Voltiana

Marachii saw Dachii's eyes go slack, and he tried to pull his brother's hand off the crown, but the hand wouldn't budge, and his own hand got attracted to the crown like a magnet, coming into contact with it.

His vision went hazy, and he himself was pulled into the same sight Dachii was in.

There was fire, destruction, and death all around. They were in the ruins of a black and purple castle, with shadows dancing all around them. Marachii looked to his left and saw Dachii buried under rubble, and as he reached out to touch him a horrific scream was heard, and an explosion of purple came after, knocking both back to reality and away from the crown. Marachii got up and assisted Dachii.

"What the hell was that?" Dachii said. He looked at the crown with lots of nervousness and unease. As Marachii helped him away from the crown, Dachii decided:

"Maybe...we should just leave it be."

Marachii nodded, sweating. They both decided to put the sight out of their minds, and they went up to get some sleep for tomorrow's big event. When Marachii couldn't fall asleep, he went to the bathroom to grab some of his grandfather's sleeping pills he'd seen.

Unbeknownst to him, for a faint moment, when his face crossed the mirror, his eyes were a glowing red.

The next day, Marachii was surprisingly woken up by Dachii, who was standing on his own. He still had a limp, but otherwise he was supporting his own weight. The sight of this fully woke Marachii from his sleep.

"WHAT? You can stand now?"

Dachii stumbled a bit. "Yeah, my legs felt a little better today, so I was able to get up. Still hurts though."

As Dachii went to get breakfast, Marachii got up and got dressed. He came down to the perplexed faces of his mother and grandfather, who both were equally as confused as Marachii was when Dachii sat down at the table on his own.

"Oh, hey you guys."

"Dachii, are you...okay?" Their mother poured him some orange juice, and he nodded. "Yep, legs feel better! Great, right?"

Kia and Morino shared a look. Dachii scarfed down the waffles and bacon on his plate. Marachii joined them. "Dachii, speaking of your condition, your grandfather has found you a new doctor." Kia patted him on the head. "But how are you able to walk better? Did you take a drug?"

"Nope. I guess that exercise yesterday helped me!" he said.

"Exercise?" she replied, studying him with a suspicious look.

Morino didn't say anything, but he excused himself from the table. "Well, glad to hear you're getting better, kiddo. Now then, I'll be off to go handle work." Before anyone could ask, he went to his room, grabbed a bag, and left the house. The boys finished their breakfast and prepared to leave.

"Where are you two going?"

"To get more exercise!" Dachii gave her a wave with his surprisingly more flexible arm, and Marachii also said goodbye. She told them to be back in an hour, and they agreed. They walked to the nearest bus stop and found Tomoko there waiting for them. "Woah, you can walk now?"

"Uh, yeah. Exercise, am I right?" he said. Marachii found this all weird, but there was no explanation otherwise, he figured.

"But anyway, why are you the only person here?" Dachii asked, not seeing anyone else outside at all. It was just Tomoko and them. "Oh, I'm always the only one that attends!" he replied, with a bit too much eagerness. Dachii lifted an eyebrow. "Why?"

"You'll see!"

And at that moment, a bus came. There was no one else in it but the driver, and the driver was unmistakably NOT human. As the three boarded the bus, Dachii saw the full extent of the (man?)'s appearance: glowing white skin, long, silver hair, gray eyes, and a smile so bright that it quite literally hurt to look at.

Dachii and Marachii sat at the far end of the bus, creeped out by the man, and Tomoko joined them. The man spoke, voice as confident and mysterious as he was.

"Well, seems we finally got more than one PERSON to join us! Hello new competitors! I'm your bus driver, Kuuki Bansui." Tomoko gave him a wave. The man just gave him an uninterested look.

"I thought that Tomoko boy would have been the only human to get crushed, but three's a crowd, isn't it? Now let's take off!" The bus zoomed away. It drove out of the city into the next one. Before exiting the gate, Dachii saw the sign:

"Now exiting Batango District. Now entering Shonora District."

The same district Dachii had went through on his way in.

The three boys looked at the technological buildings and beautifully designed houses as the bus cut a few corners. After a few turns, they saw a giant coliseum-inspired stadium in the distance. Bansui drove right up to the entrance and opened the bus doors.

"Well now, you can get your asses off my bus. Don't get wrecked too badly now!" He burst into laughter as the three boys got off.

Tomoko waved him goodbye, and Bansui just shut the doors in his face and drove off. Dachii looked at the giant stadium. It was many stories high, and from the sounds, it seemed many of its seats had already been filled.

They walked through the entrance. There were thousands of (Voltians?) watching from the stands. There were news helicopters and cameras everywhere, and there was what seemed to be a fighting ring in the center.

Way above them, at the top of the stands, were seven empty seats, each with a microphone.

Dachii and the others were directed by a Voltian guard to take their seats at the very bottom stand. An announcer, the same one from the ad, began to speak. "It's your host, Jukai Ryougane, and not only does it appear that the human contestants have arrived, but there's MORE than one this time!"

A guard with a microphone came over to the three. "State your names for the tryouts." He came over to Dachii first.

"Uh. Dachii Jones. Wait, why the hell is there a ring, did you guys lie---?"

He ignored Dachii and went over to Marachii next. "You next."

"Marachii. Marachii Jones."

"Oh wow! Looks like we gotta BROTHER pair attending today! Haven't seen that one in a while!" Jukai laughed over the mic, hurting Dachii's ears.

The guard skipped Tomoko. "Guess after attending 6 years in a row, they remember you! Awesome!" Marachii looked at him.

"SIX YEARS? How old ARE you?"

"Fourteen and a half!"

"WHAT?"

Jukai went to stand in the middle of the arena. "You heard it, folks! Dachii, Marachii, and Takamoto Tomoko are this year's human competitors!"

The cameras all pointed at them, broadcasting them to the entire nation. Marachii had a bad feeling about the entire ordeal.

"And now! For your favorite Voltian stars, here they are!"

A bunch of young Voltians walked into the stadium. They all stood in a pack, waiting to be announced. Some of them had excited expressions, some had nonchalant expressions, and some looked ready to kill somebody.

Jukai cleared his throat. "First, welcome the MALE competitors!"

And he began calling names:

"Arata Takahiro!"

A big buff Voltian boy with short gray hair walked from the crowd. He waved back and forth to the cheers from the folks and took a seat in the bottom stands.

"Luca Mori!"

A wild-looking Voltian boy with long, unkempt white hair came from the pack. He calmly acknowledged the cheers.

More names were called: "Domen Komatsu! Kai Shintani! Umeda Atsushi! Tetsuya Izanagi! Obara Toshiaki!" There was one last guy who hadn't taken his seat.

He had long silver hair that reached his waist, and his eyes were a cold pale white. He had dressed more elegantly for the occasion than the other boys.

"And last but most CERTAINLY not least, our very own Prince Atomu Asato!"

The guy walked to his spot. He was showered with cheers, and he gave the crowd a curt wave and sat down. Jukai then turned his attention to the ladies in the stand. Marachii tapped Dachii on the shoulder.

"This is starting to give me bad vibes. I think we should escape while we can...Dachii? DACHII?"

He was busy eyeing the Voltian females.

They were all pretty, but two stood out to him: the pink, curly-haired one with golden eyes, who reminded him of Mihina, and the one with long silver hair and silver eyes, who just seemed to be in a different world from everyone else. Marachii had to basically shake him to get his attention.

"Helloooo?"

"What???"

"What are you doing?"

Dachii pointed to the Voltian girls. "Those are some fine ladies, man. I need one." Marachii just slapped his head, and Tomoko looked over with an eager smile. "Oh! They are fine! They'll also probably kill us! Yay!"

"HUH?"

"As long as I date ONE. I've been single TOO long. Wait, what do you mean kill?"

Jukai began announcing:

"Kazue Kitagawa! Tsugumi Izanagi! Nishiyama Kimura---" After he said her name, the girl he had called interrupted him. "Please, call me Nishi! And folks, prepare for the best Tryout EVER! Like, so gonna be great."

Nishi took her seat, and a stunned Jukai continued. "Well, thanks Nishi? Anyway, next up, Hikari Hisatomi!"

The pink-haired girl walked over to her seat. She gave a gentle smile to the crowd as she sat down. Only the silver-haired girl remained. "And our last female contestant, our reigning champion: Princess Akari Asato!"

The crowd burst into cheers. She walked so confidently; she didn't even wave or do anything besides take her seat. Once the crowd settled, Jukai pointed to the stands. "Now! It's time for the judges, who are none other than our very own generals! Starting off with our silent but deadly General S-7, give it up for Naito Kei!"

A young female stepped out into the light. She seemed like she was in her late teens, far too young to be leading a military squad. She walked up to the seat on the far end and sat down. She leaned into her mic and spoke: "Hi, I guess."

Dachii was fawning over her as well. Marachii couldn't do anything but look disappointed. Jukai continued:

"Next up, we've got the mystery man with the plan, give a round of applause for General S-6, Kaneko Toru!"

A stern-looking man walked up to his seat. He saw and said into his mic: "You're all so loud."

"Next up, our heavyweight heavy hitter, make some noise for General S-5: Kumagai Shinjii!"

A huge man with muscles from head to toe burst out into the light, sitting in his seat and nearly breaking it. Without even needing the mic, he yelled out: "Show me some action! I didn't come to watch soft-ass little kids!"

"And for our next judge, we have our serious but totally awesome General S-4, say hello to Nakada Kiku!"

The woman was older than the teenage general, but she still seemed to be no older than 25. As Dachii examined her, she sat and said: "Do your best." Jukai cleared his throat once more for the next name: "And now, getting into our BIG three, we got our not-to-be-underestimated human weapon of WAR, it's General S-3, Morino Masato!"

The crowd cheered for him, and once Dachii and Marachii heard the name and saw who stepped up, their eyes widened. Morino sat down, and as he began to speak, he noticed his grandchildren. "The HELL---?" He cleared his throat. "I mean, I can't wait to find some new young talent!"

"What is this? HE'S a general?" Dachii asked, trying to make sure he wasn't seeing things. "But Grandfather isn't one of them! And he's old!"

Marachii noticed Morino staring back at them. "Well…I think he saw us. Maybe now would be a good time to--"

"And at the number two spot, we have our very own energetic, and dare I say, BEAUTIFUL General S-2, Himeka Hisatomi!"

Another young general who appeared to be in her late teens skipped over to her seat. She had pink hair like Hikari. She said and stated: "Hey Sis! And hey to all my fans watching, you should totally subscribe to my---"

Morino stopped her, as Jukai called the final name. "And for our top general, the man, the myth, the unrivaled legend: Kenshi Fujii!"

A man with long icy blue hair and eyes walked to his seat. He got an uproar from the crowd. He sat down and stretched before picking up his mic. "Well guys, I formally welcome you all to the 500th Voltian Military Tryouts."

Dachii felt like he had seen him from somewhere, but with all that was going on he couldn't tell what was and wasn't real. Fujii continued:

"I see we have some new humans competing. Hopefully, they make for great fights!"

The crowd cheered. "Now then, Jukai, reveal the bracket!"

Jukai pulled a remote out of his pocket and a holographic bracket appeared with each of the contests against one another:

-    Domen vs. Hikari

-    Kai vs. Tsugumi

-    Obara vs. Umeda

-    Atomu vs. Tetsuya

-    Luca vs. Kazue

-    Tomoko vs. Nishiyama

-    Dachii vs. Arata

-    Marachii vs. Akari

"How the hell did they get my name up there so fast---?" Dachii questioned.

Marachii was more focused on the fact they would be FIGHTING, but at least he and Dachii were on opposite brackets, so even if they did advance, they wouldn't fight each other for a while.

Between Morino being a Voltian General, all these people watching, and the fact they would be FIGHTING against people they knew NOTHING about, Marachii decided it was best to try and leave, but he realized a crucial fact.

"I'm fighting the PRINCESS?"

Dachii looked at him, the bracket, then back at him. "Oh, damn, you are..."

Jukai got back on the mic. "Now then! Let's open our first round up with a BANG! The first battle is: Akari vs. Marachii!"

Marachii just sat still in shock. "Uh...Uhhh...UHHHHH..."

Dachii patted him on the back. "Go ahead, man. Pound that princess."

Marachii walked up to the arena floor, and Akari did as well. Jukai got on the mic once more and pushed a button on his remote, and tables of weapons popped up on either side. There were advanced guns, swords, axes, hammers, shields, and even grenades. Marachii gulped as Akari picked up a shield, examined it, and then tossed it to the side.

"Use any weapon you like! Either incapacitate your opponent or knock them out of the ring! Good luck! (Even though this is an easy win for our reigning champ.)"

Marachii shot him a dirty look. He grabbed a gun he clearly didn't know how to use and hoped for the best. "Okay, let's do this."

"Let the battle, BEGIN!"

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