In Natsuno City…
Aoki and Akari got up, their bodies bruised and aching.
"That music maniac packs one helluva punch," Aoki remarked. "Dicing him up won't be a walk in the park."
Akari took note of their surroundings. "Could you try to keep the damage to a minimum? Last thing we need is unexpected problems because we destroyed a human city."
"Who cares? They'll be fine."
Akari shook her head. "You're as dull as dirt."
"What was that? I couldn't hear you!"
"I said—-!"
"Ladies, ladies! No fighting! It's so unrefined."
They both whirled around, finding Melodar behind them, sitting at a piano in the middle of the street. "Let me show you some refined art!"
He began to play a jazz tune on his piano, shaking the entire area. "Dynamic Composition!"
The entire area began to crumble, and Aoki had to stab her blade into the ground and grab Akari's arm before they could be blown away. Melodar continued his tune, his movements getting faster.
"How many instruments does this guy have?" Aoki questioned. "And when did the art of music get so powerful?"
Without warning, Melodar got up and kicked the two, sending them flying. By the time they landed, he had a trumpet in his hand, blowing into it. "Fanfare!"
BOOM.
The blast decimated over five city blocks at once, and Akari was forced to put up her forcefield to withstand the blast. Melodar clapped his hands. "Beautiful! That shield emits a fun sound when I hit it! Let's test it out!"
Akari attempted to move, but Melodar was already in front of her, striking her forcefield again and again.
"Do! Re! Mi! Fa! Sol! La! Ti! DO!"
With one final punch, he broke it into pieces, dropping both the girls. "That was a blast! Let's do it again, shall we?"
He summoned his guitar, but he had to duck a slash from Toru's lance, who leapt over him. "Did you think I would let you escape so easily, fiend?"
"I thought you were dead!" Melodar stated. "I guess I'm losing my music touch!"
He looked at his arm. "Well, I am just a clone. The original must be busy."
Toru tried to strike him, grazing the side of his neck. "Watch it! Didn't you ever hear that it's rude to attack a man absorbed in his own thoughts?"
"I've never exactly been…polite," Toru admitted.
"Yeah, I can see that," Melodar agreed. "Vortessia brought you up a few times. She says you're a crazy, hypocritical, arrogant, stubborn, abusive, uptight, obnoxious loner with no friends."
"All correct," Toru said. "But how does she know that?"
Melodar shrugged. "Guess you'll have to ask her. Well, that's if you survive. No guarantees! HIGH-KEY!"
A high-pitched wave of sound hit Toru, who barely managed to keep upright, his ears bleeding. Akari and Aoki covered their ears, dropping to the ground. Toru closed his eyes, disappearing.
"Where'd he go?" Melodar asked.
Melodar's shoulder got slashed, and he jumped back. "Where are you?"
He sensed another attack coming, getting out of the way just as it pierced his forehead. "I get it! You're invisible! I wish I could do that! Unfortunately for you, invisibility won't help against my music! Auditory Evaluation!"
He closed his eyes, allowing his ears to hear for sound. As another thrust of Toru's lance came, he grabbed it, and Toru reappeared.
"I've bested your little magic!" Melodar bragged. "You've got no more art to display!"
"I advise you to reconsider," Toru warned, pointing up.
Melodar looked up just as Noriko slashed his neck with a knife, making him cough. "No way! I didn't even sense her!"
"Precisely. I can make more than just myself invisible. And it seems you can't detect sounds that travel through the air. A severe liability."
"Man, you're a tactician, huh?" Melodar complimented. "I haven't seen many Voltians that think like you!"
"He's still not dead?" Noriko exclaimed. "Is he immortal?"
"The heart, Noriko," Toru sighed, slapping his forehead. "We've been over this."
"Have we?" Noriko wondered. "I mostly tune out when you talk."
Toru smacked her across the back of the head. "Ow! You're dead, old man!"
He used one hand to keep her back as she swung at him again and again, while Aoki and Akari approached them.
"You're the General here," Aoki said. "What do we do?"
"It's clear," Toru explained. "This one here, it isn't real."
"What are you talking about?" Aoki argued. "Clearly it is, otherwise it wouldn't have kicked our asses!"
"Look at it," Toru pointed. "It's beginning to break down."
Sure enough, pieces of Melodar's face were starting to fall off. "That must mean its host body is too far away to reliably sustain it. It's a dying shell."
Noriko twirled her knife in her hand. "So you're saying this ugly thing is just a carbon copy?"
"Precisely. Soon it will break apart completely. It possesses enough power to destroy us, but not enough to keep itself going for a prolonged fight."
Melodar gave him a slow clap. "Very insightful."
A piece of his arm fell off.
"Then where's the real one?" Akari asked. "We've had our hands full with this clone the entire time!"
A thought suddenly appeared in Toru's head. "He must be after Dachii. Hurry, we must finish this!"
Melodar laughed. "Too late."
BOOM.
A large wave of sonic energy erupted off of him, destabilizing all the buildings in the vicinity and bringing all of the soldiers to their knees. "You'll die here. The armor and Dachii, they're already ours."
Toru, still covering his ears, used all his strength to stand back up, making Melodar lift an eyebrow. "You can still walk? You're something else, aren't you?"
"I…have a mission," Toru declared. "And I will accomplish that mission!"
He gripped his lance with all his might and engaged Melodar, blood running down his face.
Many years ago…
"This is the boy you want? Kaneko? He's pretty average. Nothing remarkable about him. And he's the youngest of the bunch, he's only 11!"
A young Kaneko was sitting in an orphanage, watching as an older man talked with the female manager, who briefly pointed at him. "He doesn't talk much, and he doesn't do anything but wander around. Are you sure you'll take him?"
The man nodded. "Stop dawdling and give me the paperwork. I don't want a talkative brat. I'll pop them in the mouth if they dare speak back to me."
The lady quickly hurried to give him the official paperwork, and soon, the man was dragging Kaneko outside and into his car. In a few minutes, they were at a modest house, which had a woman trimming the lawn. She noticed the two when they approached.
"Rokuro!" she greeted. "Who have you brought with you, dear?"
"A boy, Eri," Rokuro answered. "Since you failed to give me one."
"Oh." She covered her mouth. "You didn't adopt that boy just to fulfill your dreams, did you?"
He glared at her before dragging Kaneko into the house, where a bunch of scared girls who appeared older than Kaneko cowered and ran. Rokuro grabbed Kaneko by the scuff of his neck. "You listen to me, and you listen well, boy."
He towered over Kaneko. "You do what I say. Any disobedience will be punished. You don't talk back, and you don't leave this house without permission. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir," Kaneko replied.
"Yeah. That's what I thought. You're gonna be a soldier, kid. You've got plenty of time to make that happen, and it will happen, understand? You'll bring glory to the Toru name. Something my wimps of daughters couldn't bother to do."
"Yes, sir."
He dropped Kaneko to the ground. "Hit me, brat!"
Kaneko punched him in the knee, but the man just stood there, unimpressed. "Weak!"
He punched Toru in the nose, breaking it. Toru lay on the ground, covering his face, while his new father picked him back up. "Enough of your crying! You're gonna become a man and you're gonna do it today! No emotion! No weakness! Got it?"
"Yes, sir…" Toru whimpered.
"Good. Your life of hell begins now.
Six years later…
Kaneko's sisters and mother watched as Kaneko dueled with his father using a pair of wooden staffs. As the two attacked each other ruthlessly, Kaneko landed a barrage of brutal hits on Rokuro, who dropped to the ground. "Yes! That's a grown man move!"
He retaliated with a powerful swing that whacked Kaneko in the face, drawing blood, but Kaneko didn't flinch. Eri got in between them. "Excuse me, dear, I think that's enough! Let him eat! The poor boy is tired!"
Rokuro whacked her with the staff. "Shut up, you useless tramp! This boy's gonna be a General whether you like it or not, and boost my legacy!"
Eri crawled out of the way, holding her face. Kaneko watched with an unreadable expression on his face, while his oldest sister, Akemi, stepped in front of Kaneko. "Father! Stop! No more, please! We just want a normal family! We don't need glory!"
He whacked her in her kneecap, breaking it. "Shut up! You're the firstborn and you've amounted to nothing! No offensive magic, no Element, no nothing!"
"Father! You…you…I hate you!"
Rokuro picked up his staff again. "That so? I'll beat you within an inch of your life then."
The other girls tried to stop him, but soon, everyone ended up on the ground, severely beaten and unable to move except for Kaneko. Rokuro raised his staff. "Anyone who dares talk back to me will suffer! One more word and I'll kill you where you stand!"
Eri barely managed to lift her head. "I…wish…I never…married you…"
She turned to Kaneko. "Kaneko…please…run…"
"Stay, boy!" Rokuro ordered. "Watch your mother die."
He raised his stick, preparing to bring it over her head, but suddenly, Kaneko caught it, surprising both his mother and father.
"Son…" Eri groaned.
"That's enough," Kaneko stated. "She's an innocent woman. Leave Mom alone."
"You've got guts, son," Rokuro remarked. "Now I'll beat them out of you!"
Rokuro and Kaneko began fighting, and eventually, Rokuro slammed Kaneko into the ground, beating him with the stick. "You've gotten better! But not enough to beat me! After all this training, all this time, you still hesitate! The tryouts are in a week, and you will pass! Either kill me, or I'll kill you!"
Kaneko grabbed his stick, using the last of his strength to whack his father in the face before he blacked out. The last thing he saw was a bright white light before passing out.
Later, he woke up in a hospital bed, where Queen Ayame was overseeing him. He immediately shot up. "Your Highness?"
She waved. "Greetings! Kaneko Toru, right? You've got some serious skill for a seventeen-year-old! Have you considered joining the military?"
"What happened to my father…?" Kaneko wondered.
"He's been arrested," Queen Ayame explained. "Unfortunately, your mother did not survive his attack. You did a great job stalling him, however. Because of that, your sisters are still alive!"
"I see."
"Do you need any water or anything?" Queen Ayame asked. "You look famished!"
"I'm fine."
She looked him up and down. "Six years of brutal training must have been tough. I can't imagine the things he must have done to a poor boy such as yourself."
"Nothing I can't handle," Kaneko assured, his voice devoid of emotion.
Queen Ayame patted his head. "Usually, there are tryouts for this type of stuff, but I think there's a certain squad that will be willing to take you!"
He looked up. "Hmm?"
"Squad S-6! It has a reputation for being a serious, no-nonsense organization! No jokes, no drama, just hard work!"
"Huh. Sounds tempting."
"Besides, I think it's finally time you get a real home, and the proper means to support what's left of your family. What do you say, Kaneko? Will you join?"
Kaneko looked at the bruises on his hands and body. "Yes, ma'am."
She clapped. "Brilliant! One more thing. Can you show me your magic ability?"
"My dad told me to never expose it to the public."
"Well, your dad isn't here, is he?" she pointed out. "Go on, let me see!"
Kaneko sighed and closed his eyes, disappearing where he sat. Queen Ayame gasped, and Kaneko returned to view.
"Amazing! I've never seen Invisibility Magic before! Imagine the things you could do with it!"
"I only used it to hide my mother and sisters from my dad."
"Well, now you can put it to use on a grand scale! Oh, dear Kaneko! You have such a high ceiling! I think you'll be a General just like Kenshi, one day!"
"Who's Kenshi?"
A man with icy hair walked into the infirmary. "Hey, Your Highness! Your daughter is causing problems again!"
"Perfect timing, Kenshi!" Queen Ayame remarked. "Here, this is Kaneko. Kaneko, this is Kenshi Fujii. I have a feeling you two will get along nicely."
Kaneko lifted an eyebrow. "What a weird man."
Present Day…
With a final burst of power, Toru charged at Melodar, stabbing his lance through his chest as they both flew into the air.
—-