middle of the table, turning on a live feed of the Tryouts. He took the lone empty seat at that table, remarking:

"Yes, I met a few of the current participants years ago. Look at that girl, the one about to fight."

He pointed to Hikari. "She's got an Element. THREE of them have elements. Even a boy who was thought a human seemed to manifest one."

He smiled a wicked smile. "Yes, I think this will be the year...the year we crush those pesky tree-dwellers."

Meanwhile...

"Ready? FIGHT!"

Obara and Hikari watched each other carefully, both not moving an inch. Hikari held her hands up, smiling anxiously.

"Well, I'd love it if you don't use any balls on me, thanks—-!"

Obara wiped his nose. "Oh, don't worry! I got something even BETTER for you!" He reached into his pocket, pulling out a few small metal boxes."

"What are those—-?"

He clicked a button on them and they immediately turned into heavy metal boomerangs. He immediately tossed them in the air.

"What the—-?!"

He jumped into the air, preparing to kick both.

"Probability of impact: 85%!"

As they rushed toward Hikari's head, she jumped back and caught one right before it landed. "Phew, too close—-!" Then she had to turn right back around and duck under the other one before it took her head off.

"Hmm!"

She broke the boomerang she caught and put her fists up, ready for the next attack. Obara landed back on the ground, catching the other flying boomerang. Hikari watched him closely.

He held it in the tip of his grasp. "Hmm, probability..."

Hikari debated making a move, but she just waited for him to make one first. He threw the boomerang into the air. "75%!"

The boomerang flew through the air, going high into the sky. He drew another boomerang and rushed at Hikari. "Now to deal with you!" He took a swing at her, and she dodged.

"Woah! Careful! What's that thing made of?"

"Metal! Duh!"

They continued to duke it out. Akari and Kazue were watching intensely. Kazue gently nudged Akari. "Do you think she's got this?"

"Duh. He's probably the weakest non-human competitor left. Easy work for her."

"But those calculations...scary stuff. I still think she has this...right?"

The other two girls were more quiet, but Nishiyama was sticking her tongue out and mocking Tomoko, who was waving energetically at her. Tsugumi just sat in silence.

Hikari managed to dodge the rest of the attacks, and she reflexively pushed Obara went he got too close. Just like Domen, he began violently coughing.

"Oh, uh...sorry?"

"Gosh, but...I'm...prepared for this!"

The boomerang he threw earlier hit Hikari in the back of the head, knocking her to the ground. "Ow!"

Then it exploded.

BOOM.

"AHHH! What is THIS?"

Obara stood up, the coughing spell beginning to wear off. He laughed a nerdy, cringey form of laugh. "I knew my EXPLOSIVE boomerang would land! You only had a 25% chance of countering it!"

Hikari's face was red, having taken massive damage from the explosion. Kazue, worried, began nervously biting her nails.

"Is she okay?"

Akari squinted, looking at the damage. "Uh, I hope...?"

Kai gasped. "Woah! The man just blew her face up! Is he crazy?"

Arata shrugged. "That's nerds for you. Solve any issue, no matter the means."

"You're one to talk!"

"Shut up!"

Obara prepared to throw another boomerang, but he noticed something. "Huh...?"

Hikari had a hand on her chest, and a warm, pink glow flowed into her. In no time at all, all the damage had been reversed. In fact, she looked even better than when she first came in.

"Oh, crap."

She sighed. "That's better."

He pulled another boomerang and quickly threw it. "Probability of impact: 94%—-!"

She caught it and threw it back at him, forcing him to duck. "What?"

"Oh, it hit, just only my hand."

Then she dodged a few more boomerang throws. "Sorry! I have to push you out now!"

She ran at him, pushing him with enough force to send him stumbling back. As he tried to throw more boomerangs, she pushed him two more times, and he fell out of the ring.

Jukai called it out. "And our winner is, HIKARI!"

"Yes! I did it!"

Akari and Kazue both began clapping for her, showering her with hugs when she made it back their way.

"You did great!"

"See, Kari? He's weak."

Obara snorted. "Ehh, whatever. I'm sure the judges will recognize my value." He went back to his seat, getting laughter from Umeda and Arata.

"Well, seems your little nerd smarts didn't work!" Umeda said.

Arata began laughing so hard he could cry. "The nicest girl here, and you get demolished? Sad!"

"Keep laughing. We'll all share the loser spot soon."

Arata chuckled. "Never me."

Jukai walked center-stage. "And for our last match of the second round, we've got a HEAVYWEIGHT one, it's the two siblings of the Royal Family: AKARI vs. ATOMU!"

One of them, Akari, had a stoic but slightly eager expression on her face, and the other, Atomu, had a more determined look. Both siblings walked their way to the stands, kicking off the match that everyone was ready for.

Arata pulled out some pearly white coins. "Who's tryna bet? I got my money on the girl."

Tetsuya pulled out a few of his own. "My money says Atomu's got this!"

Kazue and Hikari both were standing in their seats, excited. "She's gonna go crazy!"

Tsugumi just rolled her eyes. "You girls can sit down. Ugh."

Akari winked at her brother, before taking on a more serious expression. "You ready?"

"Of course I'm ready."

"Ready? FIGHT!"

They both collided fists at the same time, moving at speeds most in the crowd couldn't even perceive. Even Fujii was now out of his seat. "Oh, get to it then! Let me place my own bets!"

Akari threw a jab at Atomu's head, but his RIGHT EYE glowed and he sidestepped the blow. Akari wasn't fazed and tried to kick high, and when Atomu grabbed her leg, it began to glow white and exploded with a blast of raw energy, sending him back.

"Sorry, but you have to get this work."

He got up and rubbed his left eye, which had turned to glass again. "I see. I SEE."

In an instant, the battle turned up a notch.

Akari began moving at even greater speeds and attacked Atomu from all angles, attacks that took his all just to guard against. 

Tetsuya called out: "Use whatever you used on me!"

Arata began counting his coins. "Like I said. Be prepared to have my money, chump." Tetsuya groaned. "Whatever."

Atomu tried to use his abilities to dodge more blows, but eventually, Akari's speed became too fast to process. She got a few hits in on him.

"Getting slower, BROTHER."

"...Fine then."

Immediately, both his eyes began to glow, and they BOTH became glass. Akari continued to apply pressure to Atomu, but when she threw another punch, Atomu used his arm to block it, which had turned into glass.

But this time, instead of the normal clear version, it was colored. Colored LIGHT BLUE. Akari hit it with a powerful blast of white energy, and her attack was REFLECTED back at her.

Instead of falling to the ground, she recovered and simply spit out some blood, shooting more powerful energy blasts at Atomu's glass arms, which reflected her strikes but seemed to drain Atomu.

"Hmm, she won't let up."

More of his body began to change: his chest, arms, and most of his face had begun to turn into a colored form of glass. As more attacks bounced off him, he and Akari began moving at speeds so fast no one but Fujii could see them.

They started trading blows all across the arena, with explosive bursts of power appearing from their strikes.

BOOM.

The energy they were creating was growing stronger and stronger.

BOOOOM.

Arata had popcorn in his hands. "Yessir. I love this kind of entertainment."

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

He and Akari were attacking each other so fast it seemed they were breaking the sound barrier. Every move he made, she blocked. Every punch that she threw, he managed to reflect.

Fujii himself was standing in his seat. "Those two are going INSANE! Look at them!"

Himeka repeatedly shuffled around in her seat. "Who's gonna win? Is she gonna do it?"

Shinjii bellowed a hearty laugh. "Yes! Show no mercy!"

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A giant cloud of smoke arose from their fight, and out of it came Atomu, who had been punched by Akari. "New plan."

His glass arm formed into a hammer, and he attempted to STRIKE Akari, who caught it with her fist and slammed him into the ground.

"Too slow."

Hikari and Kazue both cheered her name. Most of the crowd did as well.

"AKARI! AKARI! AKARI!"

Toru scoffed. "She is the reigning champion for a reason. Not too surprising."

Akari didn't even seem to be breaking a sweat. She WASN'T sweating, unlike Atomu, who was breathing heavily and moving a bit slower.

He looked at his sister, watching her put a hand on her hip and motion for him to attack her again. Then he remembered...

...just who she is...

10 years ago...

"Woah...! Brother, look!"

Atomu was busy in his room studying books about various historical inventions. His little sister ran into the room, showing him her hand, which had a weird form of white energy coming off of it.

"What is that? Your magic?"

"No! Look!"

She held out her hand and the white energy formed a ball, blasting a hole through Atomu's roof.

"What did you just do?!?"

"See! It's something new!"

Soon after, Atomu had taken her to see their parents. The King and Queen were shocked, and Atomu left the room while they spoke to Akari. When she came out, she had a mixture of confusion and excitement.

Years later...

"KRAAACKOOM!"

Atomu was watching his sister outside, training in the nearby mountains. She was able to effortlessly destroy rocks with some focused blasts. Even more stunning, she was able to break and lift them with her BARE hands.

"6 hours in. 6 to go."

"Working pretty hard. Maybe you should take a break?"

"Nope. Now come join in, brother!"

Atomu, after her repeated insistence, tried to move a massive rock the size of a building, but he failed. It took over two hours for him, just before he was able to push it slightly. Akari simply sighed and kicked the rock so hard it flew back over two dozen feet, hitting the side of a mountain and breaking apart.

"Some strength."

"I know. Where's yours? You should be working too."

"Hmph."

Last year...

"Our very own Princess, Akari Asato, is this year's TRYOUT CHAMPION!"

Jukai and the other Voltians clapped for Akari after she had beaten a Voltian boy named Kiyota Hiroyuki. The boy was particularly upset.

"Stupid little girl!"

She ignored him. Fujii arose from his chair, giving her a nod of approval. "Well done, Princess Akari, but you're not of age to join us yet. Come back the next year, we'll love to have you."

"Then why let me try now?"

"Because it was fun to watch."

"Oh."

She was only fourteen then, but Atomu had witnessed what she was capable of. He'd watched the entire thing, she'd cruised through like it was nothing. He felt she was getting too big of a head so, in his mind:

"I'll partake in the next event."

Present Day...

Akari motioned for Atomu to attack her. He stood upright, closing his eyes and focusing his breathing. As she was about to hurl another blast at him, the glass fully covered his body.

Then it broke.

"SHATTER!"

Out of the glass casing came Atomu, with two hollow, pale white eyes, loads of black lines all over his body, and hands made of pure glass. The whole stadium gasped in shock, even Akari stopped attacking.

"Brother! What is that?"

He clenched his fist, stretching his neck around. "A final form..."

Then he swiped his arm, sending glass axes her way. "Respect, sister...."

"...You've made me use it!"

She shook off her concern as she snapped her fingers, a forcefield spawning FROM HER OWN BODY. The axes bounced off of it, going flying in every direction. Atomu was next to her in an instant, punching her forcefield with enormous amounts of force.

It didn't break.

Tetsuya was wide-eyed. "He never used THAT on me!"

Arata laughed, but even he was a bit surprised. "Well..."

"What?"

"You suck, chump. That's why. You aren't worth a 'FINAL' form."

"Whatever!"

Fujii and the other generals began to tense up. Nakada studied Atomu's appearance. "Look at him. That's not natural..."

Toru nodded. "Maybe we should stop this. That's something I haven't seen." Shinjii covered their mouths. "Oh, let the kids fight! This is gettin' good!"

Naito lifted an eyebrow, and Himeka shifted in her chair again. Fujii just looked at them.

Akari and Atomu were going blow for blow again. Every time Atomu picked up his speed, Akari seemed to match it. And not to mention the force of the hits...

BOOOM.

Atomu threw a punch at Akari, who used her forearm to block it, causing a shockwave that knocked over everyone. She and Atomu began moving super fast again, going into the air with their strikes.

"Well...brother...it's about time."

Akari held up both hands, and she formed a massive ball of white energy that spawned from her palms, which she threw down at him. It caused a bright flash of light that blinded the entire arena.

When everyone looked down, Atomu was in a smoking crater just outside of the ring, having reverted to normal. As he brushed the dirt out of his hair, Jukai looked down at him and said:

"The Prince is out of bounds! Which means, our PRINCESS WINS!"

"AKARI! AKARI! AKARI!"

—-