23: Glitched Tech

"I'm sorry Machi Harkness is here?" Mira asked. Machi sighed and removed his disguise and walked out as Karma did too. Everyone was shocked by the return of the Harkness boy, but none more than the team that created his new identity to hide his true one. "How did he get approval," Hogwood asked, "he needed your approval-- Evermore your husband didn't have anything to do with this?"

She didn't even know.

*

"Our referee for the day is Zac Kalona... ah this makes sense now." Ruth chuckled. "Unless we have reasons for Machi Harkness to not fight, we will proceed." Zac stood in the middle and looked at Karma and Machi. Karma was shocked but unwilling to back down from the fight that could prove her worth, and Machi was interested in the candidate who was able to come in second with a 4-second difference in Day 1 to Rocco's powers.

"He's wearing two limiters, and has sworn to not use his true powers," Zac revealed, "so let the fight proceed." Evermore watched as he showed his arms and they were bound and bleeding. The harshest limiters used on jailmates. It was shocking, but also rather scary that Machi had to restrict himself to that level.

Karma landed the first hit but Machi dodged with extreme caution and noticed the damage it created. The building regenerated as it was an extension of the city's natural power but Machi was shocked. Raw power like that and room for exponential growth.

'Impressive how easily you've detached your actions from your thoughts.' Carbine mused and Machi jumped back and smiled.

"I wonder how fast you'd be able to grow." Machi chuckled and Karma scowled and grabbed her sheathed sword. Hellyer warned Karma to never unsheath it but in this instance, she did. Uncaring about the damage it'd cause. She wanted to prove herself and was rather desperate to.

"A sword," Rocco smiled, "good luck to her."

Everyone in the viewing room was shocked as to why he said that but then they noticed Machi's eyes glow blue.

"HE STOPPED IT?!" Ruth yelled.

Karma froze as she saw her sword between his palms, even though Machi's hands were bleeding, there was no other damage. "That's impossible," Karma yelled and dragged her sword back. Blood dripped on the floor before his hands were healed and Machi was rather shocked by the power she was using.

Dawson even knew that the sword was dangerous. "Ki," Jo answered everyone's question, "he used ki and so did she. He counterbalanced her energy to make the blade otherwise power...less..."

Hellyer noticed the boy's expression and then to Karma. In the skybox, even Astra and Kay seemed more devoted to this fight than their jobs. The meeting the leaders were in paused as they witnessed the sight. Hellyer, shocked, wondering how he even stopped the sword. "Evermore, what's that boy's power again? Ice?"

"Ice and his father's rifts."

Hellyer smiled. "It seems Josette has a good pupil." Evermore focused more on the fight instead. But that display seemed identical to Jo's. More refined for Machi's use, like it was an extension of his body and not apart. And this display of power did not go unnoticed by the healer or her flame-user husband. Dawson watched the fight and noticed Machi's moves - the way he dodged each blow of the sword - though top tier in his eyes - were rather... too familiar.

"That style... that looks like Rylan," Kai said, as he was someone who studied his fighting style a lot during their younger days. "I'm not imagining it... Machi he's... compensating for the loss of using rifts to dodge Karma--"

"Just as Rylan did when he didn't use his rifts." Zac finished and Kai nodded. They all looked to the fight and were nostalgic.

Zac smiled and this fight was sort of nostalgic for him. Machi embodied so much of Rylan and he didn't even know. Karma was having a fun time too. She was smiling, her canines showing and her hair a mess but she was fighting.

"Your ki is too uncontrolled," Machi smirked, "it's how I can dodge everything you hit at me."

Karma looked shocked. "That's what this is?" She asked him and Machi nodded. "5.1 and you don't even have ki controlled."

Karma noticed his eyes and they had so much strength in them that she would lose under normal circumstances.

But she wanted to know what it felt like. Control. "What's going on with her watch?" Jo asked as she held onto her sword and concentrated. "Is our tech glitching?"

'You're forcing a level up.' Carbine revealed. 'She's forcing her body to control ki. It's causing her level to rise because of how much she's controlling now.'

Even Zac and Hogwood caught onto what Machi had done. "She's levelling up." Hellyer hummed. "Not even we can do that at our level. We don't have the same thing they do."

"Ki," Evermore answered and Hellyer nodded.

"Karma has a power but doesn't use it. Just her natural ability. But forcing a level up now is dangerous. She will lose control. Your son has some interesting plans Evermore." Lord Hellyer smirked.

*

Jisa and Plue were in their home when Jisa sensed something. "Machi?" Plue asked.

"He's doing something alright." Jisa smiled. "Something I taught him." She chuckled and Plue tilted his head.

*

"This may cause a lot of damage to my body since I'm limiting myself so don't be shocked when I pass out," Machi warned and they watched as his tech glitched levels and their eyes went wide. It was a split second but a split second was all they needed to see the level that flashed on Machi's wrist.

Summoning all of his ki, his veins began going red and his arms began getting thicker before forcing that energy inside Karma. It took a whole lot of energy to control the ki inside of her and Machi laid her down softly on the floor, her watch recalibrating to show her new level.

"The first level 6 huh?" Machi asked as his watch changed quickly from a high number to 3. Jo jumped down and began healing Machi's arms and Karma was uninjured. Just worn down. "Machi wins...?" Zac even questioned it himself. He never fought but won. Jo replenished his ki with her own to keep him awake at least.

"That's 5 points to Academy City's Team Rocco..." Ruth said and Mira just looked at Karma's watch. 6.1. Everyone was rather confused as Karma was taken away for observation.

"Machi forced her to go up an entire level, her base level beats even Hellyer now," Astra said. "What's Machi's base level? It can't be 3."

*

Karma woke and Jo smiled and changed her IV bag. "Well done Miss Karma," Jo smiled, "you've officially become a level 6."

She froze and looked at her watch and it registered as a level 6.1. Across the bed, she saw the kid she fought. Machi. "You did this." Jo left and Machi looked at her. "You forced a new level-"

"I didn't do anything." Machi answered, not knowing everyone was listening in, "Uncontrolled ki doesn't register as a level. Ki itself is a natural energy everyone possesses, some just at higher levels. Controlled ki does since it's a type of power. Especially if you mix it with your powers. Having control raised your level, I just forced you to control. Fighting with uncontrolled power... no one deserves to go through that."

Karma looked at him and Machi slicked his hair back. "You fought those Dragurs when they attacked. You're strong so why are you here?" Karma asked.

"Well... Rocco needed a teammate." Machi laughed. "Also, the best upcoming agents attend the tournament. I was hoping there was at least someone I could see who... I dunno had a reason to go above and beyond the limits set. Oh, and disobeying my mother was fun."

Karma blinked a few times and shook her head. "Who taught you that level of control? Yourself?"

"I could never teach myself control. I only discovered these powers 5 years ago. A friend helped. She's much stronger than me."

Karma nodded and Lord Hellyer walked in with Lord Hogwood, Mira and Evermore and saw the two talking. Karma bowed and Mira looked to Machi as his wrist laid bare.

"Let me see your arms." Lord Hellyer said and Machi rolled up his sleeves and a metal centipede design with bars digging into his skin was shown. "You willingly put this on?" He asked and Machi nodded. "And two tech limiters at my ankles. I took them off."

Lord Hellyer healed the wound but didn't remove the restraints and Machi didn't see a point but there was some relief. "You forced a level up. In front of the entire stadium."

Machi noticed his mother's cold eyes and looked to the other leaders. "That's what happened to me on the first month of arriving at the settlement belonging to Jisa." Machi revealed. "She settled the ki in me and noticed that it drastically increased my natural ability."

Looking at his wrists, he painfully revealed a snowflake and it confirmed Machi truly had the powers. "Then came the reading of the book. And then came training. The only reason I am who I am right now is because Jisa trained me. Someone who could easily beat everyone here without lifting a finger... trained me in her ways."

He stood up and looked to his mother. "And if you try anything against her or the dragurs she protects, don't bother trying to make me stop her. They saved me 5 years ago and raised me to who I am now, I have every reason to trust them, more so than my own mother recently."

Evermore felt a shiver down her back and Machi left the room and Karma found him interesting.