Voltiana

Outside of the S-2 Mansion, Dachii and Xar found Hikari, who was pacing back and forth.

"What's SHE doing here?" Xar asked. "Did you invite her?"

Dachii shook his head. "No? Maybe she's here to…check on her sister?"

Xar stopped the car and got out, and Dachii followed him as they made their way to the door.

As soon as Hikari spotted them, she hurried over. "Finally! What took you guys so long?"

"Never mind that," Xar replied. "Why are you outside of General Himeka's mansion?"

Hikari pointed to a note on the front door. Xar walked up to it and read it:

"So sorry for leaving, super important mission! Be back soon! Tell my sister I said hi!"

"See?" Hikari stated. "She just left after inviting me here! Her entire squad is gone!"

Xar stared at the note for a long time. "Why did she invite YOU here?"

Hikari looked away. "She…said it was a sister thing. She told me she'd start when Dachii gets here."

"I think the Queen might know something about this mission," Xar said. "Regardless, if she's not here as of now, we'll have to move you to the next General, Dachii."

"So back to the S-1 Mansion," Dachii realized.

Xar nodded, and he turned his attention toward Hikari. "You come as well. If General Himeka isn't here, staying here serves no purpose."

Hikari looked at the mansion for a long time before reluctantly getting inside the car. "Fine."

Once they were in the car, Xar began to head back to the home of Squad S-1. When Dachii looked back at the mansion one last time, it seemed as if there were sparks of electricity coming off of it.

"Huh?" He blinked and took a closer look, but it was gone.

Soon, they made it back to the S-1 Mansion, and they saw Saori and Marachii playing with Fido in the front yard.

"Aww, he's cute!" Saori exclaimed.

"I know, right?" Marachii said.

Fido began to bark and wag his tail, and he jumped on Marachii. "Fido happy! Play with Fido!"

Marachii scratched his back. "Good boy! Sit!"

When Xar got close enough, he stopped the car, and Hikari and Dachii got out.

"I'm sure General Fujii is inside," Xar said. "Complete your training with him, and then your rounds should be complete. I'll go make a report."

As he pulled off, Saori ran up to Dachii and Hikari. "Hi, guys! Look what I can do now!"

She held out her hands and a rainbow beam shot out, nearly destroying a tree.

Dachii just stared, mouth wide open. "When did you learn to do THAT?"

"Mister Fujii has been teaching us while you were gone!"

Marachii set Fido down. "Yeah, he's making a point to level us all up."

Hikari walked past them and entered the building. Marachii and Saori took notice of her silence.

"Is she okay?" Marachii asked.

"She's having…sister issues," Dachii answered. "I guess I should go in too."

He walked inside, and he saw Luca in his wolf form, sleeping on the couch.

"Typical," Dachii remarked.

As he walked toward the training room, he heard a noise coming from the kitchen. When he went to investigate, he saw Fujii on the ground, drinking a bottle labeled Queen's Revenge.

"General?"

Fujii immediately looked up, spilling his drink. "Dachii! Finished already? I didn't expect you for at least two more days!"

"Well," Dachii said. "There was an incident at General Shinjii's place, and General Himeka isn't home."

Fujii set the bottle down, and Dachii saw five more empty bottles behind him. "Oh! Those rascals, always making things unexpected!"

He jumped up. "Alright, no getting around it. It's time to train, rookie! Just…let me freshen up."

And he disappeared in a flash, leaving Dachii to look at the bottles. "Wow, this DOES smell good."

Five minutes later, Fujii led Dachii into the training room. "Don't keep me in suspense! What all did you learn?"

"Balance from Naito, Combat from Toru, Strength from Shinjii, Speed from Nakada, and Senses from my Grandfather," Dachii replied.

Fujii walked around him, zing him up. "Did any of them manage to bring out Deity?"

Dachii shook his head.

Fujii stopped. "Hmm, I get it! Perhaps it's an Element, and none of them know how to train Elemental Powers, but I do! If we want to get to the power, we must get to the source."

"So what's the training going to be now?" Dachii asked.

Fujii touched the ground and a massive ice dragon formed. "We're gonna train your elemental control. Your primary element is Gravity, so I want you to focus on making it as versatile as possible."

Dachii began to glow gray. "Like, anything specific?"

Fujii closed his fist and the dragon shattered to pieces. "Since you mainly use it to enhance physical attributes, what else do you think you can use it for?"

Dachii began to tap his chin, thinking. "If I can increase and decrease my body's gravity, I should be able to remove it too, right? Wouldn't that allow me to fly?"

Fujii snapped his fingers and winked at Dachii. "Exactly! With control over gravity, things such as flight should be possible. Hell, you were able to turn your arm into a BLACK HOLE, but that's too dangerous to train as of now."

Dachii began to stretch. "So, do you want me to jump up and try to fly?"

Before he knew it, he was on top of a skyscraper, and Fujii was watching him from below.

"Go ahead, jump!"

Dachii looked down at the ground far below. "When I said jump, I didn't mean this!"

Fujii laughed. "Don't worry! I rented this building, so don't worry if you damage it in the process!"

Dachii looked down again, nearly slipping. "Trust me, that's not what I'm worried about!"

"Just jump, I'll catch you if I have to!"

Dachii took a deep breath and steadied himself, making his body glow gray. "3…2…1…"

He jumped down and attempted to lessen his gravity until he couldn't anymore, and he began to fall slowly.

"There! Now just come to a stop!" Fujii called out.

Dachii started to feel like a feather, but when he tried to remove his gravity even more, he couldn't, and he hit the ground face-first.

"Ow."

Fujii helped him up. "It was a good try! How about we give it another shot?"

"Ahaha! You're not serious, are you? Right…?"

After Fujii made him jump a few more times, which all failed, he took Dachii back to the training room.

"Well, feel any new power?" Fujii asked.

Dachii shook his head. "Nope. My body just feels light."

Fujii stood still, thinking. "What happened in your battle with those Zharians in Umego?"

"Well, I fought against  Vapron, Prismar, and Alterna, who were all higher ranked than Nullus and Ossix. But for some reason, they felt easier than that last battle."

Fujii took in the information. "Easier, hmm? That might be because of Nullus's Element: Null."

"How would his Element play a role?" Dachii asked. "I thought he only could temporarily stop powers and movement."

"He can," Fujii stated. "But after doing a little research, it's clear his power has a residual effect. Since Elements are biological abilities, the more he used his power, the weaker we became over time, since his power was canceling our own out. Since those other Zharians don't have that power, you wouldn't have had that same hindrance."

"Oh," Dachii said. "I get it."

Fujii then summoned an ice sword, pointing it at Dachii. "So, if we form life-or-death conditions for you, maybe it will draw out Deity!"

"I have to fight you AGAIN?"

Fujii shook his head. "Even better! Wait right here."

Fujii left the room, and when he came back, he had the rest of Squad S-1 with him.

"Oh no…" Dachii immediately realized what was going on.

"Alright! Girls, line up on the left! Guys, you line up on the right!" Fujii ordered.

Akari, Saori, and Hikari all walked over to the left side. Dachii, Marachii, and Luca stood on the right.

"No, no, no, NO!" Dachii protested.

"What?" Marachii wondered. "No way he makes us fight each other, right?"

Hikari turned to look at Fujii. "Sir, isn't Saori too young for this?"

"Nonsense!" Fujii replied. "She's got the magic to hold up! And besides, it's a friendly bout."

Dachii stared right at Akari. "You guys…go easy, okay?"

She brushed her hair out of her face. "Okay."

Luca leaned in to whisper to the two. "Come on, guys. We've all eaten those bars, so we should have the edge."

Marachii rubbed his stomach. "I don't know. That bar, combined with that Advanced Combat Mode, really did something to me."

"We're gonna lose!" Dachii moaned. "To a group of girls!"

Fujii blew a whistle. "You guys ready? Fight!"

Luca drew his axes. "Okay.  Dachii, you take Akari, Marachii, you hold off Saori. I'll handle Hikari."

"WHAT?" They both glared at him, but Saori put her hands together and fired a rainbow beam at Marachii, sending him flying through a wall.

"Rainbow, GO!"

Luca and Dachii both stared in shock. "New plan. Don't get demolished."

But without warning, Akari appeared behind them. "What's wrong, Luca? Too scared to fight me yourself?"

She threw punches at them both simultaneously, but they managed to avoid them.

Saori giggled and fired another rainbow beam at Dachii, which tore through the wall.

"Why is this little girl so strong?" he thought.

While Saori kept firing beams at him, Akari kicked Luca across the room, before hitting Dachii with an energy blast.

"Ugh…weren't you supposed to be going easy…?" Dachii asked.

"This IS easy," she responded.

Marachii climbed back through the wall, and he barely managed to dodge a beam from Saori.

"Yay! This is so fun!"

While the other two continued to attack, Hikari watched from behind them, a conflicted look on her face.

"Not gonna help your team? They could use your help!" Fujii asked.

Hikari looked at the battle, and she saw the guys on the ropes and backed into a corner.

She sighed. "They're fine."

"It's a three on three, not a two on three! Go in there and get you some action!"

Hikari rolled her eyes and opened a portal right above the heads of Dachii and the others.

"Crap," Luca said. "Time to move."

They got out of the way just as a dumpster fell out of the portal.

Luca put away his axes. "I think it's time we stop holding back."

His eyes began to glow green, and he turned into a large Hydra, shocking the girls and even Fujii.

"I guess he's right, as much as I don't want to admit," Dachii said, summoning his gauntlets.

Marachii began to cough. "I'm at a limit guys! What now?"

Before he could get a response, Akari fired a blast at Luca, and he used his fire breath to neutralize it.

"I guess we just attack!" Dachii yelled. "Get on Luca's back!"

Marachii and Dachii hopped on, and Luca charged right towards the girls. Akari looked up with a curious glint in her eye.

"Hmm…"

And not long after, Luca and Marachii were sprawled on the ground, and Dachii was clinging to the ceiling.

"Dachii!" Akari called out. "Come down! The fight is over!"

Dachii continued to hang from the wall. "Nope! I'm still standing, so we haven't lost!"

Akari shook her head. "Boys."

Fujii clapped. "Great display of battle! Dachii, did you feel anything related to Deity?"

"No," Dachii said. "Still a blank."

"Well, I guess we'll have to try again tomorrow," Fujii noted. "But good work today! I see you guys have picked up some cool new moves!"

"Yeah," Akari added. "I'm jealous."

Dachii dropped to the ground. "Yeah, right."

Luca and Marachii got up, groaning. Saori giggled and danced around them. "We beat you! We beat you!"

Akari walked up to Dachii. "So really, how do you manifest a weapon? I've been trying all week, and still no results."

Dachii shrugged. "When you're so strong, I guess something has to give."

"What does that mean?" Akari asked, confused.

While the others mingled around, Hikari pulled out her watch and attempted to call her sister, but she got no reply.

"Himeka, are you okay?"

Meanwhile, in the S-2 Mansion…

Inside the pink-decorated living room, a portal began to open. Shadows erupted out of it, filling the entire room.

A shadowy hand escaped, followed by another, and soon, an entire figure emerged: Ionix.

He landed on the floor, scanning the surroundings.

"Wrong place. But that's fine."

A knock on the door was heard, and Ionix could hear a male voice outside.

"Hello? Police! Is anyone inside?"

Ionix walked up to the door and opened it. The face of a terrified police guard greeted him, and he backed away as he saw Ionix.

"Who the hell are you? Stay away!"

Ionix lifted one hand, lightning sparkling around it. "Where is the Holder? Where is Dachii Jones?"

The guard fell backward, attempting to scoot away. "Him? He's in the S-1 Mansion! Whatever you want with him, just leave me alone—-!"

BOOM.

With a precise strike, Ionix shot a lightning bolt right through the man's heart. "Just as I remember. You're all just a bunch of snakes."

He walked out of the mansion, looking around.

"It's about time I end this, once and for all."

Then he walked in the direction of the S-1 Mansion.

—-