Voltiana

In the Underground…

"Go, team, GO!"

Himeka cheered as she watched her team race down the path, attempting to catch up with Ayana's team. Hikari watched them with a hopeful but worried look.

On the path, Tsugumi sped ahead of the others, dodging the spikes and pit traps that stood in the way with ease.

"There she is, showing off again," Tetsuya thought.

On the nearby speakers, they could hear Venus's voice.

"Ayana's team has reached the mountain stage! Dachii's team is hot on their heels, however!"

As Tsugumi dodged a plume of flame that shot out of a pit, she briefly looked back at her team. "Hurry up, we're losing."

Then she ran farther ahead, leaving Dachii and the others struggling to keep up.

"She's too fast for us…" Kazue said, struggling to run. "I can't match her pace!"

Dachii stopped running. "That's it, I'm not doing this!"

His body began to glow gray, and he looked at Tetsuya and Kazue. "Grab on."

They shared a look before grabbing onto his shoulders, and he immediately prepared to take off.

"Hey! Dachii, don't go too fast" Kazue exclaimed, her nerves showing. Tetsuya braced himself, holding on tight.

"Now…BULLET TIME," Dachii said, his eyes beginning to glow gray. "Control…and…"

BOOM.

Tsugumi glanced back once more, only to see Dachii shooting right past her, the other two nearly falling off.

"What the hell—-?"

Dachii jumped over spikes, navigated around pits, and even dodged some falling logs as they reached closer to the gate.

Inside the arena, the entire crowd cheered, including Himeka and Hikari.

"That's the spirit, Dachii!" Himeka cheered. "Use those legs!"

Hikari breathed a sigh of relief. "Maybe they've actually got this! I was overthinking too much!"

Tetsuya took a moment to peer at Tsugumi, who had a less-than-satisfied look on her face.

"She seems mad!" Tetsuya called out. "Keep it up, Dachii! We don't need her!"

Dachii burst through the gate, knocking it down. Once they were inside, he let Tetsuya and Kazue off. "Where do we go now? All I see is mountains and lava!"

"The highest mountain…" Tetsuya muttered to himself. "Up there!"

He pointed to a large mountain nearby, with the citadel at the top of it. "That's the spot!"

"Beautiful," Dachii remarked, sarcastically. "How do we get up there?"

Kazue held out one hand and formed a large rope out of licorice. "I can use this, but there's nothing to wrap it around!"

"Dachii!" Tetsyua suggested. "We can use Dachii to climb the mountain!"

"EXCUSE ME?"

"Yeah! You use your powers like a rock climber and get us to that top! You might want to hurry, because my sister is coming in hot!"

"Alright, fine," Dachii replied, rolling his eyes and taking the rope. "I hope you both got a good grip."

He wrapped the rope around his waist, and then he jumped onto the large mountain, using his hands to dig into it.

"It's working!" Kazue realized. "Keep climbing, Dachii!"

Bit by bit, Dachii scaled the surface of the mountain, while Tetsuya and Kazue used him as support to climb up. As they got higher, they saw a staircase, where Ayana was standing, looking down at them.

"Wow, that's smart, Dachii!" she said.

Immediately, she took her sword and stabbed it into the side of the mountain, causing rocks to fall toward Dachii and the others.

"Hey! What the hell, Ayana?"

He jumped to the side to avoid them, seeing her heading up the stairs.

"Sorry, but I've got to win the race!" she responded. "See you on the other side!"

"Dachii's team has caught up to Ayana!" Venus announced. "But it seems the race is far from over! Stay tuned, folks!"

Dachii looked up at the citadel. "Okay then, if she wants to play…"

Dachii used one hand to grab the rope, and then he propelled himself up with the other one.

"Dachii…please be careful…!" Kazue called out, barely hanging on the rope.

"I got this, don't worry!"

He propelled himself up again, landing on the staircase and pulling the others up.

"Now," Dachii said. "Let's go catch that woman."

Meanwhile, in an underground dungeon…

Marachii opened his eyes to find Ionix standing over him once again.

"Hello again, Marachii."

Marachii tensed up as soon as he saw Ionix. "What do you want now? Here to use me as a trap for my brother?"

Ionix tapped his chin before shaking his head. "Not exactly. Right now he's in a dangerous race that's sure to push him to his limits. But once that race is over, I'll do you all a favor."

Marachii eyed him, suspicious. "What favor is that?"

Ionix smiled. "I'll free you from this torment."

The soldier in the other cell weakly grabbed the bars. "He's…only…lying…to…you…"

Ionix snapped his fingers, unleashing another bolt of light from his fingertips at the man.

"Ignore him. What do you say, Marachii? Do you want a chance to go home? Or do you want to suffer this endless pain they've caused you?"

"What about my brother?" Marachii asked.

"Oh, don't you worry. He'll come home with you."

Ionix opened a portal, watching the events of the race. "Soon, Marachii. Very soon…"

And then he closed the portal, leaving the room. "I'll expect your answer soon, try and do the right thing."

Marachii laid back in his bed, sighing. "What even IS the right thing? What even is this PLACE? I just want to go back to normal, where we didn't have to worry about magic or Elements…or even wheelchairs…why can't we just go back?"

Meanwhile, back in the Underground…

"Run, run, run!"

Himeka watched as Dachii, Tetsuya, and Kazue bolted up the staircase that wrapped around the mountain. They evaded falling rocks that came from above.

"Damn it, they're not letting us off the hook at all!" Tetsuya moaned. "We've gotta close the gap!"

"I can bullet us up there again!" Dachii suggested.

"Are you sure that will work?" Kazue asked. "Can you control it on these narrow steps?"

"Good point…."

"Well, we have to try something!" Tetsuya exclaimed. "If not, we'll lose and my sister will never let me live it down!"

As they continued up the stairs, they noticed that they were beginning to crack and fall.

"Crap! Watch your step, people!" Dachii called out.

They hopped over falling steps, noticing Ayana's team just up ahead.

"There they are!" Tetsuya pointed. "We knock them down, we win!"

Haruto looked back, nudging Ayana and Zok. "Those guys are on our heels! What do we do?"

Zok clenched a fist. "I'll crush 'em!"

Ayana put her hand out. "No, I've got this!"

She reached into her pocket and threw a knife at one of the steps, causing it to immediately collapse, along with a bunch of others.

"Jump, guys, jump!" Dachii called out.

All three of them jumped at the same time, but when they landed, the step below Tetsuya gave away, causing him to begin to fall.

And Dachii noticed too late.

"Oh NO!"

As the crowd watched in shock and Tetsuya started to pummel to the ground, a person grabbed his hand, keeping him from falling.

"Idiot!"

Tetsuya looked up, noticing his sister looking at him with a look of disgust and anger on her face. "Look at you, about to die and cost us the game! And you'd try to leave ME behind?"

"Thanks for the help, SISTER! Now could you hurry and pull me up? The other team is losing us!"

"Shush, don't rush me! I should let you drop, you ungrateful, incompetent, insufferable waste of life—-!"

"At least I'm not the one who lost to a HUMAN!"

Tsugumi's face began to turn red with anger, and Tetsuya glared back at her.

"Hey!" Dachii yelled out. "Shouldn't we get going, like ASAP?"

Tsugumi and Tetsuya seemed to ignore him, both looking at each other with aggression in their eyes.

"Why were you born, Tetsuya?" Tsugumi asked. "Is it just to be a burden to me? Or is it to merely be a pest?"

Tetsuya took a deep breath before responding. "I'd rather not be born, if it means I don't have to be related to you."

Tsugumi looked at him for a long moment. "Well, if that's the case…"

"Guys, we need to go! Please, don't fight here—-!" Kazue pleaded.

Just then, a figure came from above and tackled Dachii, sending both of them flying over the edge.

Dachii's teammates and the entire audience stared in horror as he fell over, falling right toward the ground below.

"DACHII!" Kazue called out, turning her attention toward Tetsuya and Tsugumi, who both gasped. "If anything happens to him, we're gonna lose! What are you guys thinking?"

"It's all going bad…" Hikari noted, watching from inside the arena.

Dachii managed to cling to another mountain, sliding down slightly. When he looked to his right, he saw Ayana stabbing her sword into another mountain before gracefully sliding down to the ground.

"Looks like it's you and me, Dachii!" she said, excited. "I saw a golden opportunity I had to take! You understand, right?"

Dachii looked at her, dropping to the ground. "I understand, I understand very well that I'm going to WIN this damn race, no matter what!"

Ayana drew her sword, smirking. "Great to hear! I love your confidence!"

As she prepared to lunge at him, Dachii put his fists up. "Why? Why me?"

Seven years ago, in Voltiana…

"You're here to get classification on your magic, you two?"

Inside of an office building, was Tsugumi and Tetsuya, who were sitting in a pair of chairs facing a desk. A man with the name "Shiroma Hachiro" was sitting behind it, yawning.

"Yes," Tsugumi said, proudly. "Mine has already fully manifested, and whatever his magic is has started to emerge as well."

Tetsuya rolled his eyes. "She's been bragging all week. Can we please just get these tests done?"

Shiroma got up from his chair, smoothing out his tuxedo. "As you wish. Come, children. I don't have all day."

He led them to a back room with a bunch of training dummies, obstacle courses, and firing ranges. "Which of these will best test your magic? The Combat Exam, the Movement Exam, or the Projectile Exam?"

Tetsuya raised his hand to speak, but Tsugumi cut him off. "We'll do all three, sir."

"Really? Okay. We'll start with Combat."

They walked to the training dummy area and Shiroma set up a bunch of dummies in a line. "Whenever you're ready, one of you attack with your magic. I'll use that for analysis and then the next one can go."

"Weaklings first," Tsugumi said, a cold look on her face.

Tetsuya ignored her and stepped forward. After taking a deep breath, he punched himself in the face and then punched a dummy, knocking it to the ground and knocking 4 more behind it as well.

Shiroma took a few notes before resetting the dummies. "Alright. Now go, Tsugumi."

Tsugumi's hand began to glow, and she touched her right arm. Instantly, both of her arms started glowing with a white light.

She cracked her neck, and then she punched the first dummy. The force was so strong it not only punched clean through the dummy, but it knocked over all the remaining ones as well.

Tetsuya stood with his mouth open, shocked. "WHAT?"

Shiroma took some more notes before taking them to the next area: The Movement Exam.

Tsugumi went first, easily speeding through the course and dodging all the obstacles and barriers.

"Your time is 23 seconds," Shiroma announced. "You're next, Tetsuya."

Tetsuya gulped before lining up at the start of the course. As Tsugumi walked past him, she said:

"Try not to disappoint, for one in your life."

Once Shiroma announced for him to begin, he punched himself and tried to run through the course, but he tripped a few times and hit a few obstacles. Once he was done, Shiroma announced his time.

"3 minutes and 57 seconds," Shiroma said. "Let's move on to the final test."

They walked over to the firing range, where a bunch of rifles and arrows were laid out on a table.

"Choose whichever you prefer," Shiroma stated. "If your magic is better equipped for throwing objects, then choose arrows. If your magic is better in use with weapons, pick the rifle. You each get five shots."

Tsugumi looked at Tetsuya, who reluctantly picked up an arrow and punched himself in the face before throwing it. It hit just below a target, breaking on impact.

"Just terrible," Tsugumi mocked.

"Shut it, I've got this!" Tetsuya exclaimed, tossing more arrows. Every single one missed its mark, and eventually, Shiroma stepped forward, taking notes.

"That's good enough," he said. "Now your sister."

Tsugumi walked up with an air of confidence, picking up a gun and sending her magic through it. She didn't even have to look as she fired, hitting all 5 targets with ease.

"Alright, your test is—-"

Before he could finish, she picked up five arrows and tossed them, hitting the bullseye for three different targets, while the other two missed.

"Now I'm done," Tsugumi stated.

Shiroma took more notes. "Well, that was overkill. Regardless, head to the office now. I think I have a good grasp on your Magic."

Once they were back in the office, Shiroma handed them each an official paper, which had Magical Ability Classification at the top.

"Enhancement Magic," Tsugumi read. "Hmm, sounds strong. What's that mean?"

Shiroma sat back in his chair. "It means your magic allows you to enhance the properties of anything you touch, be it a limb or an object, allowing you to maximize its capabilities. As seen with the three arrows, I believe you only can enhance three things at once. Still a very useful power."

Tetsuya read his document. "Force Magic? The hell?"

"Your magic seems to be tied to using force against yourself," Shiroma remarked. "For you to activate it, it seems you must strike a body part, and the effect only seems to boost your physical strength, as seen with the tests. Your magic seems to be, more limited and precise in its scope."

Tsugumi started at him with a condescending look. "How weak. Your physical strength isn't even much to look at anyway, and you must hit yourself to even use it. What a waste of magic."

Tetsuya crumpled his paper. "That's not true! It's not useless like Vision Magic or something!"

"I'd rather have Vision Magic than whatever you call that."

Tetsuya jumped out of the chair and left the room. "Ugh, WHATEVER!"

Tsugumi thanked Shiroma and got out of her seat. "Sorry about him. He's always been so…insufferable."

"Let him know his magic isn't useless. With training, it could become something noteworthy."

Tsugumi took a minute to think before leaving. "Hmm, is that so…?"

Present Day…

Tsugumi and Tetsuya both watched as Ayana confronted Dachii.

"Yet again, someone's in need of my help," Tsugumi muttered. She used one arm to toss Tetsuya on the steps. "I'll save him."

She jumped off the steps, heading towards the pair. Tetsuya watched before turning to Kazue.

"Kazue, I'll need you to try and win this race! You've got the most important job!"

"What do you mean?" Kazue asked. "You're not coming?"

Tetsuya stared down once last time before preparing to jump. "No. I don't care what she thinks…"

"…I'll save him myself."

And with that, he jumped off the stairs as well.

—-