Soft humming resonates from below, gradually crescendoing in relation to a curved interior balcony that faces a wide window displaying the blue sky outside. That beautiful view is blocked out although by the emergence of the woman with short amber hair, whose hands remain behind her as she’s elevated by a holographic pad. The pad brings her up to the surface level of the balcony, to which she steps off, relinquishing the pad as it vanishes.

She steps forth deeper into the balcony as another figure arises from below the balcony, the tall bald man, whose arms are extended as he’s caught midway doing stretches. Even after the pad concludes its ascension, the man doesn’t seem to move, unaware of his arrival as he continues stretching.

Beside him, the final guest surfaces, the girl with pink hair, who turns to glance at the man with a puzzled expression, her hands by her side. She tilts her head as the pad comes to a halt, allowing her to step off. She does so, but continues to stare at the man before inquiring, “Hey, Earth 50 to Ekitai, you there?”

The man’s eyes open wide before he shakes his head, returning his arms to his side. He nods his head with a wide grin before stepping off the platform, leaving his pad as the last to dissipate after Kokei. He begins walking beside Kokei as they both follow Dana in through the lobby, which has a similar moon-shaped design to the one from the floor housing their bedrooms. They walk down the purple floors towards the corridor right down the center.

“Yes yes, sorry, it’s just quite a lot of walking we’ve been doing today, it’s like we’re hiking up a great big mountain y’know?”

Kokei tilts her head while groaning through slightly parted lips before imploring, “What are you talking about, is this a lot of exercise for you?”

First grabbing his waist, Ekitai begins stretching his back whilst answering, “Hey hey, this jacket is heavy, it’s like carrying weights.”

“If I carry that jacket for you, you won’t have an excuse then, right?” Kokei proposes with a close-eyed grin, clasping her hands in sarcastic joy after finding a loophole.

Ekitai chuckles while scratching the back of his head, claiming “No no, I wouldn’t let a girl hold my belongings, I’m better than that!”

“Really now? Are you?” interrogates Kokei with a higher pitched tone as she intensely pushes her fingers against each other, her sarcasm reaching a boiling point.

“Wait shoot, I’m stupid, why would I think the theater’s on the gymnasium floor?” interjects Dana comes to a halt whilst she slaps her forehead with her hand upon the epiphany whilst staring ahead, being the only one focused on the environment.

Kokei twirls around as Ekitai’s yellow irises leap to Dana, as both of them respond simultaneously.

“You’re not stupid!” assures Kokei.

“Wait, GYMNASIUM??” exclaims Ekitai.

At last, the two finally beheld the sight before them, for beside them in the wide hallway were apertures bestowed by transparent walls, leading to views of the colossal rooms neighboring the hall, rooms larger than warehouses. The room to the left has multiple floors, filled with strange equipment, with some elevated circular platformers large enough for someone to take multiple steps in, and other machines with handles and cables reminiscent of weight machines.

While some areas of the floor are composed of a hard concrete-like material, other parts are better padded, with one particular corner having a strange construct similar to a podium, but with a dumbbell sitting on top, and beside it is a low holographic rack supporting a barbell.

There appear to be several podiums and racks in the corners where the padding is most common, as well as other strange equipment such as what seems to be giant metal disks stacked on another holographic rack.

On the right side of the hallway is an even more expansive room, a great white open chamber that seems over twice the size of the left room. The megalithic room appears to have two subrooms farther down along the close wall, both fully enclosed but noticeable from the angle where the three stand. There are also two sets of five white platforms slightly elevated closer to the three, each large enough for one person to stand on.

However, beyond the platforms is a tremendously large capsule-shaped arena that consumes the vast majority of the overall chamber, composed of a frost-colored translucent holographic shell. The tremendous capsule towers over the three as the room itself appears to be several stories tall, a gargantuan space which soon attracts both Kokei and Ekitai.

Dana glances at the capacious room before softly recalling, “Isn’t that his air hockey arena?”

Kokei’s eyes explode wide open as she turns to Dana before shrieking, “HE HAS A HOCKEY ARENA IN HIS HOUSE?!?!?!”

Ekitai’s jaw drops as he stares at the room in astonishment, his yellow eyes glittering from such majestic sight as he felt his soul compelled in that very moment.

Such a dramatic reaction prompts a giggle from Dana as she faces Kokei, nodding her head and explaining, “Yeah, I mean honestly I’m pretty sure this isn’t even close to his largest room, but yeah he has one. Maybe more somewhere, not sure. He has a thing for the sport, I can tell you that, probably because of how violent it is~.”

Awestruck from a lightning bolt from the heavens, Kokei’s irises sparkle as she wonders, “I’ve never seen an arena inside someone’s house, and it’s surprisingly decent for a personal one, I can’t believe they just sell these to people! Hmm, how much do you think they cost? I’ve never been too into sports, in fact I’ve never even air skated before, but it looks so cool! I kinda want to have one in my house too!”

Induced to giggle again, Dana assures, “Maybe maybe, but yeah it’s cool; very tricky sport to learn though, just trying to move alone takes ages. But yeah, anyways come on yeah we should probably head back, we’re not going to find anything here, this stuff takes up most of the floor honestly. There’s even more arenas in the back, it’s sort of insane. Okay, let’s go Ekitai.”

Her upbeat attitude however quickly depresses as Dana turns her head to beside Kokei where the other guest was just standing, only to find absence. Her expression turns from delight to despair as she reiterates, “Ekitai?”

“Woah, that’s so cool! It just puts it on you itself, and it’s all energy and stuff, I can’t even feel any weight!” rejoices Ekitai from the right of the two, although his voice is muffled as though isolated by a wall.

Heart pounding, Dana turns her gaze towards the sound, only to find that now inside the air hockey room, standing on one of the platforms is Ekitai, whose full body is layered by what looks like a suit composed of a translucent red energy. The suit doesn’t seem to have a distinct texture, and doesn’t even seem truly present if not for the well defined structure.

The sleek design of the suit preserves Ekitai’s shape albeit with exceptions such as a flat mask over a larger helmet as well as thicker gloves and shins. His arms are also wrapped in sleek gauntlets that raise up towards his wrist with a thin aperture above his hands.

He stretches his arms as the suit remains intact on him, and he turns towards the two, smiling gleefully as he reveals a red metallic disk embedded onto his right breast which has a green light indicator in the center. The device seems to be the origin of the energy-based suit, indicating healthy sustainment, which brings happiness to Ekitai yet horror to Dana.

Like an apprehensive mother of young children, Dana steps forth, raising her hand towards Ekitai while softly exhorting, “Ekitai, can you please get that off? That’s real equipment Ekitai, you could get hurt. Ekitai-.”

“Woah, wait he’s not kidding, this is amazing!” jubilates Kokei, who Dana realizes is also now standing on one of the platforms, her body coated in a similar suit to Ekitai’s albeit better tailored to her body shape and composed of a blue projection instead. She turns her wrist, observing the responsiveness of the suit, before raising her gaze to meet Ekitai.

Dana glances beside her where Kokei was just standing before swerving her head to where Kokei stands now before returning her gaze back to where she was, double checking in denial at the reality of her situation.

She finally centers her gaze at Kokei before pleading helplessly, “Wait, what? Kokei, didn’t you just say you’ve never used that before? Kokei come on, not you, I thought you were better than this!”

Kokei giggles mischievously before announcing, “Excuse me, I guess my first impressions were really just that good! Well come on then Dana, join Ekitai’s team though, he needs it to be a fair fight!”

“Hey, she can be with you, I don’t plan on holding back anyways so you’ll need all the help you can get! Better get moving before I get my first point!” challenges Ekitai before he leaps off of the platform and bolts to the capsule, panting already from excursion.

“Hey, baka, no fair!” yells Kokei before she jumps off the platform, chasing after Ekitai as both of them run into the arena.

Upon Ekitai’s and Kokei’s entry, two holographic constructs materialize on the far ends of the arena, hovering in the center. The constructs have a design similar to a netted goal post, shaped as a trapezoidal prism with the one singular opening facing the center of the arena, being the wider base with the back of the goals being smaller dimensionally. The goal post in the far side is illuminated blue while the one on the closer side has a red glow, following the same color tones as the two suits.

Above the capsule as well forms a huge sphere that projects several smaller screens housing 0s, although wrapping around are two larger 0s beside each other, and beneath both are smaller titles with the left title reading “HOME” and the right reading “GUEST,” seeming to be the scoreboard. Above the score is a timer which reads “20:00” and below that timer reads “P 1,” indicating the match’s period.

In the very center of the capsule, between the two goal posts and perfectly in the air, a small black disk resembling a hockey puck is summoned out of seemingly thin air, remaining stationary in the sight of both contenders.

Both Ekitai and Kokei continue to sprint on foot towards the floating puck, wearing their suits yet not utilizing them for neither has been trained prior. Kokei reaches her hand out to try grabbing Ekitai, who shakes his wrist in the air towards the puck, trying desperately to trigger the suit to begin maneuvering properly.

Frantic, Ekitai begins simulating pulling motions with both hands towards the puck, opening and closing his hands while pulling his arm back and forth, his mouth wide open as he gasps for air knowing Kokei is trailing right behind him.

Alas, upon the closing of Ekitai’s right hand, a red holographic cable projects forth from his hand, extending straight forth into the upper wall that it points towards. After being properly anchored, the pulling of Ekitai’s arm carries his whole body off the ground, flying swiftly in the air as he’s reeled towards the anchor. He howls in surprise, his body a blur as he flies right past the puck, unable to properly control himself.

Now entrenched in the fear that her opponent was reaching victory faster, Kokei begins wildly swinging her arms in a futile attempt to follow Ekitai’s senseless acts. However, having been unable to properly observe Ekitai’s movements, her duplication is imperfect, as rather than making squeezing and pulling motions she instead flicks her wrist while thrusting her arms downward, one after the other before doing both simultaneously.

Thrusting with greater force and intent, a burst of blue steam-like particles are cast off the bottom of her arms, to which her body is immediately launched off the ground and forth in the direction opposite from the particles. She squeals, as while she intended for a similar outcome, it still came unexpected, especially the sharp speeds her small body was moving at.

Approaching the puck, she pulls her arm back in an attempt to make another push. However, the speeds at which she moves at are far too great for her to be able to focus on her surroundings, and similarly to Ekitai she nearly misses the puck.

Yet in a stroke of luck, as her pulled arm glides past the puck, her left gauntlet projects a soft beam of blue light which strikes the puck before pulling it towards the gauntlet similarly to a tractor beam. The puck, contained in a holographic casing, remains in front of her gauntlet, being carried with her as she successfully picks up the puck.

A wide grin forms on Kokei’s face as she feels an overwhelming sense of pride for her quick learning, laughing loudly in instant victory. She then makes another boosting motion, thrusting her arms downward and extending them whilst declaring, “Hah, I got it first, looks like I got you beat old ma-.”

By extending her arms, Kokei’s left gauntlet suddenly fires the puck downward, releasing it with great speeds as it flies far away from Kokei. She gasps as her eyes track down and she silences in morbid fear, watching the puck leave her as it reaches the ground, for she bathed in victory right as the water turned cold.

The puck strikes the ground before bouncing off, zooming up as it ricochets with impressive momentum, bouncing off the capsule interior as it glides aimlessly in the rink.

Her moment of triumph turned to terror, Kokei once again flails her arms aimlessly as she pivots her body to face the speeding puck, attempting to chase it once more. She screams, “WAIT, GET BACK HERE!” before another thrust propels her body in the general direction of the flying disk.

Down on the ground, Dana steps through the transparent walls from the hallway, phasing through similarly to some of the walls downstairs. She races towards the capsule, stopping beside the platformers and looking up at the insanity before her.

Streaks of blue, red, and black dart around the capsule seemingly aimlessly, as the blue streak zooms towards the black streak’s direction, yet keeps passing it, and the red streak moves in random zigzags towards the back as it seems to struggle orienting itself. The chaotic calamity compels chills, as Dana finds herself amidst a horrendous situation, unable to even locate the two guests let alone stop them.

Operating off any instincts given, Dana cups her hands around her mouth before calling out, “Okay guys, I know this looks fun, but please come down! It’s dangerous up there, you could get hurt! Guys?! Guys, at least let me put on the training wheel setting!”

But to no avail, she receives no response. She tsks helplessly, watching the streaks continue racing, with the black streak continuing to bounce off walls while the red one begins moving up towards the other side of the rink where the blue and black streak are as though beginning to evolve.

Lost for ideas, Dana turns around, only for her eyes to meet the hovering platformers around her. She arms droop down as she slouches in preliminary regret, for she can only generate one idea, and she already hates it.

Up in the air, Kokei races towards the puck as it continues bouncing off the walls. Attempting to control herself better, she makes lighter thrusts for softer boosts, enough that she can at least comprehend her own position in space. The puck has considerably slowed down, making it potentially viable to catch, as she now understands the mechanism to control it, and also comprehends what action releases it.

Armed with this newfound yet young experience, Kokei grins widely as she senses victory approaching her way. Her pink eyes blaze in determination as she continues striding forth towards the puck, closing her fists as she prepares herself to make the catch.

While Kokei might’ve felt victory approaching her, she had failed to sense something else approaching her at a much faster rate. From right above Kokei, a red cable soars past her, attaching to the far wall. Her eyes widen in perpetual fear as they raise up, her mood once again beginning to plummet as does her heart.

Above Kokei, reeling forth from the red cable is Ekitai, who’s alas caught up to her. A wide grin is visible across his face as he lowers his head to meet Kokei’s gaze. He boastfully taunts, “Normally, I would go easy up against a girl in a sport like this. But I also feel like showing off a bit right now, so I’m not going to do the first thing. Catch you later, Kookie!”

Aghast, Kokei’s face reddens in a mixture of fear and embarrassment, her jaw hanging loose. Caught in the heat of the moment, her face squirms as she cries out, “HEY, DON’T CALL ME THAT! EKITAI, BAKA, I SWEAR TO GOD!”

Now fired up, Kokei lowers her gaze to the puck soaring in the air, fully intent to reach it first. Ditching her cautious motions, she once again resorts to frantic thrusting, accelerating herself much more as she races Ekitai for the puck.

The puck once again bounces off a wall, flying back down in the direction towards the entrance. It’s become far slower however after having bounced between walls for a while as the two players failed miserably to catch it, as it softly glides at a downward slope, slow yet still small enough to pose a challenge in obtaining it.

Ekitai opens his hand, releasing the cable he was reeling towards, and turns around to face the puck. Aiming his left hand towards it, he makes another grabbing motion, clenching his hand which causes another cable to project off towards the puck, missing just barely but still setting Ekitai in a path that’d intersect the puck’s.

Kokei twirls her body in the air, reorienting herself to face the puck better. Now the artifact in sight, she begins thrusting her arms once again, raising them up and down which causes her body to push in the direction of the puck. Her eyes remain dead set on her objective, gritting her teeth as she thrusts faster, trying to outpace her opponent, who glides at the same speed as her, the two neck and neck, both of them knowing so even without seeing the other.

The two approached the puck closer and closer, neck to neck, their expressions concentrated on victory, with the determining factor exclusively being who had the greater willpower, with a touch of luck. They both reach their right hands out steady, each envisioning it within their grasp already, as for a moment even Kokei seems to have forgotten how to actually catch the puck, for her hands weren’t meant to play a role at all.

Nevertheless, in the heated moment where she was so close to taking control, her primal instinct resorted to attempted grabs, regardless of how such an act would be far more difficult than utilizing her gauntlet.

Then in a single instant, a second blue flash nearly blinds them before their eyes, appearing right where the puck glides. Peering through the light, they both find that right behind the puck floats none other than Dana herself, dressed in her black blazer, coated in a blue holographic suit. In that one moment, she recoils her right arm, to which her gauntlet projects the beam that attracts the puck to her.

In a swift move, she then moves her arm behind herself, aiming her armed gauntlet towards the wall of the arena, but not only that, an opening in the wall clearly marked by the lack of the frost translucent wall, as instead there’s an entirely clear aperture leading to the outside room the arena is situated in. The opening is rather large, as she gave herself ample space to make the shot, knowing full well that her own novitate implied that she couldn’t trust herself with making precise shots, but the gap is more than wide enough for her to have the resultant shot be adequate.

Whilst the two guests were battling it out for the puck, Dana had devised a plan, one she was apprehensive about but felt would possibly disarm the situation. The chaos was caused over the one puck, as that was the artifact both guests were after to win the game. So, if the artifact was removed from the arena, the game would be terminated, and thus so would their motives to continue this charade.

To make this plan work, Dana had to intentionally create a crevice within the rink’s boundary, as neither the puck nor any players equipped with the suit would be able to leave the rink if intercepted by the boundary. The crevice was placed expertly in a general area that she could shoot towards given the puck’s trajectory when she was setting up the opening, unbeknownst to either Kokei or Ekitai due to their tunnel-vision.

From there, her own involvement was simple: She had to reach the puck first, something she was fairly confident that she could do. While she was no expert at the sport, she had spent a great deal of time using Rohan’s maneuverability system, which was heavily similar to air skating, for configuration, testing, and other more complicated situations over the years.

Next, she had to secure the puck, to which she was at least aware of how players would obtain the puck and fire it, as the motion was similar as well to one of Rohan’s earlier weapon systems, albeit one he used less due to the inconvenient motions required. The motion isn’t too difficult either, and was something she could easily pick up on.

Lastly, she had to remove the puck from the rink. This was made possible with the hole in the rink, which would allow her to get the puck out of the puck, and thus extinguish the game. The wideness of the hole made this step more manageable, a potential issue she thought of ahead and accounted for. While she was sure to receive negative feedback from the two, she knew this was for their own good, and this was the most responsible move to make as the designated host of the house. She didn’t expect both of them to make such a rash decision, but the scolding could come later, now was the time for action.

In the next moment, three actions are done all concurrently. Dana thrusts her right arm. Kokei closes her hand. Ekitai shuts his hand in a fist.

In the very proceeding instant, three reactions are triggered concurrently. The puck is released, shot towards the aperture. Kokei’s closed hand makes contact with Dana’s body, whom she wasn’t expecting before making the gesture. Ekitai’s fist strikes Dana, who he still hasn’t processed is right in front of him.

Dana’s pupils shrink. Kokei’s jaw drops. Ekitai’s eyebrow raises.

An explosive burst blows with a thunderous boom, to which a small black streak soars towards the edge of the rink, trailed by a far larger purple asteroid with blue and red strains. Within the asteroid are the mixed screams of the three, who cry in confused terror.

As planned, the black streak flies through the aperture in the rink, and even though moving fast, it hits the floor and lands with minimal impact due to its petite size.

What wasn’t planned is the purple streak following out of the aperture, zooming straight into the transparent walls of the room, causing another ear-piercing shatter, followed by another, which is then followed by the clamorous sounds of heavy metal equipment being struck before ultimately concluding in a climatic landing boom that sends tremors throughout the floor.

A few moments after the impact, the weak sounds of groaning follow like the ash of a flame, only to be interrupted by the clanging and banging sounds of metal equipment collapsing on the hard floor.