Voltiana

Inside Marachii's mind…

Marachii was standing inside of his home in Estrium, with his entire family: Kia, Dachii, Takashii, Morino, and Kuroten, all sitting around the dinner table, eating pasta. As soon as Marachii noticed them, they all turned their heads to look at him at once.

"Marachii! There you are!" Kia greeted. "Are you hungry, son?"

"Of course he is!" Morino stated. "Kid's been working hard all day, he's gotta eat at some point."

Marachii looked around, confused, before settling his eyes on Dachii, Kuroten, and Takashii, who were all next to each other.

"Something wrong, little bro?" Takashii asked.

"How...how are you...?"

Kuroten set his plate down. "The boy seems a bit pale. Maybe we all should leave him to rest. What do you say, Marachii?"

"No...no!" Marachii stammered. "I'm fine, it's just...is this real?"

"There it is," Takashii remarked. "He's lost it again."

"Son, don't be so harsh on your brother!" Kia said. "After all, Marachii does his best to look after you and Dachii. Who's going to be the one to look after him, in his time of need?"

Dachii tapped his chin, and then he raised his hand. "I can volunteer! After all, I'm probably the only one who can at this point, right?"

Marachii went to open his mouth, but Dachii immediately started glowing, a gray aura surrounding him.

"Seems that's my cue! See ya in the real world, Marachii!"

"The real world?" Marachii wondered. "If this isn't the real world, then where am I?"

Just then, time seemed to stop, and Marachii looked up to find his father, who placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Break free, son. You must."

Back in the Arena...

BOOM.

The focus in the arena shifted to Dachii, who was emitting energy that reached all the way to the sky. His hair and clothes started to fly upward from the force, and Marachii couldn't react in time before Dachii reached out and grabbed his arm, voice booming.

"Don't worry, Marachii! I've GOT YOU!"

Marachii swung a fist at Dachii. "Get OFF!"

Dachii caught the fist with his free hand, looking Marachii dead in the eye. "I don't know what he's done to you, but I know that I'M not leaving this place without you!"

"ARGH!"

Akari, Hikari, and Aoki all watched Dachii, shocked.

"His body..." Akari whispered.

"That power..." Hikari added.

"What the hell are you both waiting for?" Aoki interrupted. "Now's our chance to help him!"

Akari snapped out of her trance. "Right! Come on, Hikari! Let's finish this!"

Hikari nodded. "Okay!"

As they joined Aoki and sprinted toward Dachii and Marachii, Ionix appeared and slammed the ground, causing everyone to go flying.

"Thanks for the save, Master," Marachii said.

"Fall back for now. This boy has unlocked the Ultimate Technique. I must deal with him personally."

"Right!"

Dachii recovered, and faster than the eye could see, he ran up and punched Ionix, who blocked with his elbow.

"SUBMIT," Ionix demanded, his body charging up.

Dachii summoned both gauntlets, which were much larger than before. "EAT THIS FIST!"

BOOM.

He punched Ionix in the face, but Ionix absorbed the punch and used a whip to swing Dachii around the arena before tossing him.

"Had enough?" Ionix asked.

To his surprise, a gauntlet fired at him in response, forcing him to duck. "When did you pick up THAT trick?"

"Just now," Dachii responded, his eyes determined. "Along with this. BULLET!"

His body immediately felt light, much lighter than ever before, and he started zipping around the entire arena, jumping from place to place.

"Fast..." Ionix remarked. "But not fast ENOUGH!"

He tossed his whip, catching Dachii in it like a net. With a twist, he sent a shock through the whip that hit Dachii straight on.

"Still gotta watch out for that lightning!" Dachii noted.

Ionix cracked both his whips before raising them high in the air and bringing them down, causing a massive explosion of electricity.

BOOM.

"You may have Unleashed your power, but you still don't know what you're doing!" Ionix announced. "Now give up, don't make me have to hurt you."

He cracked his whip to show his point, but a red card made him shift focus.

"EXPLODE!"

Ionix used his whip to deflect the card, but a sword was waiting after it, and it grazed his shoulder. Once he looked back, he saw Aoki, holding a black card in her hand.

"Poor child. He thinks he really stands a chance on his own," Aoki commented. "Time to bring him back to reality."

She tossed the card down, and once the ink started coming out, she stabbed her blade into it, letting it absorb into her blade and arm.

"Much better. CORRUPTING SLASH!"

A powerful inky slash tore through the air, heading right for Ionix, but a ball of electricity emerged from his body, destroying the slash.

"That primitive attack won't work here!"

Aoki tightened her grip. "Well then, how about we try a new approach?"

She held her blade out before rushing Ionix, blue cards in her hand.

"Shroud!"

A blue mist emerged, surrounding Ionix, who began to glow brighter and brighter. "Useless ploy."

And with a burst of electricity, the shroud disappeared, allowing him to spot Aoki coming in for the attack. He lifted his hand and leveled a lightning blast at her.

"Now it's time to send you to hell."

Once he fired it, Akari jumped in, pushing Aoki out of the way.

"Move, Princess!" Aoki exclaimed. "I've got this!"

"Yeah, 'cause my eyes are deceiving me," Akari scoffed. "Hikari, Dachii! Let's show him what Squad S-1 can do!"

Ionix laughed, forming what appeared to be a spear made out of electricity. "Yes, enlighten me."

Hikari went to stand by Akari's side, but once Dachii moved to join them, Ionix slammed the spear down, causing a stream of lightning to head towards Dachii and burst out of the ground, temporarily disorienting Dachii.

"With the Power of Lightning, I cast down this spear...render all who defy it to nothing more than ASH!"

The spear continued to shock Dachii, but it stopped once Akari forcefully grabbed Ionix's arm.

"What—-?"

He looked at her, even as the shocks radiated through her body.

"You...aren't...taking...him....!" she managed to spit out.

He raised his hand to strike her, but Hikari grabbed his other arm, visibly cringing from the shocks.

"Don't let go, Akari!"

Ionix looked between the two, amused, but Aoki jumped on his back, grabbing him from under his arms.

"Ugh...stupid...plan...!"

Ionix's eyes flashed once, and a powerful pillar of lightning shot out from him, knocking all three girls away.

"The arrogance of women," he muttered. "Where was I? Oh, YES."

He cracked his whips and began violently swinging them at Dachii, who used his gauntlets to the block. Dachii fired another gauntlet at Ionix, but Ionix caught it with one hand and tossed it aside.

"Easy now."

And in the blink of an eye, he and Dachii rushed at each other, engaging in a fast-paced brawl of punches.

Ionix ended it by kicking Dachii, sending him rolling across the ground. When Dachii looked up, he saw Ionix holding both hands together, raising them toward the sky.

"Let the rain be as loud as the pain I've endured! Strike down every FOE! THUNDEROUS RAIN!"

A giant blob of electricity came out, growing bigger and bigger as it rose high in the sky. When it reached a certain height, it stopped, unleashing devastating strikes of lightning and keeping everyone on the move.

Platforms started to rise from the chaos, and soldiers got underneath them to avoid the hailstorm.

"This HAS to end!" Dachii thought. "My body already feels like a dry fish, anything more is definitely gonna hurt!"

As more lightning threatened to get close, a pair of boomerangs deflected it, and Dachii saw Himeka jumping from platform to platform, the tips of her hair partially singed and her face a mask of cold anger.

"Hey! You ruined my HAIR!"

"Shut up and die girl," Ionix replied. "Your time is over."

The lightning struck her, turning her into nothing more than ash.

"Himeka!" Hikari cried.

But to Ionix's shock, he heard the sound of more boomerangs coming, and sure enough, he turned around to find another Himeka, perfectly alive and well.

"Rude! Get him, Gigarangs!"

Six boomerangs came flying at him, and he used his lightning to destroy them all before blasting Himeka to ash.

"Master!" Marachii called out. "Watch out!"

A MASSIVE boomerang flew in from the side, nearly taking off Ionix's head. He fired numerous blasts of lightning, bringing it down, but not before a second one caught him in the back.

"What is this madness? Why isn't she DEAD?"

As he pondered the question, another Himeka dropped on the platform next to him, her boomerang in hand.

"Woah, is she...?"Dachii thought. "She's like totally different now!"

Ionix touched down on another platform, eyes seething. He watched as Himeka sized him up, and her body started to glow with white sparks.

"Go my lovelies! Bring down the bad man!"

At once, her body began to shake and one by one, more Himekas emerged from her, each wielding a boomerang.  In seconds, there were well over a dozen.

"I see," Ionix thought. "I thought she could only clone inanimate objects, but she has the ability to use her magic on the living, too. Did she just awaken this power, or was it always part of the strength of the S-2 General?"

The Himekas all jumped towards Ionix at the same time, except for the main one.

"No matter. I'll consider it in future battles."

BOOM.

A powerful wave of electricity came from the ball above, vaporizing all of the Himekas instantly, except the original.

"Gotta keep him busy!" Himeka thought. "If he focuses even one attack on me, I'll die instantly!"

More clones of her began to appear, immediately rushing to attack Ionix.

"A foolish diversion!" Ionix stated, using his lightning spear to vaporize more and more clones. Once they were all gone, he threw the spear at Himeka, who knocked it away with her boomerang.

"Just...a little longer!" Himeka thought. "Need to wear him down!"

"You won't last."

Ionix appeared in front of her and punched her all the way to another platform before firing a lightning blast at her, which she managed to dodge. Just then, a storage portal opened over his head, dropping a pile of dwarven axes onto him.

"Get away from my sister!"

Hikari climbed onto a nearby platform, staring defiantly at Ionix.

Himeka's eyes immediately widened. "Hikari! It's too dangerous, you shouldn't be up here!"

"I don't care!" she stated back. "I'm not gonna watch him kill you over and over, not even a clone!"

"It's perfect, actually," Ionix remarked. "Now the sisters can both be laid to rest. A fitting punishment for scum like you."

And his body began pulsing, glowing brighter than ever before as it vibrated uncontrollably. Electrical currents shot out in every direction, and Himeka quickly grabbed her sister and put her on her back.

"What do we do?" Hikari asked.

"The only thing we can do!" Himeka responded. "Get him into the right spot!"

Ionix began floating in the air, firing electrical attacks uncontrollably. Himeka jumped all around him, continuing to draw his attention and force him to attack.

"Over here, lightning rod! I'm too fast for you!"

A lightning blast came their way, and Himeka jumped over it. After a few more missed shots, Ionix's back was finally turned to the ground.

"Now, Dachii!" Himeka yelled out.

"The hell?" Dachii wondered. "What does she expect me to do? I can't reach all the way up there in time!"

For some reason, Dachii noticed everything had slowed down, and he could see Ionix still attacking Himeka and Hikari. And in his head, he could hear a voice.

"Focus..."

"Sister, he's not gonna get here in time! We need a plan B!" Hikari exclaimed.

Ionix fired off another shot, causing Himeka to lose her balance and making both sisters fall out of the air.

"AHHHHHH!"

"Despicable creatures," Ionix growled.

Down below, Dachii held his head, sweating. "That's not good, that's not good!"

As both girls fell, he tried to calm his mind, letting his father's voice fill his thoughts.

"Focus, son. UNLEASH."

A tendril from Marachii came, preparing to surround Dachii, but Dachii closed his eyes, breathing deeply.

"I sure hope this works, I SURE hope it does, like those video games...."

And then he opened them.

"RISE!"

BOOM.

He took off in the air, but not jumping this time, FLYING.

"Hey, it worked! It worked! I'm FLYING!"

Himeka and Hikari continued to fall, but in one quick motion, Dachii caught them both.

"Dachii?" Hikari questioned, confused.

Himeka pointed at Ionix, who was watching in surprise. "Give him hell!"

Dachii summoned a gauntlet, pulling his fist back.

"Density....PUNCH!"

And then he drove it right into Ionix's chest, tearing through it as he flew past him.

"What...?"

"It's not enough!" Himeka stated. "He's still got his heart!"

On the ground, Aoki picked up her blade, which was still coated with black ink.

"You've lost this battle now....DIE!"

She threw it with all her force, sending it piercing right through Ionix's heart, canceling his power, and making him fall to the ground.

"Master!" Marachii cried out, before suddenly passing out.

Ionix hit the ground, but as he did, he saw a familiar sight:

An orange-haired Voltian girl.

—-