Outside the Castle of Voltiana…
Hikari led her parents to the door of the castle, with her friends and siblings not far behind. In typical fashion, the guards were placed by the door, looking up when she approached.
"You're back, Ms. Hisatomi," one remarked.
The other noticed her parents. "What are they doing here? They weren't on the list."
Hikari began to push past them. "I know, I know, but they ran into a bit of trouble and it would be much safer for them to stay in the Castle for now, so please let them inside!"
"Trouble?" the first one scoffed.
"What sort of trouble?" t the second one asked. "The rules are simple. If you're not on the list, then you can't come inside."
"But—-!"
Hayato put a hand on his daughter's shoulders. "It's okay, dear. If they don't want us inside, we'll just wait outside."
"But that's not fair!" Hikari protested.
"Rules are rules," the first guard stated. "You and your squadmates can come in. Your family isn't allowed."
Hikari folded her arms. "Fine, then I'm staying right here. Guys, you go on ahead."
Saori clung to Hikari's leg. "We're not leaving you!"
"Who is 'we?'" Luca scoffed. "I'm going inside."
Saori kicked his leg.
"Ow."
While other guests walked past them, Hikari's dad moved his family away from the entrance. "I appreciate you all for accompanying us, but don't let us spoil your fun. We'll wait until after the Hunt, maybe our oldest child can convince these stubborn guards to hear us out."
"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Marachii asked.
"We wanna stay!" Saori pleaded.
"You heard them," Luca shrugged. "Let's ditch this heat."
Hikari waved to them. "I'll catch up with you guys later. Please just make sure our friends get back in one piece."
With a nod, the three walked inside.
Hinata ruffled her hair. "How about you tell us how your adventures with Squad S-1 have been going?"
"They've been really well!" Hikari beamed. "We've been getting much stronger, and I think we're all true friends now! Sure, Aoki and Akari have their problems, but otherwise, it's been really fun. I am really worried about Dachii, he just doesn't seem…all there."
"Interesting," Hayato replied. "But, as long as you're happy, then—-"
"TUNE IN, EVERYONE! It's now CRUNCH TIME in the HUNT!"
Hikari gasped as a giant holographic screen popped up overhead, showing all the teams aiming to capture their prize.
Meanwhile, somewhere else…
"Crap, crap, crap!" Noriko exclaimed. "We left General Toru behind! We're doomed! Doomed!"
"Come on, he held off General Shinjii for us!" Tetsuya pointed out. "Without that, we'd have already been eliminated!"
"We're screwed either way! We can't fight off the rest on our own! What if General Himeka or General Fujii comes for us? And Fujii already saw our faces back there! We're toast!"
"Noriko, have a little faith, honey," Nishiyama sighed. "We've got Dachii on our team! No way we'll lose!"
Dachii was jumping from building to building, eerily quiet as he maneuvered. The rest of them looked at him, almost expectantly.
"Hey, Dachii, any idea what we should do now?" Tetsuya asked. "With everyone hot on our tails, we can't run forever!"
Dachii landed for a moment. "I know where to go. Hold on."
As he took off again, Malkrith landed on the building Dachii was at just a few moments ago.
"Did anyone see where he went?"
"No clue!" Shogo replied. "He's fast, but he isn't THAT fast! He's gotta still be somewhere in the area!"
"Well, hurry up and move it!" Umeda demanded. "I will not lose to one of these inferior teams!"
"Think," Ken stated. "In a direct confrontation, most teams outmatch them. And they can only run for so long before a General catches them. They must be trying to hide, or better yet, set a trap to buy time."
An ice dragon flew up into the sky from a few blocks away.
"We have to hurry," Ken realized. "Team S is close."
Meanwhile…
Dachii led the others inside a very familiar arena, which was now empty.
"The Tryouts Arena?" Nishiyama asked. "Why are we back here?"
Dachii pointed to a table of weapons, the same ones used all the way back then. "Gear up. They're coming."
"Aww, I get it!" Tetsuya exclaimed. "You wanna fight them under our rules! Perfect!"
Nishiyama grabbed a gun, while Tetsuya grabbed a hammer and shield. Noriko gulped and approached Dachii.
"I hope you have a better idea than trying to use brute force!" she cried.
Dachii pulled out a handful of orbs and tossed some to each of his teammates. "These are from Tomoko."
"Hey, these worked on my sister!" Tetsuya remarked. "Maybe it can even take General Fujii down!"
"Don't count on it," Nishiyama sighed.
She walked over to Dachii. "Are you alright? You've been so distant, so absent…"
"I'm perfectly fine," Dachii stated.
"If it's any comfort," she whispered. "I miss General Morino too…did you remember what he said? About your heritage?"
Dachii blankly stared at her. "Yes."
"Do you think you're actually one of us? Do you FEEL like one of us?"
Dachii looked at his hands for a long moment before looking back at her. "No."
"It's strange, yeah, but maybe we can figure it out with time! It'd be super cool if you could use magic! And besides, human or not…"
She wrapped him in a hug. "I still like you!"
"Oh. Thanks."
Tetsuya ran up to them, showing off his new weapons. "Guys, check these out! Think I can crush some skulls in battle?"
Nishiyama rolled her eyes. "Tetsuya, we're talking."
"Crap, sorry!"
THUD.
"Well, looks like we aren't alone anymore!" Noriko noticed.
THUD.
The ground of the arena began to shake. Dachii slowly turned around. "They're here."
And without warning, a giant warhammer came flying at Dachii, causing him to summon a gauntlet and bat it away.
"DACHII! I'VE BEEN WAITING MONTHS FOR THIS!"
Alarax walked inside the arena, his muscles bulging. He smirked as he picked up his hammer off the ground, his sister tiptoeing behind him.
"Oh. Alarax," Dachii recognized.
"Stay back, Throme," Alarax ordered. "It's about to get messy."
He cracked his knuckles, before charging right at Dachii.
"LET'S RUMBLE!"
He swung his hammer at Dachii and his teammates, causing them to all split in their attempts to avoid it.
"Don't run!"
He swung his hammer again at Dachii, who blocked with his gauntlets again. Alarax laughed and swung again and again, causing thunderous booms with the force of his hammer.
"That dwarf from the forest?" Noriko worried. "Why does he look so much bigger? Do we stand a chance?"
"Only one way to find out!" Tetsuya shouted, preparing to throw his hammer. The moment he did, a bullet shot it out of the sky.
"Alarax. What have I told you?"
General Nakada dropped from the sky, landing in the center of the arena. Alarax turned to her with an unimpressed look.
"We work together on this," she demanded. "And we'll win proper."
"Okay," Nishiyama realized, backing away. "This might be bad."
"You THINK?" Noriko replied.
"Show off," Alarax muttered.
Nakada spun her blade in her hand before getting into a battle stance. "Okay, kids. This is going to be tough."
Noriko, Nishiyama, and Tetsuya got into their own battle stances, but in one brief second, Nakada knocked them all to the ground.
"Come on, do better than that!"
Tetsuya got up and tried to attack, but she effortlessly blocked each strike he made, disarming him without breaking a sweat. Nishiyama tried to blast her from the ground, and Nakada slashed her gun to pieces.
"She's so strong!" Noriko exclaimed. "We can't fight off a General! It's impossible!"
Tetsuya punched himself in the face, activating his magic, and then he tried to punch Nakada, which only resulted in her using her own, allowing his fist to pass straight through her.
"Dude, you're like a ghost!" he groaned.
She backhanded him away, before aiming her gunblade at the three cornered soldiers. "You've all got potential, but you've lost this fight. I believe you should stand down."
The three of them tensed up as she got closer and closer to them. Dachii noticed from afar, still engaged in battle with Alarax.
"They're in danger," Dachii thought, nonchalantly. "This dwarf needs to move."
He delivered a powerful punch to Alarax's jaw, sending the dwarf colliding into the wall of the arena.
As Nakada raised her gunblade, Dachii quickly moved and knocked it out of her hand, surprising her.
"Dachii?"
She chuckled as he faced her. "Morino would be proud."
Then she stomped on the edge of her gunblade, propping it back into her hand. "Mei! Eri!"
Two girls dropped behind Nakada, both in fighting stances. Nakada gave the signal. "Go to work."
Mei lifted her palm in the air, and a few birds made of Origami shot out. Tetsuya grabbed one. "What the hell is this?"
As soon as he touched it, it grew larger, knocking him away before disappearing.
"A giant bird?" Tetsuya moaned. "Come on! What are we gonna have to fight next, a giant?"
Mei smirked. "Be careful what you wish for!"
She put both her hands together, and a giant version of Tetsuya marched out, heading straight for him.
"I spoke too soon…"
Nishiyama used her magic to paralyze the Origami giant, but in the blink of an eye, she was standing where Eri was, while Eri was busy attacking Noriko and Dachii.
"Huh?"
As soon as Dachii tried to punch her, Nishiyama was suddenly in front of him, making him pull his fist back as she tripped.
"WHAT IS GOING ON?" Nishiyama blurted out.
"She can swap," Dachii figured. "At will."
Eri clapped her hands. "It's a shame the human's the smartest of you all."
And then out of nowhere, she and Nishiyama swapped places again, and she grabbed Dachii's arm.
"Now, you'll come with me."
He attempted to bash her with his elbow, but she quickly shifted with Noriko, who almost caught an elbow to the face.
"Dachii! Wait! It's me!"
"Oh," he replied. "Sorry."
She basically jumped onto his back as Nakada lunged forward, giving Dachii barely any time to maneuver out of the way with Noriko still on his back.
"Faster," Nakada noticed. "But not fast enough."
A metal fist came flying from behind, and Dachii only had a few moments to throw Noriko to safety before getting hit square in the chest.
"Ohmygosh, Dachii!" Noriko called out.
Oyakawa appeared next to Nakada. "General."
"Oyakawa. Let's take our prey before another team arrives."
"I was just going to say the same thing," Oyakawa agreed.
Alarax emerged from the rubble, wiping the blood off his face as Throme clung to his side. "The boy's mine!"
Tetsuya, Noriko, and Nishiyama went to check on Dachii, who casually sat up.
"Dachii, we could really use your Unleashed Form right now!" Tetsuya suggested.
Dachii concentrated for a moment, but nothing happened. "Failed."
"Well, anyone got any other bright ideas?" Tetsuya asked.
Nishiyama and Noriko both shook their heads.
"Then I say we go down swinging," Tetsuya said, balling his fists.
Malkrith landed inside the arena, his passengers stepping off and heading Dachii's way.
"We're so doomed!" Noriko moped.
"Hmph," Nakada thought. "Shinjii's crew. Doesn't change anything, we'll trap Dachii now."
She pulled out the cage, preparing to throw it at Dachii. And then…
"TAKE THIS!"
A large "comet-looking" object soared toward Nakada, surprising her so much that she dropped the cage and leaped out of the way. Once it hit the ground, it caused a massive flash of light and started a fire.
"Who—?"
Dachii blinked a few times, regaining his vision, and once he did, he saw Kiyota in front of him, holding out a hand.
"Well? Are you going to take it, or are you going to keep sitting there like a fool?"
Dachii grabbed his hand and Kiyota pulled him up. Nishiyama instantly recognized him. "Kiyota? What are you doing? You're not on our team!"
"I am today," he snorted. "This will be my ticket, my proof that I deserve a spot in the military!"
"Fine by me!" Tetsuya stated. "As long as we get the win!"
"This will be a bloodbath, absolute hell," Kiyota pointed out. "And your General isn't even here to back you up, so that lessens our chances. So it's do or die!"
Nakada regained herself. "This is an unexpected variable."
The moment the two teams prepared to attack each other, Tetsuya suddenly heard a familiar voice.
"Poor little Tetsuya."
Tetsuya turned around, noticing a familiar figure standing on top of the judges' table.
"Tsubasa?"
The young man let himself fall to the ground, eyes glowing blue as he gracefully landed on his feet.
"Just when you couldn't be any more useless. Now you've become my prey."
And before Tetsuya noticed, he was being held up by his neck by Tsubasa.
"I'll destroy you."
Dachii grabbed Tsubasa's arm. "Let go."
Tsubasa turned toward Dachii, his eyes glowing blue. "Get your hand off me."
Dachii stared at him, unmoved.
"Well, a little deaf are you? If you won't move…"
BOOM.
"Then I'll make you."
With a powerful burst of energy, Dachii went flying out of the stadium.
—-