Voltiana

Tomoko tried to kick Nishi in the head, but she ducked the blow and countered with a punch to his gut. "Woah, you're THAT desperate to lose?"

"You may have read my base move, but now it's time to step it up. Spinning Back-Kick!"

He did a 360 spin and tried to kick Nishi in the face, but she simply dodged again and flipped him over by grabbing his leg. "Are you done? And why are you calling out your moves like some action movie?"

"FIST OF HELL!"

He aimed a right jab at her jaw, and she caught it and used his own fist to hit him. She laughed, stating:

"This is hilarious! You're a funny guy, you know that?"

"You laugh at my failure, leaving yourself open to my Three by Six Combo!"

He jumped at her, kicking high, low, then at her chest, and then he did a right and left jab, plus an uppercut. Before he could do any more moves, she pushed him, and he fell back almost 10 feet.

"Hey! You have interrupted the Three by Six Combo! Now I must use a Special Move!"

"I think I've seen you before. Oh yeah! You've been trying out for years now! So sad. How have you not made it by now? Oh, right. You're human."

"I may be human, but this attack comes from the power within! Special Move: Stun and Counter!"

Nishi laughed again. "What?"

Tomoko ran up to her, and as she prepared for another attack, he went low and BIT her thigh.

"OW! What the hell?! Okay, I'm gonna---!"

Then he got up, right in her face. "Hey baby, how you doing?"

"Wha--?"

The crowd all stared, weirded out. Even the quiet ones, like Atomu, Akari, and Tsugumi, couldn't help but wince at Tomoko's actions.

"Now then, to finish you off!"

Nishi's eyes started to glow. "Okay. Enough of this bull—-"

Tomoko jumped from spot to spot, before finally jumping on Nishiyama's back. "Get off, you weird ass kid!" He reached into his pocket and pulled out some dirt. "Here! Special Move #2: Down and Dirty!"

He threw the dirt into her eyes, and she covered her face, trying to get it out. "That's IT! I'm gonna KILL you, you son of a---"

She raised her hand, and white swirls came off her body. In an instant, Tomoko's arms were stuck, and he was unable to move. "Oh no! Seems I am trapped!"

"Yeah, you are, you stupid little dork."

She kicked him so far back that he fell near the edge of the ring. "Okay! Now for my Ultimate Move!"

She was on top of him in an instant, ready to kick him out of the ring. "Wait, how long will my body be stuck?"

"Don't worry about that. Now get out this damn ring."

"Huh. Well, let's take a guess!"

As she kicked him, he noticed he could move again, and he grabbed her leg, bringing her down with him.

"Ultimate Move: Drag and TAKEDOWN!"

She fell to the ground first, and he fell next to her. "Yay! I got her!" As they both got up, a stunned Jukai announced: "In a big upset...the winner is: Tomoko!"

Tomoko got up and started cheering: "Yes! YES! My journey begins! My training has paid off!"

"WHAT?!?!?!"

Nishi got up and repeatedly began kicking Tomoko. "That's not fair! REMATCH! Rematch me right now, you little---"

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Your kicks are indeed strong, challenger!"

She began violently shaking him, and she had to basically be dragged off him by guards. "Ma'am, please calm down and take your seat!"

"NO! Run it back! NOW!"

As she was carried back to her side, Tomoko triumphantly walked back to his seat. "I have done it, friends! Your sacrifices were not in vain." As he sat down, eating another silver apple that he got by unknown means, Fujii finally spoke. "Well, this is very unexpected. For the first time in decades, a HUMAN has won a match!"

Instead of cheers, there was just more gossip.

"Nishiyama played around too much! How the hell can you let a human win?"

"Yeah! Especially one like that kid!"

"Relax. He won't make it past the next round. Everyone's seen his little tricks."

Even the judges had loads to say. "Wow, that boy really defied the odds, didn't he?" Himeka stated, as she gave Tomoko a wave, who waved back and pointed at her. "Face me next!"

"Okay. He's definitely confident, I'll say."

Shinjii snorted. "Tricks! He used TRICKS! That, I cannot respect. But he did win, so, I can't be mad." Toru gave Tomoko a cold glare.

"A human, beating one of us? Sad, very sad. Only one human should be capable of defeating a Voltian, and his Tryout days are long behind him." He folded his arms. "Nishiyama has a lot to think about."

Nakada looked over at her, as she was being held back by Hikari and Kazue. "She definitely seems to be taking the loss personally. Her power seemed useful too, she's just too big-headed."

Naito remained quiet, just closing her eyes. Fujii got on his microphone, stating: "Well, I think it's about time for an ad break. The next match will begin soon.

Jukai grabbed his own mic and nodded. "Yep! When we return, viewers, we're bringing you LUCA vs. KAZUE! Stay tuned!"

Luca was doing a round of push-ups. After he heard his name, he stopped. "Hmph. Seems it's my time." Kazue was still holding Nishi back. "Oh boy, GREAT. I get to fight against Tarzan soon."

"LET ME GO!"

Hikari used her free hand and patted Kazue on the shoulder. "You'll do fine."

"I hope so."

Akari was looking at the bracket. "Looks like I fight the winner between Atomu and Tetsuya. Interesting." Tsugumi groaned.

"He's going to lose badly. I don't know why he's still here."

Akari looked at her. "No faith in your own brother?"

"He's weak. Do you have faith in yours?"

"He's strong, no doubt. But I'm stronger."

Tsugumi sighed. "It's not long before they fight. His stubborn ass won't listen. I'm sure your brother will teach mine a lesson."

"They're talking. I wonder about what."

On the other side, Atomu was next to Tetsuya, pointing at Akari and Tsugumi. "See there, your sister underestimates you, and mine overestimates herself. So, in our upcoming battle, do not hold back. For I shall not."

Tetsuya clenched his fist. "Right!"

Atomu stared at his sister, thinking: "Yes. With that power she was born with, she was destined to do great things. But I, as her older brother, will teach her humility, no matter how painful a lesson it must be."

Each competitor was given water, but the guards just threw the water at Tomoko's feet and hurried off. Nishi had to be forced to drink the water by Hikari, as she was still attempting to reach Tomoko. She had tried to paralyze him twice, but he was on the other side of the ring, out of her range.

Umeda kept combing his hair, looking at Obara and smirking. "I hope you're ready, nerd. I'll crush you with my beautiful and dangerous power."

"Sure. Whatever. Math always wins."

"Yuck."

While they bickered, Luca eyed Kazue, who in turn eyed him back. As his eyes narrowed, like a snake, she screamed and jumped back. "Ew! Did you see what he did?"

As Nishiyama began to calm down a bit, Hikari released her and said: "He's just trying to scare you. Ignore it."

"Okay." Kazue's stomach rumbled. "I'm hungry, though. Any of you got any food?"

Akari tossed her a silver mango. "Here."

"Thank you, Princess."

The break's end was signaled with a musical horn, and Jukai returned to the middle of the ring. "Now then, for the fourth match of the first round, we got: "LUCA vs. KAZUE!" As the crowd cheered, the two competitors made their way to the ring. Hikari shouted:

"Do your best, Kazue!"

On the other side, the guys were eyeing Luca, who just walked to his spot with his hands in his pockets. He had a T-shirt on, showing his athletic frame. Kazue took a deep breath and stood her ground. "Okay, you're not so tough."

He didn't respond, he just reached into his pocket and took out what appeared to be chunks of raw meat, making Kazue and most of the crowd recoil in disgust.

"Ew!"

"Ugh! So disgusting!"

"Who raised that boy? So uncultured! Just like a human!"

Umeda also turned away. "Yuck. He just screams the word filth." Luca heard all these remarks, but he just stood with his hands in his pockets again, as Jukai, disgusted, stated: "Well, ready? FIGHT!"

Kazue made a finger gun, and with a spark of white energy, she shot some gum at his feet, leaving them stuck to the ground. As Luca tried to pull himself free, she summoned a lollipop from her hand and threw it at him, and it exploded in his face, stunning him. Hikari stood up from her seat.

"There you go, Kazue! Take him down!"

Luca rubbed his eyes and tried once more to pull himself free. When he found he could not, he sighed heavily. The judges looked on, watching every aspect of the fight.

"Would you look at that? Her magic isn't too bad." Nakada stated. Shinjii was stooping over the table, looking hard at the battle. "See! Now that's what I like to see!"

The other judges carefully observed. Luca looked down at his legs and then looked up at Kazue, who was charging at him with a gingerbread hammer. "Take this!"

"Sorry, Kazue."

"Huh?"

In one move, an axe had appeared in his hands. He used it to slice off his legs below the knee, and as he fell to the ground, he concentrated, and his legs quickly REGENERATED. Kazue jumped back, perplexed, as Luca kicked himself up off the ground. "Now, we can fight."

"UGH!"

She threw her hammer at him, and he dodged it, jumping out of the way. She summoned two candy-cane swords from her hands and engaged Luca, who used his axe to fend off her strikes. He jumped over her and tossed his axe at her, and she used a cookie shield to deflect it.

"Nice magic there."

"I know. Now do me a favor and eat THIS!"

She threw a bunch of black jellybeans at him, which exploded as soon as he put up his axe to block. It knocked the axe out of his hand, and he had to quickly summon another one to anchor himself to the ground. "Nice move. Almost got me."

Luca dropped his axe to the ground. "Well, I guess it's time."

He got on all fours, and his body began to change. His skin turned to fur; his teeth grew sharp. His legs turned to paws, he SHRANK. When he was finished, all Kazue could see was a WOLF, looking ready to rip her apart.

"Are you KIDDING me?"

The wolf charged at speeds Kazue could barely follow. She summoned some licorice to wrap the transformed Luca in, but he simply ate through it. In just the nick of time, she summoned a chocolate bar that formed a wall in between them, and Luca slammed right into it. In a split second, he jumped right over it, and she had to summon another cookie shield to toss at him, keeping him at bay.

Hikari called out to Kazue: "Put pressure on him!"

Kazue summoned a bunch of cotton candy to trap Luca, as she contemplated her next move. "Okay, maybe if...yea...GOT IT!"

As Luca ate through the cotton candy, she summoned a giant jawbreaker to push Luca out of the ring. Shooting it at extreme speeds, it hit Luca dead-on and it propelled him to the edge of the ring.

As Luca felt the pressure and didn't have enough strength to push it back, he changed his form from a WOLF to a GORILLA and pushed the jawbreaker back at Kazue right before he hit the edge, and it flew at her so fast she didn't have time to react, knocking her right out the ring.

"And the winner is, LUCA!"

Kazue slammed her fist on the ground. "Ugh, DAMN IT!"

Akari and Hikari went to help her up. She buried her face in Hikari's arms, who told her: "It's okay, Kazue, you did great!"

"But I lost!"

"Yeah, well that guy can turn into a gorilla! Plus, he's one of...you know..."

Kazue hung her head. "I know. I'm not like him, or you, or Akari, or even that weird human boy, I'm so weak..." As she began to walk away, Akari called after her.

"Don't worry! If I face him, I'll beat him for you!"

"Akari, you're not helping..."

The crowd seemed a bit sad for Kazue.

"Poor girl. Maybe try again next year?"

"She did hold her own. I mean he does possess one of the...powers."

"He's so unpredictable! I'm not surprised she lost."

Kazue went back to her seat, while Luca went over to his own. The boys all gave him a thumbs-up, but no one got too close. Kai smiled and said: "Well, good job man! Bet her little food tricks were a REAL pain."

Umeda turned his head away. "Nice win, but UGLY way of doing it. Watch me and the nerd fight," He pointed to Obara, who stuck his tongue out at him. "I will show you a real display of combat."

Tetsuya looked at the bracket. "I guess I'm next." He looked at Atomu, who put his hand on his shoulder. "Yes, I will expect your best."

Tetsuya nodded. "Okay!"

Arata looked at the bracket. "Huh, I face wolf boy in round two," He thought about Dachii, and Morino coming to his aid. "Hope he's not as fragile as the General's grandson." He stretched his arms and legs, hitting Kai, Umeda, and Obara.

"Hey!"

Over on the girl's side, Tsugumi was still sizing her brother up. "And he's still here. I'll have to drag him home after this embarrassing loss he'll take." Akari looked at her own brother, who didn't even make eye contact with her. "Hmm."

Kazue was sitting with her head buried in her lap, as Hikari used one arm to comfort her and the other to make sure Nishi didn't rush the boys' side. The judges all began to converse once again. "Interesting fight. They both have potential, I will say." Nakada stated.

Shinjii laughed. "That was my favorite fight!"

Himeka looked down at Kazue. "Aww, Kazue looks so sad! Maybe someone should add her to their squad, just to cheer her up." Toru looked over to her. "There is no pity shown here. We pick the strongest competitors, not the ones we feel the most sympathy for."

Fujii studied the arena. "The rounds are getting more intense as we go on, and this next one, I'm sure it'll be a heavyweight."

Nakada looked at him. "You think Tetsuya can match up with Atomu?"

"We shall see, Nakada. We shall see." He was now eating popcorn. Himeka put her hand in the bucket and grabbed some. "Thanks! I was STARVING!"

"Hey, what the---"

Jukai went center stage again. "Now that we are officially halfway done with the first round, we got the next two competitors going at it: "ATOMU vs. TETSUYA!"

The two guys took their spots, giving each other a polite nod.

"Ready?" Atomu stated.

"No holding back!" Tetsuya replied.

"Ready? FIGHT!"

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