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Chapter Sixteen: The Finale

"Get ready for ACTION!"

As the crowd continued to make more and more noise, Akari and Arata prepared to go to their spots to begin the final match. Most of the girls began to clap for her.

"Go win this!" Hikari exclaimed.

"You got it!" Kazue said, her mouth filled with steak and rice. Nishiyama gave her a small clap, stating: "Make sure you don't forget about me!"

In the corner, Tomoko was paralyzed and tied up. He still had a smile on his face, laughing uncontrollably. Nishiyama threw a silver apple at his head, knocking him out. "Anyway, yeah. Do you, I guess. Though it really should have been me, my match was so rigged, I can't believe I let a crazy, idiotic, smelly, ugly, disgusting, weak, waste of life—-"

Hikari covered her mouth, while Akari walked to her spot. Arata got up, taking his time to get to his spot. Tetsuya gave him a half-hearted cheer, Luca gave him a thumbs up, and Kai remarked: "Well, I already know you're ready, so, I guess go for it!"

"Duh! That's the point!"

Both competitors faced each other, as the music in the arena became much louder and so did the crowd. All the judges were out of their seats now.

"Oooh, this is gonna be fun!" Himeka had more popcorn in her hands, while Fujii shook his head. Even Nakada and Toru couldn't hide their anticipation, and Shinjii leaned over the judges' table, nearly breaking it in half.

"Yeahhhh! Someone's ass is getting kicked! You better make it good!"

Fujii gave a sly smile and put his lips to his mic. "Can't wait! Will our defending champion defend her title? Or will we have a new riser to the throne?"

With a thumbs up from Fujii, Jukai announced:

"Ready?"

The air was electric.

"FIGHT!"

Without even thinking, Arata revved his fist up and slammed the ground. It caused massive shockwaves that once again shook the ring. Arata simply looked down and:

BOOM.

She stomped her foot into the ground, balancing out the shockwaves and getting rid of their effects. Once the ground was calm, she stretched out her arm and fired a powerful energy blast from her fist.

"Woah!"

Arata jumped out of the way, as the energy blast hit the top of the stadium. It made large pieces of rubble fall to the ground, barely missing some spectators.

He charged up both arms and punched the air, causing shockwaves that headed for Akari. She clapped her hands, and with a wave of white energy enveloping her body, she unleashed a POWERFUL explosion that mitigated the effects.

Arata laughed. "So you think you're like that? Let's test that theory!"

In less than a second, he rushed toward her, fist charged up. Akari held her hands together and another FORCEFIELD appeared around her body. Arata struck it, causing the entire stadium to shake and some parts began to crumble.

Nakada stood up. "This is getting extremely dangerous! They'll cause chaos at this rate!"

Shinjii laughed, slapping his leg. "Good! I like a high-stakes match! This is already turning out better than last year!"

Himeka called out: "Go, Akari, go!"

Akari caught a fist Arata threw at her, punching him dead in the face with a fist full of powerful energy. It exploded in his face, sending him stumbling back.

"Argh! You and that power!"

Akari gave a nonchalant shrug and let a sly smile slip out, before using her leg to kick down, unleashing an even more powerful slash of energy than the one she'd used on Hikari.

Arata quickly reacted with a shockwave blast, managing to deflect it outward. As he tried to catch his breath, she moved so fast he couldn't see her and she kicked him in the side, knocking him back.

"ARRGH! I can't lose this!"

He got up, charging his ENTIRE body up. As he pounded his fists together, he started charging at Akari. "Time to kill you!"

"Mmm."

She stood her ground, as he rampaged toward her, shaking the floor beneath him with every step.

"Woah, crazy move, man!"

Kai was up out of his seat. Other competitors were as well. Tetsuya, Obara, Luca, Hikari, and Kazue were also standing up.

Hikari yelled out: "Yeah, girl! This win's yours!"

"Haha! What an intense fight! Will one of them die?"

Tomoko was still trapped in the corner. Nishiyama threw another apple at his head. "What is WRONG with you?"

"Haha!"

With an intense rev-up, Arata pulled his fist back and threw a HAYMAKER at Arata. Instead of dodging it, Akari got in position and BLOCKED it with her forearm, causing the shockwave to bounce back behind the pair, knocking over various spectators, including all of the guys.

"Ow!"

"My hair!"

"Typical sister."

Arata tried to use his free arm to punch Akari, but she was able to punch him first, sending him flying back. He stumbled near the edge, panting heavily. As she walked toward him, bathed in energy, he heard something inside his head.

"Don't be a disgrace, boy!"

"Huh...?"

"You heard me! The Takahiro family has NO use for you! Drop dead!"

He stood up. "Is that so."

This time, seemingly with much more power than before, he charged up his entire body once again. The power seemed to nearly burst out of him.

This caught Fujii's eye. "Hmm, seems like Arata's preparing his own final form!"

Shinjii got up, knocking over his chair. "Yes! Exchange heavy attacks!"

He moved much faster this time. Running toward Akari, he held both fists up and threw them down, sending a MASSIVE shockwave at her. She looked it up and down for a moment, and at the last second...

BOOOOOOOM.

She summoned a SPIKED forcefield, giant, glowing silver spikes appearing on all sides of it. The shockwave Arata threw at her was blasted out the roof of the entire stadium.

"Are you kidding me? What the hell is that?"

"Nothing much."

She released it. With a look of boredom, she held both of her hands together, charging up a GIANT energy blast.

Kai's eyes widened. "She's using the same move she used on her brother!"

Hikari clapped and cheered. "Yes! Get this win!"

As she shot it at him, he angrily charged up once more.

"Not this time!"

He used a massive shockwave to send the blast off course, and he tried to use her moment of surprise to strike her with another charged fist.

"Time to KILL you—-!"

She quickly clasped both her hands together again, and released an even STRONGER energy blast from her hands, sending Arata flying out of the ring and into the stands. As the dust cleared and everyone saw he was out, Jukai announced:

"And AKARI WINS! For the second year in a row, Princess AKARI is the Tryout WINNER!"

Some celebratory music began playing, and cannons popped out from the top of the stadium and shot golden confetti everywhere.

Fujii and the other judges clapped. "Congrats to Princess Akari Asato! Back-to-back wins are not easy, only a few have done it."

Fujii tapped a button on the judge's table, and somehow it descended down to the ground level like an elevator. All the judges walked over to her, and Fujii grabbed a golden medal from Jukai and put it around Akari's neck.

"Nice job."

"Thank you, sir."

Fujii got his mic. "Now then, I want the other contestants to come to the stage as well."

Everyone else got up, including Tomoko, who was reluctantly set free by Nishiyama. They all stood side by side, but Hikari and Kazue showered Akari in hugs.

"Great job! You did it!"

"Yeah, you did way better than I did!"

"Ow. Ow. Thanks."

Morino rushed into the stadium. "Damn, damn, did I miss it?"

Everyone looked at him. Fujii nervously laughed. "Uh, well, we're on the selection process now...so..."

"Aww hell."

Morino took his spot between Nakada and Himeka, as Fujii spoke again. "Well, without further ado, I am 100% selecting Akari Asato to be part of Squad S-1!"

A bunch of claps and cheers from the crowd and other competitors were heard. Akari walked over and stood next to Fujii.

"Thank you, sir."

Everyone waited for his next pick. "For number two...let's see...how about...Hikari Hisatomi!"

Another round of cheers was heard as Hikari gasped. "Me! Wow, me! Really?"

"Yep, come on over!"

"Thank you so much!"

Himeka groaned. "Aww, I wanted to get my sister!"

"Well, she's got so much potential! I couldn't resist."

Hikari walked over to Fujii's side. Akari gave her a high-five. Fujii rubbed his chin. "Well, I'll take one more pick. Give me Luca Mori!"

Some surprised cheers and claps were heard from both the other competitors and the crowd. Luca walked to Fujii, bowing his head. "I appreciate it, sir."

"Yeah, that wolf thing you did, totally cool."

Hikari and Akari both gave Luca a weird look, but they shrugged. Fujii rubbed his hands and chuckled. "Well, that's all the guys I wanted. Go ahead, Himeka!"

Himeka looked around at the gathered competitors, thinking. "Ummm, well, I think I'll DEFINITELY do...Tsugumi! Tsugumi Izanagi!"

As cheers rang out, Tsugumi gave her a slight but brief smile and walked to her side. "Thanks."

"Yeah, can't get my sis, but you'll make a great replacement!"

"Hmm?"

"Anyways! For my next pick, let's see..."

She looked back and forth. "How about you, Kazue? I'm taking Kazue Kitagawa!"

Kazue's eyes lit up. "ME?"

"Yeah, sure! Why not?"

"Oh. My. GOSH! Thank you!"

Even the crowd was surprised.

"Wow, I thought she'd washed out!"

"Well, Himeka is known for taking underdogs.

"Definitely."

Both Akari and Hikari clapped for her as she took her spot next to Tsugumi, who merely said: "Nice job...I guess."

"Thank...you...?"

Himeka began to whistle. "I think I should be done, but maybe...yes, actually, I wanna take...Tetsuya Izanagi!"

This surprised everyone. Tsugumi's and even Tetsuya's eyes widened. "Woah, me? YES! I did it!"

He ran to her side. She patted him on the head. "Yep, you sure did! Now you and your sister can go on adventures and fight wars together!"

Tsugumi was looking ready to kill. Kazue extended her hand and Tetsuya shook it. "What's up, teammates?"

"Sup...?"

"Grrr..."

He winked at his sister. The crowd began to engage in gossip.

"They won't work well together."

"I mean I get taking Kazue, but putting Tsugumi and her brother on the same team?

"Sheesh, I know Himeka likes the underdogs, but she must also like drama!"

Himeka gave a carefree laugh, elbowing Morino. "I'm done now!"

Morino was up next. "Uh, I haven't really...seen much...but, from what I have seen, uh...how about you, Prince? I'll take Prince Atomu Asato."

The crowd cheered. Claps from both the competitors and the crowd were heard. Atomu walked over to Morino's side. "My thanks, sir. I'll do my best."

"Yeah, well you were an obvious pick."

He squinted, trying to see who was next. "Hmm. Hard choice. But I do need a little versatility in my lineup. Come on over, Nishiyama Kimura."

She was startled, but then she began laughing manically. "Haha! I knew it! I knew you'd see that I'm clearly the best here no matter what happens—-!"

"And now, I'll take my last pick, and go with Takamoto Tomoko."

"WHA—-?!"

Atomu lifted an eyebrow. "Mmm."

The crowd, the competitors, and the other generals were speechless. Nakada gently tapped him. "Sir, he IS a human..."

"A human who managed to beat one Voltian and push another to the brink. I think for the first time, he should be able to join a squad."

Tomoko jumped up and down. "Yay! My grand goal is COMPLETE! My life's work, it has paid off!"

He eagerly shook Morino's hand. "Thanks for having me!"

"No problem, kid. Now I've got my strong member, my multi-purpose member, and the wildcard."

Nishiyama had nearly fainted. Atomu rolled his eyes. "Well, I don't want to involve myself in THAT beehive."

The crowd erupted in gossip and boos.

"What is Sir Morino THINKING?! Has his age affected his mind?"

"I don't know! Did that human bribe him?"

"He is human too, does he want another human to join him for once? I hope not!"

Nishiyama blurted out what everyone was thinking: "This HAS to be a joke!"

"Nope."

She passed out on the spot. In the aftermath, Nakada took Kai and Obara. "I feel you two will make great additions to my squad."

Meanwhile, Arata was one of the remaining competitors left, silently fuming. "Why haven't I been picked up yet...?!?!"

Shinjii was now up, and he leaned in and examined every competitor. He stopped in front of Arata. "Come on, Takahiro! You're up!"

"Damn, finally!"

Arata stood by the man, who laughed. "Ehh, the rest of you are just chumps. Which of y'all...hmm...nah. That's all I need. Continue on!"

Arata was still seething behind him. "I make it to the finals, and this is what I get? Being selected after a food girl, an insecure little brother, KAI, and a HUMAN?"

Nakada nudged Morino. "That boy has such a bad attitude."

"I know. He'd better hope my grandson recovers."

Both Toru and Naito passed on theirs, leaving Umeda, and Domen, who wasn't even there, unselected. Toru began to walk away. "You've all taken all the good picks. Pity."

Naito almost looked like she could fall asleep. "Can I please, PLEASE, go home now.

Umeda had fallen to his knees. "How dare you all? Not selecting my UNRIVALED beauty and power? My face alone should be enough to—-!"

"Shut up, you crazed model wannabe!"

"Who said that?"

Fujii got on his mic and walked to the center of the generals. "And that ends the 500th annual Voltian Tryouts, and these are the selections. He showed off all the selected participants. "And thanks for watching."

Meanwhile...in a dark, empty cell...

Marachii was watching as the participants were selected. "Grandfather picked Tomoko? Well damn, couldn't he at least pick me and get me out of here?"

A guard outside the room door snorted. "Idiot. Once you were taken away you were disqualified. Same as your brother, who became too injured to fight."

"And who's fault is that?"

"Not our fault he's just human. I don't even KNOW what you are. You some kinda little dw—-?"

But before he could finish, an alert appeared on the TV that was playing the Tryouts. "Warning! Warning!"

A warning sound bleeped all over the room, accompanied by flashing red lights. The guard grabbed his gun. "Don't move, prisoner! We're under attack!"

"HUH?"

He pressed a button. "General! Attack on the jail—-!"

BOOM.

In a single instant, the man flew through the steel door, breaking it. As the door fell to the ground, with the guard falling unconscious next to it, Marachii looked up as someone stood in front of the bars.

And in one single punch, they BROKE the bars. And when Marachii was able to see, he saw...

"DACHII?"

—-