Chapter Forty: Changed

"Breaking News: The Asuka Festival is under attack! General Fujii and his squad have engaged the threat, but there are still a number of casualties!"

"Are you KIDDING ME?"

Kia was watching the living room TV, and she nearly dropped the remote when she put on the news.

"Everyone, stay inside! We don't know the nature of the threat, but it doesn't seem to be a dwarf! A monster may have gotten into our lands!"

Kia picked up her phone and dialed a number. "I told him, I TOLD HIM!"

There was no response. Kia threw her phone on the ground, just as the TV showed an aerial view of Fujii battling Ossix.

"Kenshi Fujii. You BETTER not let my children get hurt."

She sat there, shaking, as she watched the news.

Meanwhile, back at the Asuka Festival...

"Holder. You're ours now."

As Nullus reached out to grab Dachii, his hand was severed at the elbow. "Hmm?"

Dachii looked straight into his eyes, still with the same dark appearance he had when fighting. "Kill...KILL YOU!"

As Nullus stared at his arm, Dachii stood up and tried to kick him in the head. Nullus easily dodged and grabbed Dachii's leg, spinning him around and throwing him into a wall, and he landed on the ground with a painful crack.

"Hey! Get away from my BROTHER!"

Marachii's tendrils came out of his back again, and they slashed at Nullus, who effortlessly dodged them with his hands behind his back. He yanked one, pulling Marachii to him, and elbowed him in the back, knocking him to the ground.

Nullus refocused his attention on Dachii. "There's that violence again. It seems every time you're put under extreme stress, you CHANGE."

He walked closer to Dachii.

The Power affects your mental state, not a common trait..."

Luca, now in werewolf form, attacked Nullus, swinging his axes rapidly at him, but Nullus took them head-on, breaking them both.

"All of you can disappear now. The boy comes with me. How many lives of yours I will have to take for that outcome is entirely YOUR choice."

He punched Luca in the neck, putting a massive hole in it. "Not that I'm complaining."

Hikari rushed over to Luca, putting her hand on his neck. "Luca! Here, I'll help!"

A pink glow radiated through his body, and his neck wound closed immediately.

"Thanks. But this situation is bad!"

"I know! We have to protect our friend!"

Nullus moved in a blur, grabbing Dachii by the neck. Marachii fired off a plasma shot at him, but he used a ball of dark energy and it disappeared.

Hikari set Saori down, who was sobbing uncontrollably. "He's gonna take that boy! And it's all my fault!"

"No, no! It's okay! We'll stop the bad man! I promise!"

"Are you sure?"

"Of course! Just stay here, I'll go help!"

"Alright..."

Hikari turned to face Nullus, who had Dachii by the neck. "Hey! Put him down!"

"Or what? You'll heal me?"

Hikari clenched her fists. "No, I'll HURT you."

He extended an arm to her. "Well then, come on. Touch me."

Hikari glowed pink and punched Nullus in the chest, sending a pink glow throughout his body with the intent to injure it.

But, dark black energy began to course within him at the same time, nullifying the effects. "Oops. It seems you've FAILED."

As he lifted his free hand to punch her, she quickly opened a portal above him and a spear dropped out, nearly hitting him, but he caught it.

"Pathetic. Relying on your magic when you have an Element."

"You shut up—-!"

CRUNCH.

Nullus looked at the arm holding Dachii, and he saw the boy biting into it, with his face glowing gray. Hikari noticed this too, jumping back.

And right after, he jerked his head, ripping Nullus's forearm clean off, and lunging at him.

"Well, maybe you WON'T go down easy. Come. Show me what you can do."

He jumped back, and Dachii tackled him to the ground but was kicked into the air. Nullus shot a blast of dark energy at him, and it sent him flying to the ground, unable to stand up. Hikari tried to run to him, calling out:

"Dachii! Don't stay here! Please, just run—-!"

Nullus threw her into a building. Marachii and Luca both attacked at the same time. Luca shifted into a gorilla in an attempt to pummel Nullus, and Marachii formed a grenade launcher from his arm.

"Look at you. Working like a team."

He charged up and released a dark energy wave, sending everyone flying. Saori fell to the ground as well, weakly trying to yell out.

"Sir! Please! Don't hurt them any more!"

"Shut up girl. You should run while you can."

Dachii ripped a piece of a building off and threw it at Nullus's back, and he simply turned around, eyes cold.

"Better prepare yourself."

"I'll...destroy you!"

Nullus moved quickly, aiming for Dachii's head, and Dachii ducked the attack, attempting to sweep his legs from under him. Nullus jumped into the air and tried to kick Dachii, but Dachii grabbed his leg and elbowed it.

"Impressive."

But instead of wincing, Nullus kicked Dachii in the face with his other leg, back-flipping and landing on his feet.

"Keep fighting like that, you just might escape!"

Dachii stood his ground, eyes locked into Nullus.

"Ahh, who am I kidding." Nullus extended his hand and a wave of fake energy came out, hitting Dachii in the chest and sending him flying.

Hikari pulled out her watch and tried to call Fujii, but there was no response. She left a voicemail, saying:

"Sir...please help...Dachii....he's not himself...he's going to get captured!"

Nullus slowly made his way towards where he blasted Dachii, but when he saw him, his top had been destroyed, leaving him shirtless. To his surprise, Dachii was standing there, laughing.

Inside Dachii's mind...

Dachii was lying on his back, but he felt himself floating in the air. The void around him shifted into a peaceful grassland, and he sat up to see Mihina running around and holding hands...with him?

"Is that—-?"

Abruptly, both of them stopped and began giggling and laughing. Dachii got to his feet and cautiously walked towards them.

When he got closed Mihina seemed to turn into shards of light and disappear, and "Dachii" was left standing there.

"Who are you?"

The "Dachii" turned his head to look at him.

"Who do YOU think? I'm you. The you that you COULD be, anyway."

"And what does that mean?"

"Look. Things are complicated. Just lay down and relax. I'll handle this."

"Handle what?"

The "Dachii's" eyes turned black, like the void, and he held up his arm, which glowed gray. Then he began to laugh.

"EVERYTHING."

And just like Mihina, he disappeared. A young, blue-haired lady walked up to Dachii. "Come with me, young man! It's a cool party just inside that forest!"

"What forest?"

She pointed behind him, and a large forest, almost as big as the Asmana Forest, appeared. "Oh. Fair enough."

She pulled him towards it, grabbing him by the arm.

Back in the real world...

Nullus curiously eyed Dachii as he stood there shirtless, laughing.

"This feels GOOD! Finally, FREE!"

Dachii rushed at Nullus, swinging high, but Nullus blocked and punched him in the face. Dachii spit out a few teeth, but they regrew, and he and Nullus continued to attack each other, with Nullus landing a few hits on Dachii.

"How long can you really last?" Nullus asked as he continued to evade Dachii's attacks. "You don't think you can win without HELP, do you?"

As Marachii and Luca made more attempts to attack Nullus, he swiped his arm and shot a wave of dark energy at them, forcing both to the ground.

He caught a punch from Dachii, pushing his hand back, but Dachii growled and kicked Nullus in the chest, releasing his grip.

"I don't NEED help!"

Meanwhile, in another part of Asuka...

Jun was inside of a hospital, with his chest wrapped in bandages. Ayaka and Kiyoko watched over him, as did Makoto.

"I can't believe those girls didn't get their prize money," Makoto stated. "One million coins don't just grow on trees!"

Jun sat up, face hardened. "There's...a terrible danger going on in the festival! That...Dachii kid! Something's after him!"

Ayaka tried to lay Jun back down. "Jun, you need your rest, here, lie on this pillow—"

"No, damn it! If they want that kid...it must be for a reason! And...I need my rematch with him!"

Makoto's ears perked up. "Dachii? What would they want with him? And who was it?"

"I...don't know...it was a guy...with bones..."

"Bones. That's very telling."

But the door swung open, and Yoritomo was standing there. "Bones? Tell me everything, now!"

"Director? What are you doing here?"

"I heard there was an attack on the Dance Competition! I can't get ahold of Fujii or Akari, and a good portion of the festival has been wrecked! Do you understand how bad of a situation this is? Imagine if an asset is stolen from us too!"

Makoto sighed and put a hand on his head. "That WOULD be bad. Those girls ran off quickly without a second thought. I hope whatever is going down, that Squad S-1 can handle it."

Yoritomo approached Jun's bed. "Jun, tell me what you witnessed."

"Well..."

Meanwhile, back at the Asuka Festival...

Marachii was on the ground, watching as Dachii and Nullus continued to trade blows.

"I...have to help!"

Nullus hit Dachii with a strong right hook, punching off his jaw, but yet again, it regenerated quickly.

"Ahh..."

As the battle got faster and more intense, Marachii began to focus. "I need to make something that can help! Anything!" he thought to himself, as Dachii went flying past him.

Nullus stretched and started to come Marachii's way. "Screw this! Body! Do something!"

Nullus stopped as Marachii's body seemed to shift and TRANSFORM. "What...?"

When Marachii opened his eyes, he was SITTING in a gray supercar, and his hand wasn't attached to the car...

IT WAS THE CAR.

Automatically, it drove forward, attempting to hit Nullus, but he jumped onto a roof to avoid it, and Marachii crashed into a wall.

"When I asked for something, I didn't mean this!"

Hikari and Luca were behind him, just watching as the car reversed and pulled machine guns from just below the side mirrors.

"Oh boy..." Marachii remarked.

The guns began to aim and fire at Nullus, who dodged them all, firing a blast of dark energy at Marachii's car, which backed up.

"I didn't know that Element could form vehicles. Maybe you have some potential too—-"

Before he could finish his statement, Dachii tackled him at full speed, sending both of them flying off the roof and a couple of blocks away.

"Dachii!"

Hikari, holding Saori, and Luca immediately opened the doors to Marachii's car and got in. "Huh? What are you guys doing?"

"Drive the car, Marachii! We need to go after your brother!" Hikari replied, with Saori clinging tightly to her.

"Why did you get in HERE? I don't know how to drive!"

"Better learn quick, then!"

The far reversed and began to speed down the block, seemingly reacting to Marachii's thoughts. Hikari laughed a little bit. "Seems you're driving fine to me!"

"This isn't driving!"

By the time they could round another corner to catch up with Dachii, they'd found an extra person there.

"Finally, you've caught up," Nullus said.

"Oh, please, I had to deal with three pains in my ass. Cut me some slack."

Ossix had Dachii trapped in a cage of bones, and Nullus used a wave of dark energy to bring him to his knees.

"Regardless, let's go."

Marachii's car sped up and tried to run them over, but they both moved out of the way long before it could connect. They stood behind him, satisfaction on their faces.

"Well, kids! We'll have to go now, but maybe we'll be back to kill you later!" Ossix exclaimed, a smile on his face.

But in the blink of an eye, the bones trapping Dachii were cut to nothing more than tiny shards.

"What? No way!"

And a HUMONGOUS ICE WALL appeared, sliding on the ground towards them. Nullus shot a blast from his hands and neutralized it, but a person was standing behind it.

"Phew! Took a minute to catch back up with you, but we made it in time!"

Fujii stood there, with Arata and Akari behind him. Everyone in Marachii's car expressed a sigh of relief. Fujii summoned TWO swords of ice.

"Now since there's two of you, I got a blade with each of your names on it."

Then he charged full speed at them, swords raised high.

—-