Voltiana

Marachii grabbed what appeared to be a rifle and pointed it at Akari, who didn't even flinch. She just sighed. As the crowd went silent, waiting for someone to make the first move, Tomoko exclaimed:

"Yeah! Gun her down, Mariachii!"

He took a deep breath and fired the gun, and lots of plasma rounds came out of the muzzle, heading straight for Akari, who dodged at such unreal speed that Marachii couldn't even see her move. Marachii held down the trigger further, as the crowd cheered for Akari. Up in the stands, Morino slapped his forehead.

"They shouldn't be here! Damn kids, they stand no chance, we have to end this before--"

Akari was on top of Marachii in an instant, breaking his gun. When she grabbed his arm, Marachii reared back and punched her in the face, which hurt his own hand instead of her.

"Get your hands off me, woman!"

"Ugh. Typical human." She tossed him so far, he nearly fell out of the ring. "Just lose."

Dachii raised his voice loud enough for Marachii to hear. "She might be an alien or something, but you got this bro! Throw those hands!"

As soon as Marachii got up, she had him by the collar of his shirt. "Bye now."  As she prepared to throw him over, Marachii thought to himself how dumb of an idea it was to attend the Tryouts, now even more so since he saw firsthand what a Voltian could do. He resigned himself to his fate, but something happened...

Akari hadn't thrown him over yet. Something made her hesitate...

She was looking at his arm. When Marachii looked where she was staring, the sight nearly made him faint.

His ARM was no longer HIS. It had been replaced with what seemed to be a robotic arm, much more muscular than before. It had glowing blue lines on it and holes that seemed like they were for thrusters. The crowd just stared, not saying a word. Even the judges didn't know what to say. Everyone looked as though they had seen a ghost, Marachii most of all.

"Uh. Lady, what the HELL did you do to me?"

Akari regained her composure and was about to toss him out the ring, but Marachii's arm, seemingly on its own, reared back and PUNCHED her in the face, sending her flying a few feet back. "Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to--"

She just rubbed her jaw for a moment, and then she cracked her neck. "Okay then."

Then she clapped her hands together, and a wave of energy appeared on her body. Her eyes were glowing white. Marachii already knew he messed up.

"Oh hell..."

At the judge's panel, Morino stood up.

"Okay, now I must stop this match! If she kills my grandson--!"

Toru eyed him. "Your grandson? So, you KNEW about this?" Morino glared back. "Of course not! I don't know what's going on, but Fujii, stop the match, NOW!"

Fujii was just watching the fight, curious. In the crowd, whispers were heard:

"What the hell is that kid?"

"He has one too...? But that's impossible! He's a human!"

"Little freak, that's what he is!"

The other competitors were also stunned into silence, in utter shock. Dachii had to rub his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things again. "Uh, brother? You just punched that girl, REALLY hard." But in all seriousness, Dachii noticed that Marachii's arm was similar to what this entire place was about:

TECH.

Akari fired a blast of white energy at Marachii, whose arm morphed into a mini-rocket and propelled him away. As she held out her hand to summon an even BIGGER blast, Marachii's back sprouted five mechanical tendrils that rapidly attacked Akari. Despite their incredible speed and strength, Akari deflected them all with ease.

"Sorry. Sorry!"

Dachii called out to him. "Don't apologize! Beat her!" He lowered his voice a bit. "Not too badly tho, I still want her number."

Arata yawned and stretched, hitting a couple of the smaller guys. "He's a weird case, isn't he? I thought he was human."

Kai rubbed his head. "Do you see what he's DOING? No way he, or it, is a human!"

Luca stared at the fight intensely, watching both Marachii and Akari use their abilities. While the female competitors were surprised, they all cheered for Akari.

"Wreck that human!"

"Use your power!"

"He's still weak!"

Marachii's tendrils each formed tiny missile launchers at the ends, and they all locked onto Akari. "Uh-oh! Watch out, lady!"

The missiles all shot at her, connecting with their target and creating a large amount of dust and smoke. When the smoke cleared, there she was, standing unharmed, with a full FORCEFIELD around her body. As Marachii just watched her, eyes wide, she dropped her forcefield, and massive amounts of white energy surrounded her entire body. "Okay. I've seen enough."

As Marachii's arm formed a cannon, she clapped her hands and caused a MASSIVE white explosion that sent Marachii flying out of the ring. The crowd cheered, but Morino and Dachii were completely baffled. Dachii stood up and stated: "Marachii, are you okay? Did that alien girl kill my brother?"

She might have been pretty, but Dachii also realized she was POWERFUL too. Marachii slowly got up, holding the back of his head. "Ow. That hurts, a little. Wait, only a little?"

As Dachii prepared to make his way to Marachii, a bunch of guards descended on him, handcuffing him and leading him away. Dachii called after them: "Aye, let him go!"

As the buff men took Marachii away, they callously told him: "You're under arrest, freak." After Marachii was taken out of the arena, Jukai announced: "And the winner is, AKARI!"

Dachii tried to chase after the men, but he stumbled and fell. Morino also tried to intervene, but Fujii put a hand on his shoulder, saying: "Don't worry, he'll be alright. They just want to get to the bottom of this."

Despite Fujii's words, Morino walked to one of the exits, no doubt going to check on Marachii, but not before stating: "None of you, don't you DARE let my other grandchild fight."

"Hey, Morino wait---!"

But he was gone. As Akari walked down the steps, there was gossip among the crowd about the battle and "Marachii."

"How do you think he got in?"

"What really IS he? He's no mere human, that's for sure."

"Who cares? Our princess handled him, and now he's going to jail. Serves that weirdo right."

Some of the female competitors were congratulating Akari as she made her way back to the seats. Hikari walked up to her and gave her a hug.

"Wow, bestie, you did great!" Akari returned it but began to wince. "Okay, okay, Kari. You can stop now...ow."

Nishiyama was a bit more loud: "Great win! But you'll need more than that if we fight! Because, I'm like, super cool and strong, so..."

Kazue gave her a thumbs-up, while Tsugumi was busy eyeing her brother, Tetsuya. She mumbled to herself: "Idiot. I told him not to follow me here. I'll teach his ass a lesson."

Meanwhile, Dachii struggled to get up, but a hand was extended to him. He took it, and he realized it was the messy-looking kid, Luca.

After helping him to his feet with surprising strength, Luca whispered in his ear: "You should be careful. This is not a friendly place."

Then he walked away, leaving Dachii stunned. Tomoko had somehow found a silver apple from somewhere, and he was now eating it, cheering for the next fight: "Who's going up next? Is it me? Please be me!"

A voice rang out on the mic. "The next fight is, DACHII vs. ARATA!"

"Aw sh---"

Arata cracked his knuckles. "That human kid? Look at him, his weak ass can barely stand."

Kai whispered to him: "But that other kid is his brother, remember? Maybe he might be a weird thing like the other one was."

"Yeah, yeah."

Arata got up and made his way to his side of the arena. Dachii, after much hesitation, limped to his own side. Fujii looked down at him, studying. Himeka eyed him, curiosity and concern on her face.

"Are we really gonna let that human boy fight? Look at him, it looks like he's using all his effort to stand!"

Toru folded his arms. "It could be a trick. Appear weak and then strike when your opponent underestimates you. Nakada narrowed her eyes.

"It wouldn't be a bad tactic, considering the meathead he's going up against."

Shinjii pounded his hands on the table. "I don't wanna see tricks! I wanna see action! Like his brother or whoever the hell that was! At least that was a fight!"

Naito kept quiet, and Fujii looked between both competitors. "I want to see how this plays out. Might be interesting."

Jukai got the weapons ready again, and with the microphone, he once again declared: "Ready? FIGHT!"

Dachii immediately looked at him. "Aye, guy! I wasn't even ready---"

Arata instantly punched Dachii in the face, knocking him to the ground. "OW, dude!" Before he could get up, Arata flung him to the side. "Come on, fight me!"

Dachii sat up, breathing heavily. "Well, if you would calm your ass down, maybe I WOULD!"

He tried to stand and act tough but immediately fell back down. "UGH, damn LEG!" Arata just shook his head, disappointed.

"Weak."

The crowd watched intensely, but Dachii just sat there, holding his leg. In one fell swoop, Arata rushed toward him and grabbed him. "OW. Let me---!"

But before he could finish, Arata tossed him out of the stands so hard, he hit the front row with a painful:

CRACK.

Dachii was face down on the ground, not moving, as Jukai announced: "And the winner is, ARATA!

"ARATA! ARATA! ARATA!"

As the crowd cheered for Arata, a swift chained axe landed right near Arata's foot. The cheering immediately stopped when they saw who it was. Even Arata stood still, lacking the nerve to move.

"WHAT. THE HELL. DID I SAY?"

Morino pulled his axe back into his hand, looking around with a stare so piercing it could almost kill. He rushed over to Dachii, who was still unconscious.

After turning him over and examining him, he checked to make sure he was breathing, and to his relief, he was. The crowd whispered amongst themselves:

"Woah, General Morino looks pissed!"

"But why? That boy knew what he was walking into."

"Well, seems he's not like that thing he calls his brother..."

"Either way, a win is a win!"

Fujii came over to Morino. "Here, maybe she can help." Hikari was standing next to Fujii, but Morino didn't look at either of them.

He just motioned for Hikari to do whatever she was there to do. She calmly pressed her hands on Dachii's chest, and a pink glow transferred from her body to his.

Dachii opened his eyes and coughed for a minute, and then he fell back into unconsciousness. Hikari gave Morino a nervous smile.

"Sorry, sir! That's the best I can do! Gotta save some energy for my own fight." Morino nodded to her as he picked up Dachii. "Thank you, young lady."

Then he picked up Dachii's limp form and headed for the exit, but not before telling a guilty-faced Fujii: "I'll have a chat with YOU later, Kenshi."

Then he left, and the crowd went back to gossiping, both on how scary General Morino was, and how weak of an opponent Dachii had proven to be.

Fujii allowed Hikari to return to the other female competitors, and they too began gossiping.

"So, his brother must be an exception. Weird." Akari said.

"Aww, humans are so fragile!" Nishi remarked.

Hikari just shrugged. "That's humans for you. Except for Sir Morino."

Kazue just sat with her legs crossed, eating what seemed to be some pork. With her mouth full, she exclaimed: "Well, at least you all get to fight humans! I gotta fight HIM."

She pointed across to Luca, who was busy doing crunches. Nishi and Hikari laughed, while Akari sized him up. "He doesn't look like much. Has drive, however."

Fujii made his way back to the other judges. "Well, let's begin the next match."

Nakada lifted an eyebrow. "Without Morino?"

"Yeah, I don't think he'll be joining us for a while. That boy's injuries looked serious. Hikari even noted it." He leaned back in his chair, putting his feet up, before giving Jukai a thumbs up to begin the next match. "Next up, TOMOKO vs. NISHIYAMA!"

Nishi appeared behind him, giving him an icy stare. "I said, call me NISHI."

"Sorry, sorry."

Tomoko got up, excitedly jumping. "Don't worry, Dachii and Mariachii! I'll win this round for you guys! YAY!"

The male competitors all just looked at him funny. Kai broke the silence. "I know one of them was a freak, and the other was a weakling, but this one's just plain weird."

Umeda brushed his hair with a silver comb. "Yuck. Just looking at him makes my skin crawl." His hair hit Arata in the face. "Watch it, pretty boy!"

"Ew. Nasty attitude."

Arata went back to sitting in silence. He looked at where Morino had left with Dachii and silently muttered under his breath: "Sorry, sir, but your grandson was WEAK. This is my Tryout to win. I spare NO ONE."

Tetsuya yawned. "When will I fight? I've been dying for a--"

He got grabbed by his shirt.

"The hell?"

"Go home."

His sister, Tsugumi, had his face only a few inches from hers. "This place is too intense for you. Did you see what just happened to that human? Go. Home."

"But I'm not a human---"

Arata looked and let out a laugh. Tsugumi glared at him, and he mockingly put his hands up. She focused her attention back on Tetsuya.

"Before your match begins, I had better see no trace of you here." She walked back to her side, while Tetsuya waved her off.

"She's too demanding and controlling. Just like Mom. She'll be alright, I'm staying."

Prince Atomu, who had been quietly sitting for a while now, leaned over and spoke to him: "You are not the only one who has a sister that can be a pain, Tetsuya." He pointed to Akari, who rolled her eyes at him.

"Uh, you're both in the Royal Family. No way am I jumping into that drama."

"Competitors! Take your places!"

Tomoko rushed to his side, eagerly pacing back and forth as he waited for Nishi to reach her own side. "Well, you're energetic, aren't you?"

"Duh! I get to fight a strong lady opponent! Now attack me, challenger!"

Nishi scratched her head. "Oh my..."

"Ready? FIGHT---!"

Before he could even finish his line, Tomoko had already begun charging at Nishi, laughing:

"I'm READY! HIT ME!"

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