Inside the hotel, Nishiyama was busy taking a shower, reflecting on the events of the day.
"I wish I could have a cool power. Why can't I get an Element?"
She turned the water off, dried off, and put on a bathrobe. A knock was heard at the bathroom door.
"Nishi! Hurry up!"
"Hold on, Mina! You know it takes me a while to clean myself up!"
Nishiyama began to wash her face, and soon after, the door was broken down. A girl with long rainbow hair and eyes stood behind it, in her S-3 uniform.
"Nishiyama!"
Nishiyama jumped back, falling to the floor. "Girl, what the hell?"
Mina stood over her. "Wanna go shopping? I was thinking about bringing that Yuri girl, since she's always so angry."
Nishiyama got up, rubbing her back. "Well, the Generals DIDN'T say we COULDN'T leave the hotel…"
Mina looked at her, eager and expecting.
"Fine. I'll go." Nishiyama said.
"Yes! Come on, let's hurry up before it gets too dark!"
Mina walked out of the room, running down to the room Yuri was in. Nishiyama stared at the broken bathroom door.
"I'm not paying for that."
She went into the hallway, meeting up with Mina, who was banging on the door to Kia's room.
"Yuri? You in there? Come out!"
The door opened, but Yuri didn't emerge from it. Instead, Kia stood there, glaring at the two girls.
"Stop hitting my door! Get out of here, you little devils!"
Mina and Nishiyama stepped back. "Ahhh! It's the human woman!"
Kia grabbed a pan, holding it in her hands. "Come in if you dare."
The girls ran down the hall, turning a corner and hiding behind it. Kia scoffed and walked back inside, slamming the door.
Nishiyama and Mina waited until the coast was clear before creeping around the corner. Nishiyama whispered to Mina, lowering her tone.
"Should we still try to get her? That human's in the way!"
"I don't know!" Mina replied. "Maybe we just leave and call her when we get outside."
"Good plan!" Nishiyama whispered.
They tried to sneak past Kia's door, but it opened again, and they both nearly collapsed.
"AHHH!"
But this time, Morino was at the door, with a hand on Yuri's shoulder.
"Mina. Nishiyama. I hope you two aren't planning anything shady now, are you?"
They both got to their feet. "No, sir!"
"Good." He nudged Yuri. "You can go with them, kiddo. It's best to give you and Kia space."
Yuri gave a bow and stepped out of the room. Morino closed it behind him, but as he did, he said:
"Don't stay out too late! And if you see them, tell Dachii and the boys the same!"
Then he closed the door, whispering to himself. "Now I've got to figure out how to pay for all this damage from the training."
Nishiyama and Mina just stared at Yuri as she gave a quick wave. "Hi?"
They both waved back, and Kia could be heard screaming from behind the door. Yuri began to quickly walk away.
"We should go, I think she's realized what I did to her bedroom floor."
Nishiyama and Mina followed her as she got into the elevator, just as Morino opened the door.
"Aww, hell…" he said.
Meanwhile, back at the Expo…
While Dachii, Marachii, and Luca looked over more inventions, Akira was busy trying to keep the other guests from touching them.
"Hey, hey! These are worth BILLIONS! Look, don't TOUCH!"
Shu walked up to him, bowing. "Sir, the perimeter is secure. I've got my men stationed around the area to keep you and your guests safe."
"Good, good!" Akira said, smirking.
"But one of my men has gone missing," Shu added. "He didn't attend roll call."
Akira groaned. "And why are you telling ME? I'm busy here, so go and find him!"
"Alright, I'll begin a search, but be warned, it may have something to do with the suspected intruders."
Akira stopped in his tracks. "Intruders, you say?"
He scanned the expo, before turning back to Shu. "Send the robots out. Have them patrol the area until the event is over."
Shu nodded. "On it."
As he turned away, he stopped once more.
"If you see any trace of Ichirō or his family, let me know IMMEDIATELY."
Before Akira could question further, Shu was already gone. Akira scoffed and went back to supervising guests, but occasionally glanced over at Dachii.
"Dinner will be soon, my dear boy," he thought to himself. "Father will want a good look at you."
Dachii picked up what appeared to be a drone. "Cool! I used to have one of these back home!"
Atomu appeared beside him, examining it. "A drone? These aren't…too common…back on the mainland."
"What? You people have mechs and plasma guns but not a drone?" Dachii asked.
Atomu held it in his hands and pressed a button on it. The propellers began to move and it flew into the air, turning silent and invisible.
"An invisible drone? You guys can modify ANYTHING!" Dachii remarked.
He looked back at Atomu, who seemed noticeably more tired and sluggish, and he used the display table to support himself.
"Yes…it can do much more, I assume. Maybe not here, though."
Dachii looked him up and down. "Uh…you okay?"
"Me? Yes. Just…fatigue."
Dachii noticed a crumpled piece of plastic in his pocket: the wrapper for one of the chocolate bars they were given.
He didn't say anything, and Atomu quickly pushed it further down into his pocket. "Well, I'll go find out where that drone went. Excuse me."
"Okay…" Dachii replied, suspicious.
Marachii came up to him with what appeared to be a pair of gloves. "Dachii! Put these on!"
Dachii held them in his hands, confused. "Are these…gloves?"
"Nope! Try them on!"
He put on the gloves, and immediately, they transformed into nanotech gauntlets, fully enveloping his hands and parts of his forearms.
"Oh, this is pretty awesome! What now?"
Marachii lifted up one of Dachii's arms, unable to contain his excitement. "Throw a punch!"
"In here?"
"Yeah!" Marachii insisted.
Dachii threw a right hook, and a shockwave came from the glove, knocking various people and displays over.
"Oops…"
People began to glare at them, including the ones who were getting up. Luca came over.
"Yeah, we're definitely not popular," he said.
Akira hurried over as the gossiping and staring began. "Sorry, so sorry! Excuse my guests for making a mistake! That's an order."
People began to back away, and Akira turned towards the boys with a smile on his face. "Don't worry, I'll just have the robots clean it up."
"Thanks, sorry for all that," Dachii said, with an embarrassed look on his face.
Marachii looked around, picking up various broken inventions. "No! Please don't be destroyed!"
Akira stood over him. "It's fine. We have more."
"Really?" Marachii perked up.
"Yes, why would we be considered the most technological region of Voltiana if we couldn't simply make two of our best inventions?"
"Yes! I wanna see them all!"
Akira pointed to a back door to the left. "Since you're a priority guest, you can go look at the more TOP-SECRET gadgets and gizmos. I'll take you guys."
"Alright! Guys, come on!"
They followed Akira as he headed towards the door. Guests began to grumble and flash dirty looks at the boys, but Akira waved them off.
"Ignore them."
They entered the back room, and a bunch of high-tech inventions were on display: Voltian-like robots, a hovering board with thrusters attached, and even a massive airship in the back, fully weaponized.
And on top of the ship sat Fido, wagging his tail.
"Look, it's Fido!" Marachii pointed out.
The dog jumped down, jumping onto Marachii. "Friend! Friend!"
Luca patted him on the head. "Seems he's more active now."
Akira grabbed a bone from a nearby basket and tossed it to him. "Indeed." As he did so, he got a notification on his watch, checking it.
When Dachii went to pet Fido, Akira stopped him and lowered his voice to a whisper. "Dachii, I have something to show you."
"Me? What is it?"
Akira walked towards another door to the right. "Come through here."
When Marachii and Luca looked up, they noticed both Dachii and Akira were gone.
"Where'd my brother go?" Marachii asked.
Luca sniffed around. "Not here."
Behind the door, Dachii and Akira walked into an elegant hallway with expensive artwork decorating it.
"So, what's the reason for this?" Dachii asked.
"Nothing much, my father and his court would like a word with you, in private."
They got to a door, and Akira took a deep breath before opening it.
Once he did, Dachii felt a bright light, and he saw three people, one woman, and two men, sitting at a table lined with food. The man in the middle was noticeably older than the rest.
"Come in, Dachii! Have a seat!" The man in the middle gave him a warm smile as he greeted him. "I'm Governor Shōtarō Fujita! You've met my son, Akira Fujita."
After calming his nerves, Dachii took a seat at the table, right in front of all the officials. The men wore gray tuxedos, and the woman wore a white dress.
"Hi? I wanted to know why you requested for me," Dachii asked.
"Yes, that." Shōtarō picked up a grilled chicken skewer. "Ideally you and your entire group would be here, but since I fear we're running short on time, I need the main course."
"Me? Main course?"
The lady on the left of Shōtarō drank a swig of wine. "Let me introduce myself. I am the Director of Security, Azura Ichikawa. We wanted your assistance, due to your strange powers."
"Deity? You guys know about that?"
The man on the right side handed Dachii a plate of sushi. "Come on pal, eat!"
Dachii took the plate. "Never had sushi before."
Shōtarō chuckled. "Sorry about him, that's Kojiro Murakami. He handles all the diplomatic matters and monetary affairs."
Kojiro stuffed his face with fish and rice. "How's Nakada doing? I'm the reason you're all here, you know? Seeking my help with our technology."
"So I've heard," Dachii remarked.
He chugged some wine, nearly choking. "Where is that young cat, anyway? I haven't seen her, only the check she and the old guy paid me for the damage you guys caused."
Azura snorted. "Maybe if you would stop hiding from her for your personal reasons, you two could have this discussion you seek."
Kojiro grabbed his head. "Listen! I'm not ready to talk to her yet, she rejected me, damn it!"
Akira groaned. "Spare us the heartbreak. She's a General, it's only natural she'd be a party killer."
Shōtarō nodded. "My son is right. She's a busy lady, especially for her age. Maybe you two can discuss this AFTER we solve this growing threat to our people."
He turned his attention back to Dachii, who took a small bite out of a piece of sushi. "Mmm! That's actually not bad!"
"Glad you enjoy it, young one," Shōtarō stated. "Now to the point. How much do you know about this Deity power?"
Dachii swallowed the sushi. "Not much? A dude named Nullus demanded I give it to him, and I guess I used it against him in our fight."
Azura looked him over. "Interesting. Then I would imagine it could be an Elemental Power residing inside of you."
"But two elements are rare," Shōtarō said, examining Dachii. "If you do have two, you'd be the only known user in recorded history with two or more Elements. Once the body inherits one, it is impossible to gain two."
Kojiro stuffed his face with more food. "But what if he gained them both at the same time?"
Dachii recalled touching the crown, which immediately absorbed into his body and strengthened it beyond anything it had ever felt.
"Wait, I did! I did touch a crown, and that's how I was able to use Gravity!"
Everyone immediately stared at him, curious and perplexed.
"What of this crown? Where did you get it? Who gave it to you? How did it take effect?"
"Well—-"
Azura's watch began beeping. "Hold. Something isn't right."
Akira looked at it. "Did one of those attendees steal something, I'll kill them——!"
"Wait, it's something else."
She pressed her watch, and a hologram pulled up, showing a camera in the hallway…
And in the hallway, Ichirō Kobayashi was walking towards the door to the room, smoke filling the entire hallway.
"Ichirō?" Dachii recognized him immediately.
"The man Shu warned me about? Why would he be here?" Akira asked.
But before anyone could respond, a small plume of smoke blew open the door, and Ichirō stood there, a malevolent smile on his face.
"Dinner's already begun? Good, I was hungry."
—-