Chapter Seventy-Eight: Gladiator Brawl

In Raijin City…

Ayana walked inside her room, setting her sword down on the bed. Haruto was lying in a nearby bed.

"About time you made it in!" Haruto exclaimed. "Why do you practice so long?"

Ayana plopped down on her bed. "Because, it keeps me in shape, and keeps my mind at ease."

As she put her head down, she had a thought. "You know that other human we saw, Dachii?"

Haruto turned over. "Yeah? What about him?"

"Why do you think he hangs out with those...weird creatures? Aren't they cruel to him?"

Haruto yawned. "Maybe he doesn't have a choice. After all, Voltians are superior to us humans, even if he does have an Element."

Ayana looked down at the ground. "Maybe you're right. Do you think they'd be drastic enough to try and take it for themselves?"

Haruto waved her off. "You worry too much! I don't know much about how Elements work, but to give it to a certain person, they'd have to meet all the right conditions. No way they'd take that risk!"

Ayana sighed. "You're right..."

He smirked. "Always. Now let's get some sleep before the Games tomorrow. I don't know where those dwarves have gone, so they'd better be ready in the morning!"

Haruto began to close his eyes and drift asleep, and Ayana did the same. As the room became eerily quiet, a loud noise jolted them both awake.

"Wake up, everyone, it's time for the GAMES TO BEGIN!"

Ayana and Haruto immediately got up.

"What? They said it would start tomorrow morning! These people are crazy!" Haruto groaned.

Ayana looked under her bed and grabbed a sharp metal sword. "That's the Raijin Games for you. Keep an eye out for anything suspicious—-!"

Just then, a shadowy creature burst through the window, appearing like a large panther.

"What is that?!" Haruto asked, backing up.

Ayana tightened her grip on her blade as the monster sized them up. "Whatever it is, it's trouble."

The panther shifted its eyes between Haruto and Ayana before lunging at Haruto.

"Crap!"

Before he could grab his wooden sword, Ayana quickly sliced the panther's head off. "Are you okay, Haruto?"

He nodded. "I'm fine! Was that one of...you know?"

Ayana looked at the body of the panther, which shifted and exploded in a puff of black smoke. "I don't think so. This just looks like a puppet."

They heard the intercom outside. "Your first task? Make it to the arena, ALIVE."

As Venus's giggling voice rang through the air, Ayana and Haruto opened the door to find large groups of shadow animals attacking various competitors as they tried to run.

"What do we do?" Haruto asked. "Do we fight, or do we try to slip past?"

As Ayana looked around, she saw Zok swinging a giant axe around, cleaving through tons of shadow animals. "Hahaha! These things ain't nothing but cheap baby powder!"

"We should head to the arena! We don't want to be the first losers here, so let them handle themselves!"

Haruto nodded and they began to run in the direction of the arena. A couple of monsters noticed them and stared, but the pair continued to run, turning a corner. Haruto stopped to catch his breath.

"Phew, I need a minute!"

Ayana patiently stood beside him. "Don't worry, take your time. We just have to make it, that's all."

She scanned the area and saw various competitors heading for the arena. "I wonder where Dachii is. Think his team made it?"

Haruto straightened up. "Probably! He's the special guest, so no way he'd lose so quickly—-!"

"AHHHH!"

In front of their eyes, Dachii went flying out of the nearest lodge and into the middle of the street. As he got up, a group of shadow beings stepped out of the house, smiling.

"Are those...?" Haruto began to ask.

Ayana held her blade up. "Zharians..."

Dachii stood up, taking note of the shadow animals around. "Hey, what the hell? Why don't I get an animal?"

One of the Zharians stepped forward. "Bag the kid. Let's go."

Dachii's body began to glow gray. "Is this rigged? Already?"

One of them had a rope in his hands and prepared to throw it. "Come here!"

Hikari, emerging from the house, threw a chair at him. "Dachii! Leave him alone!"

Another one batted Hikari away with his hand. "Stupid little girl!"

As the trio of Zharians walked toward Dachii and tossed the rope, it was slashed in half before they even realized.

"Huh?"

Before he even knew it, Ayana was standing in front of him, blade held in front of her.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

He blinked for a moment. "How did you just...? You were just over there!"

"Sorry, I'll explain later! Now's not a good time!"

The Zharian with the rope stared at Ayana, confused. "A human girl? Out of the way, go back to your little group!"

Ayana shook her head. "No can do! We humans look out for each other!"

Haruto ran up beside her. "That is ONE big man!"

As the Zharians began to walk closer and closer to them, Ayana looked back at Dachii. "Grab your friend and go! We've got this!"

"Wait! But that's risky! LOOK AT THOSE GUYS!" Dachii protested. "They'll kill you!"

Ayana gave him a wink. "Trust me, they won't."

As the Zharians began to get even closer, Dachii relented and used his powers to quickly zip past them, grab Hikari's arm, and escape.

"Dachii, where are we going?" she asked.

"The arena! We've gotta win!"

Hikari looked back at Ayana and Haruto. "Those humans are staying behind? Why?"

Dachii took her around a corner, continuing to run. "No clue! But they seemed confident, so I'll let them have it!"

Hikari observed their surroundings. "The arena is up ahead! We need to find Grishna! She can help us!"

Dachii quickly glanced around, seeing no trace of Grishna. "Don't see her! She'll have to catch up!"

As a group of shadow animals began to tail them, they continued straight ahead, approaching the arena.

Inside Raijin Arena...

As Dachii and Hikari walked through the dark tunnels of Raijin Arena, they could hear lots of sound coming from the end, with a bright light waiting for them.

"That doesn't look safe," Dachii noted. "They've already bet against me, now what?"

Hikari carefully navigated as they walked through. "We've got to be careful, okay? We can do this."

As they reached the end of the tunnel, the door closed behind them, and the full spectacle greeted them beyond.

"OUR SPECIAL GUEST HAS ARRIVED!" Venus said over the intercom. "WELCOME TO ROUND ONE: GLADIATOR BRAWL!"

Hikari gasped. "Gladiator? Don't tell me..."

As if on cue, a dozen pillars arose from the ground, with giant Zharian warriors in armor standing on top of each one. The crowd began to roar.

"Those aren't Gladiators..." Dachii muttered.

Hikari's eyes widened as she looked up at the gladiators. "They're like the others! Zharians!"

As other competitors arrived through other tunnels, the gladiators began hopping down, weapons at the ready.

"Now that you've made it to the arena," Venus announced. "The end game is simple! Grab one of these flags at the top, and you WIN! Any team without a pillar will automatically lose."

A variety of multicolored flags began to emerge from each pillar.

As a bell began to sound, Dachii prepared to jump, but Hikari stopped him.

"Wait, Dachii! There's still so much we don't know about them! I don't want to risk either of us getting hurt!"

"You can heal us!" Dachii pointed out. "We've gotta save Marachii and your sister!"

Before she could think it over, Dachii went for a pillar, taking off into the air. As he began to gain height, a mace hit him right in the chest.

"OOF!"

As he crashed to the ground, a gladiator stood over him. "Ain't gonna be easy, kid! You want that flag, EARN IT!"

A female gladiator with a sword began to walk towards them. "Is this the boy, Mar?"

"You know he is, Eliza! Let's handle him!" Mar replied.

Dachii put his fists up. "Get out of my way! I need that flag!"

They both shared a look and laughed. Immediately, Mar swung his mace at Dachii, forcing him to jump away.

"Come on! You're the one with the Power! Show me some fight!"

"Are they after me, or are they toying with me?" Dachii wondered.

Eliza landed next to him and tried to swing her sword at him, but he ducked. "He's fast."

As he rolled in between the pair, he heard Venus's voice in the air. "Now that most teams are here, time for Phase Two!"

The arena floor began to shake as the crowd roared. Piece by piece, parts of the floor began to fall into the vast abyss below.

"WHAT KIND OF ARENA IS THIS?" Dachii questioned.

"The kind that's gonna make or break you, kid!"

He saw Mar and Eliza behind him, preparing to attack again. "This is where you lose!"

As Eliza stepped forward, holding her sword up, she got kicked from behind, and nearly toppled over.

"Who—?"

Hikari immediately stood in front of Dachii, protectively. "Get away from him, right now!"

Mar began to break down, laughing. "Look who's tryna be a big bad hero!"

Eliza snorted. "Inhuman creature."

Dachii got to his feet. "Hikari! You can go for the flag!"

She remained in place. "Not if it means they take you! The flag can come after!"

Mar swung his mace at her, nearly missing her by a hair. "Foolish choice, girl!"

She squared up and punched him in the face, making him stumble back. "Nice right hook you got! Now for mine!"

Before Dachii could get up, Mar hit Hikari with a ferocious punch that sent her stumbling back, right toward the falling floor.

"Hikari!"

She looked behind her, trying to keep her balance. "Dachii! It's fine, I'll be fine!"

"No, she won't," Eliza coldly remarked, stabbing her sword into the ground with all her force.  The floor below Hikari began to crack and soon after, it gave away.

"HIKARI!"

Dachii immediately got up and tried to jump after her, but he got tackled by Mar, who rammed him right into a pillar.

"No friends to help you now!" Mar boasted.

Dachii growled and pushed Mar away. "What did you do to her?"

Eliza swung the sword, narrowly missing him. "Nothing she didn't deserve. You'll learn who your friends are."

Venus's voice rang out through the speakers again. "Time's running out! Only 6 flags left!"

Dachii immediately turned his attention to the pillars, and he saw numerous competitors grabbing a flag. As he turned to the pillar next to him, he saw Ayana grabbing a flag as well, sliding down to hold it up in front of Haruto.

"No..."

As his eyes shifted from Eliza to Mar, to the collapsing floor, a bright flash of light interrupted him.

"BLINK!"

By the time he could see, he saw Aoki in front of him, her katana at the ready.

"Idiot child, you should never have left without me."

Dachii rubbed his eyes. "Aoki! You made it?"

Mar and Eliza both glared at her as she held another deck of cards in her hand.

"Another Voltian trying to be a hero," Mar growled.

"That's fine, let's toss her like the other," Eliza responded.

Dachii pointed to the collapsing floor. "Aoki! They knocked Hikari down there!"

Aoki briefly looked at the rapidly crumbling floor, before looking back at Mar and Eliza.

"Hmph," she remarked. "Ridiculous."

Mar swung his mace at her, and she jumped over it, slicing his arm clean off. When he looked back at her, she was standing over the vast abyss.

"Dachii Jones, do your job, and make sure you get that flag," Aoki ordered.

Dachii immediately realized what was going on. "Wait, but that fall looks deep!"

Aoki took a step back, sheathing her blade. "I'm going after your stupid teammate. Do me a favor and not fail us all."

And with that, she jumped right off the edge, falling into the void below.

Before Dachii could have any time to process, he heard Venus over the speakers again.

"ONLY 2 FLAGS LEFT! Which teams will remain, and which ones with lose? And what, dare I say, will be the fate of our SPECIAL GUEST?"

As the crowd roared, more gladiators dropped down to surround Dachii, all staring at him with eerie grins on their faces.

—-