"That girl seems like she has a hell of an ability, explosions like that don't come cheap. She didn't stand out much during her class's group battles though."

"...."

"How did she create that explosion in the first place? It was way out of her sight... Don't tell me her ability's something like creating landmines...?"

"..."

Akira and Eiji were sat next to each other in front of a wall.

They were watching Keima's and Eight's battle against Izanagi and .

"Kirai-san... She's isn't really my classmate, but I heard some stuff about her... It's true her ability can make her procure explosive tools, but what she creates aren't landmines."

"Then how did she make them explode from far away?"

"....

...If you watched her group battle, you probably didn't notice her much, since she can't plant her ability just before the battle. Unlike now, where the pairs are given a sufficient amount of time to prepare before they start."

"Doesn't that mean her ability IS the creation of landmines?"

"No...that's not it."

"Then what is it?"

"...

...Her ability is-"

________________________________________________________________________________

"Haaah haah haaaah.", Keima panted as he sat next to a broken wall.

He was sat next to Eight, inside the first floor what seems to be an abandoned, ruined five story house.

In front of Keima was a badly burnt robot, he controlled earlier.

The windows were broken, the chairs were cracked and giving out, the walls have holes on it... It all seemed just like it was once the dwelling of a normal family, until some sort of war broke in.

"She's so strong."

"...It is a very strong ability to compete with.", Eight replied with a serious expression.

Eight was holding her large robotic arm that seemed to be slightly burnt too.

"Her explosive ability doesn't seem like something that just shoots out from her body. I believe she only makes some sort of tool that detonates. That was why we were hit by her even though we had already ran quite a distance from them."

"..."

Keima stared at her robotic arm and clenched his fist.

"If it was a bomb that triggers through contact, we better be careful with our movements."

'If her ability was the creation of landmines, then...'

Keima closed his eyes and started thinking of a plan.

*beep beep beep*

His eyes suddenly widened when he heard a sound near them getting louder.

"KEI-CHAN!"

"LET'S GO UPSTAIRS! QUICK!"

Keima and Eight quickly ran towards the stairs.

*beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep*

The noise started getting quieter but as they went further, it also beeped quicker.

Keima and Eight quickly ran up the stairs.

"WE NEED TO GO AS HIGH AS POSSIBLE!"

They continued running towards, the third floor, and the fourth floor...but before Eight could climb the fourth floor stairs... Keima suddenly stopped running.

They were in a small room, with a ripped couch, a broken table, a dirty refrigerator...

Spiderwebs was all over the place and everywhere just seemed so dusty.

His eyes were directed towards the lower floors.

'Wait...back then, when the explosion first hit us, did it make such a repetitive sound?'

"Kei-chan, what are you...?"

"...Aris..."

He then thought for a second, and turned his head to the left, and right side of the room, as if he was looking for something.

He then finally turned his attention towards the couch.

As if he saw something horrifying, his eyes widened with fear.

"SHIT!"

"Kei-chan!?"

Keima quickly grabbed Eight's robotic arm and pulled her with him towards the window.

"Wait, why are we-"

They quickly jumped out.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM*

From the back of the couch, a large explosion suddenly occured blowing up not only the fourth floor, but also burning the third floor's ceiling and the fifth floor'.

'That ticking earlier...was that just some sort of recorder?'

["Her bombs seem to have much more explosive ability than yours, if we get caught in it-"

*beep*

*BOOOOOOOMMM*

As Keima and Eight ran in betwen two buildings and curved down their targeted direction, a strong bomb quickly went off in front of them.]

'They tricked us! Last time we were blown up by a bomb, it didn't make that much sound before it exploded! They made it look like a bomb was there to lure us upstairs!'

Keima and Aris were falling next to the third floor window's when they suddenly noticed two figures appear next to the second floor windows.

'IT'S THEM!'

Kirai, who was next to Izanagi, pulled on her gloves and put out her palm, and spawned two small square C4 like bombs that showed 3 second timers on them just a small distance below Keima and Eight.

'C4s?'

Keima suddenly widen his eyes and curled his eyebrows.

3

He pulled out his palm and released his wire like energy nerves that slithered like a snake.

2

The energy nerves suddenly connected to the two C4s as they fell next to the second floor windows.

1

"CHAAAANNNNGGGEEE, DDAAMMITTT!!!"

A flash of yellow light suddenly shined.

"What...?"

Kirai and Izanagi put out their arms before their faces to block the light.

*Cjjiiwwwww*

The first C4 suddenly turned to a short metal pole stuck from the ground, while the second became what seems to be a robotic mini gauntlet on his right hand.

"UGGGGHH!"

Keima immediately grabbed the pole with his right hand before they could fall flat to the ground and held on Eight's hand trying to carry her.

"AUUUUGGGHH! AAAAARRRRIIIS!"

She was slightly shaken, but she immediately followed up what Keima was planning.

*BOOOOOOOM*

She immediately shot 2 missiles below them.

The force pushed them up at a diagonal angle aiming for the second floor windows.

"Tch-", Kirai clicked her tongue.

They both charged up to the second floor window while holding each other's hands.

*whoooossshh*

They quickly closed in on the Izanagi and Kirai, but before they could clash with them...

*sshiiww*

Izanagi and Kirai disappeared, what's left were two C4s about to blow up as well.

3

'Those mongrels!'

2

Keima immediately lashed out his energy nerves and connected them to the C4s.

1

The timer that was about to hit zero was suddenly stopped.

*beep*

'Above!'

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM*

Suddenly, a large explosion occured from the floor above Keima's, and broke a large hole on it.

The explosion was so strong, it hit all the way to the first floor's ceiling.

________________________________________________________________________________

"Guess that's enough.", said Kirai, who has dirt and debris all over her tracksuit.

"They were smart, but still not smart enough."

They were standing right next to the burning building where their encounter with Keima and Eight occured, next to a dirty roadside.

Broken, ruined and dirty buildings were found near the place, and made it seem like a once, progressive, modern city.

"You sure? They might have survived that for all you know.", Izanagi replied with a bored tone.

"I made sure to create an explosion that'll reach even the first floor, they won't die from it, but there's no way they'll leave unscathed, they're probably unconscious now."

Izanagi looked a little sleepy as he kept his eyes on the burning building.

His eyes slightly widen after looking at it for a minute, and suddenly grinned.

"Shouldn't we look for their base for now?", Izanagi asked with a devious grin.

"They probably didn't hide it somewhere far, since they don't seem to have a mobile ability, so it should be close to their starting position."

"Let's go there then."

"..."

Kirai seemed a bit bothered hearing Izanagi say this.

She showed a skeptical look at him, but he just returned her gaze without changing his expression.

"Sure, let's go.", said Kirai, as she crossed her arms and looked away from him with a irritated expression.

________________________________________________________________________________

"Mama, why is my name a number?", a cute, young short white haired child asked.

The child was wearing a white and blue one piece, that also looked like her sleep wear.

She was inside what seems to be an expensive, but homely living room. (001)

Two windows were made next to a warm fireplace.

Two clay pots and some ancient decorations were placed on top of the fireplace.

Small lamps were hanging a small distance from the top of the fire place as well.

In the middle of the room, was a large, spread out, eccentric designed carpet, and on top of it, was a small rocking chair, that carried two beautiful ladies.

The young looking adult was sat on the chair, while the child sat on her lap.

"Is there something wrong? Are you being bullied because of your name, honey?", a beautiful, young looking lady, with long white hair, a buxom figure, and smooth pale skin replied to the small child with a question while showing a worried expression.

She was wearing a long light blue homely dress that covered all the way to her legs, with a pink apron on top.

"No! That's not it, mama! I don't hate my name! Papa and mama gave it to me, so there's no way I'd hate it!"

"...but that doesn't mean you like it, right?"

"...Uh...muuuuuu...", she pouted and bloated her cheeks with air.

"It's not like I don't like it, mama... It's just... there are lots of cuter names..."

The beautiful woman looked at her with a slight smile and patted her head.

"The boys say that... my name's weird. They think I'm a weird child because my papa and mama thought of a lame name for me... they said..."

The woman's expression suddenly changed to a concerned expression...

"Do you want to hear a story, Ei-chan?"

"Hmmm?....Um!", the child replied with a curious smile.

The woman smiled back at the child and carried her by the arms.

She then stood from the chair, and put down the child on it.

She walked up to a book shelf that was placed next to a wall.

A thin brown picture book that looked old and dusty, was then taken by her as she walked back to the child.

"Mama! What's the story about?", the child asked with excitement.

She just smiled at her and gave her the book.

The child opened the book, as the mother carried her on to her lap.

"Mom, what's this weird looking thing?", the child asked as she pointed to a drawing of a robot in the book.

"It's the story's main character, a robot named...

...Eight."

________________________________________________________________________________

"...Uh....", the white haired girl, Eight moaned as she slowly opened her eyes.

"Where...?"

"You're finally awake, took you long enough.", Keima's voice was heard.

She then finally got a grasp of what happened and where she was.

They were in the middle of what seems to be...

...a wide metal sheet, that was shaped like a large blanket.

"How...?"

"I still had the metal pole and the gauntlet I created earlier, right? Just before her explosion occurred, I created this metal sheet to block against the explosion, it tore a hole on the floor though, and we fell towards the first floor."

Keima's arms were glowing yellow, as he put the sheet away...

The ground was burnt black as she saw the scene.

The already ruined, dirty area, was even dirtier and full of debris than before.

"You took me into your arms and fell flat to the ground, taking the fall damage. I'm thankful for that.", said Keima while looking away.

"N-no...it's okay.", Eight replied while slightly blushing, looking a little nervous.

"Are you alright now?", he then asked her with a serious expression.

"..."

Eight looked back at him with a worried expression.

["Are you alright now?"], the voice, of a small, small child, wearing a white gothic renaissance outfit suddenly flashed through her mind. (002)

She smiled hearing this, and stood up.

"I am.", she answered while looking at the small Keima lovingly.

"...Then let's go.", Keima replied with a blushing, awkward expression while looking away.

Keima then looked at her arm, and was about to walk out of the building, when...

"By the way...", he stopped and asked her while his back was turned against her.

"...Kei-chan?"

________________________________________________________________________________

"That was smart of them. I also saw that little guy fight in your group battles. I never knew he was that experienced though. If I knew he was, I would've picked him instead.", Eiji said with a teasing expression, as he held his phone that he and Akira were focusing at.

Akira didn't budge though, and seemed to be focusing on the screen with a serious expression.

'That pipsqueak... he...'

[*BAAAAAMMMM*

Just before the guy could finish his sentence, a gigantic robot about the size of five times the height of the trees was pulled towards the guy and stomped down on his robot.

*BBOOOOOOMMMM*, just by stomping it's giant foot the giant robot produced a very ear-breaking sound.]

'Even back in the entrance exams...'

[A loud laser like sound was suddenly heard from the distance, and from there, Akira noticed Keima's gigantic robot started shrinking.

'Did he run out of energy or something? What is-'

*ZZOOOOMM*

Suddenly, a group of about 8 robots charged at Akira, targeting the robot on his arms.]

["SHUT THE FUCK UP!", screamed Keima.

Keima suddenly lashed out two yellow glowing wire-like lines on the ground, and pulled the robot with the sword and hammer to him.

The robots merged into a powersuit like outfit that looked like a mini-mecha that covered Keima and was about twice his height.

"I'LL MAKE YOU UNDERSTAND HOW STRONG I AM! I'LL SHOW YOU!", Keima charged in at Akira, creating yellow wire like lines on his robot hand and created a thick sword.]

'...His ability was...machine manipulation, right?'

["CHAAAANNNNGGGEEE, DDAAMMITTT!!!"

A flash of yellow light suddenly shined.

"What...?"

Kirai and Izanagi put out their arms before their faces to block the light.

*Cjjiiwwwww*

The first C4 suddenly turned to a long metal pole stuck from the ground, while the second became what seems to be a robotic mini gauntlet on his right hand.

"UGGGGHH!"

Keima immediately grabbed the pole with his right hand before they could fall flat to the ground and held on Eight's hand trying to carry her.]

'...The ability... to manipulate machines... to change their metal forms however he wishes them to...

Doesn't that mean-'

"Heya, Akirachi? You awake?"

Akira's mind that started wandering suddenly came back to light.

"...Uh... yeah, what is it?"

"Who do you think will win this match?"

Akira thought for a bit and answered him.

"I don't really know, but from what I know, Izanagi's got a big advantage. Since his short distance teleportation ability could help him hide and find bases."

EIji slightly widened his eyes hearing this.

"What's the matter? Something got you thinking?"

"...Actually..."

Eiji then looked back at his smartphone.

"I forgot they were even supposed to destroy each other's bases."

Akira slightly widened his eyes too.

"Oh yeah, come to think of it... They were given about ten minutes to prepare before the match...

We still haven't seen where they hid both of their bases though."

Eiji narrowed his eyes as if focusing on the pairs on the screen.

"It doesn't seem like they hid it anywhere near them... The bomb pair's still back at the robot pair's starting point and they haven't found their base yet... The robot pair has just barely made it from being blown up from the explosion... I can't find their bases anywhere..."

'Where could they have...?'

Akira then turned to Keima and Eight's screen.

'That girl's arm....'

________________________________________________________________________________

*BOOOOOOOM!*

"It's not here either!", Kirai, who seemed stressed, said after she blew up a building.

They were in the middle of a ruined residential area, with burnt houses and walls seen everywhere.

It was located just a small distance from the also burnt buildings where Keima and Eight started from.

"You said it isn't far from where they came from, right? Then we should be able to find it.", Izanagi said, as he lied on the rocky porch, next to Kirai.

"Can't you help me at least a little bit here? We might find it quicker if you help me."

"Nah, I'm not the demolition expert here, right?"

Kirai suddenly cracked a nerve and showed a burning irritated expression as she looked at Izanagi.

"Yoouuu-"

Suddenly...

*shhiiiiw*, a missile flew in the middle of two buildings aiming at Kirai.

Her eyes widen, when Izanagi's foot suddenly tapped on hers.

*cccjiiiiww*, the two suddenly teleport a small distance to the east, avoiding the missile.

*BOOOOM*

The missile exploded as it crashed onto the burning building.

A strong gust of wind was felt behind their backs.

"They survived!?"

Kirai turned towards the direction where the missile came from.

Izanagi pushed his body, pushing himself to stand up.

Kirai immediately, pulled on her right glove, and formed two C4s.

She then threw it at the direction where the missile came from.

"Sorry, wrong guess!", from the opposite side of the building, came Eight who pointed her arm, that had it's fingers open like a capsule, at Kirai and Izanagi.

*ssshiiiiwww*, she launched another missile as from her robotic arm, targeting Kirai.

"SHI-"

*kug*

Izanagi suddenly pushed Kirai down as the missile almost hit her.

*BOOOOOOM*

The missile hit the building beside them and exploded.

"If he's not with her, the missiles would only shoot at a direction a normal missile would take, dodging it is easy.", explained Izanagi as he kept his eyes towards Eight's direction.

"Then it'd be a huge problem, if I was, huh?"

Keima suddenly jumped out, in between buildings in about two buildings to the west side, while floating a missile connected to his energy nerves.

He suddenly shot out the missile towards Izanagi and Kirai.

Izanagi just turned his attention towards Keima, while Kirai did too as they laid on the ground.

"Go."

*ccjiiiwww*

Kirai flashed a white light on her hand as the two disappeared.

They suddenly teleported near Keima, as the missiles crashed on the ground.

Izanagi pointed his fist towards Keima, planning to punch him with full force...

*BOOOOOOOOOOOM*

The missile exploded, creating a large smoke screen in the area.

The smoke covered Keima, forcing Izanagi to blindly punch in front of him.

Kirai turned towards Izanagi's direction to see if he had taken care of Keima when suddenly...

"AUUUUGGGGHHH!", Izanagi screamed of pain.

The smoke slightly faded away as Izanagi saw what he had punched.

"A robot!?"

Izanagi held his fist he used to punch earlier as a robot stood between him and Keima.

"...but how-"

"Unlike the robots I controlled earlier, missiles don't really have a control function or circuits unlike my PSPs...

...but even so-"

Kirai suddenly threw a C4 in front of Izanagi, aiming to explode Keima and his robot.

Izanagi, seeing this... Immediately disappeared and teleported behind Kirai.

3

Keima's hand that had energy nerves connected to the robot, was suddenly put up by him and pointed towards them.

2

The robot ran at the C4.

1

And suddenly morphed itself into a metal fluid and covered the C4.

*BOOM*

The C4 could only explode in a small distance since the robot, that transformed only into a lump of metal, covered it.

"Still, you're nothing against us, if you're on your own."

*BOOOOOOOOOOMMM*

Suddenly, a large explosion occurred behind Kirai and Izanagi.

Seems like Kirai threw a C4 a distance behind them when she threw one at Keima.

"Your teammate couldn't possibly survive that."

The lump of metal that exploded covered Keima so they couldn't see his full body in view, but...

Keima was smiling.

"No. We win."

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM*

Suddenly from behind Kirai and Izanagi a large explosion blew up a building in a small distance from them.

Kirai's eyes widened as she noticed this.

Izanagi just grinned.

"How did you...?", Kirai asked with a surprised expression.

"Round over. Keima Nakamura and Eight Aris won."

________________________________________________________________________________

"Haaaah, you're too much for me, Keima-sama.", Izanagi said as they walked side by side in the simulators.

Kirai was following after them, still looking confused wondering what happened.

"You wanted a fight, so I gave you one. There's no way a person of your intelligence could ever hope to beat me.", Keima said while walking with crossed arms.

"Kei-chan, how did you figure out where they hid their base? You told me where it was but you never explained how you found it.", Eight asked with her head tilted and her arms behind her back, with her head turned down towards Keima.

"Yeah, yeah! How did you guys do all that...? How did you survive my bomb in the first place?"

""...""

Keima and Eight turned towards Kirai with surprised eyes, even more surprised than before.

Kirai , who had been wearing a mask and shades the whole time, took if off and showed them her face.

Although she had messy hair, she had a cute face and looked pretty.

"...A-about that... well-", Keima who felt awkward was about to answer Kirai when suddenly...

"It was just definite reasoning, they outsmarted us and played differently from our predictions.", Izanagi interrupted while slouching down with a sleepy expression.

Keima just looked at him with a serious expression as he explained.

"The thing you did earlier, you created a metal pole out of her time bomb, right? You probably utilized that ability and created some sort of metal shield or something to defend against the explosion...and then..."

["My missiles?", Eight asked with a confused expression.

"What do you mean?"

"Just shoot out two missiles towards a random direction."]

"You used her missiles and created empty, uncontrollable robots out of them. Just like what you said earlier, they don't have circuits and stuff so you basically could only manipulate them to do small movements."

[Suddenly...

*shhiiiiw*, a missile flew in the middle of two buildings aiming at Kirai.

Her eyes widen, when Izanagi's foot suddenly tapped on hers.

*cccjiiiiww*, the two suddenly teleport a small distance to the right, avoiding the missile.

*BOOOOM*

The missile exploded as it crashed onto a building.

A strong gust of wind was felt behind their backs.]

"When that first missile struck against us, that girl shot out a missile and went to the other side of the building, you then used your power to manipulate that missile to stop it and waited until she positioned herself right.

When you were in position, you pretended as if the girl was at the left side of the building by shooting out a missile you controlled. You then immediately ran away further west and hid in between one alleyway from the buildings.

We immediately teleported away, but we teleported in the area away from the building our base was in, you found out immediately that we housed our base there since we transported at the opposite direction."

"...but that's just too specific. How did they found out that we hid our base near that place with just that?", Kira asked with an irritated expression as she glared at Izanagi.

"That's easy.", Keima interrupted.

"Because at the start of the battle, you bombed us in our starting position."

"...That still doesn't explain-"

"Your ability is the creation of timed bombs, isn't it?", Keima asked Kirai.

"It is."

"You immediately knew what direction we would take when the second bomb exploded. At first, we thought your ability was the creation of bombs that explode through direct contact, but the incident inside that building crushed that hypothesis."

["SHIT!"

"Kei-chan!?"

Keima quickly grabbed Eight's robotic arm and pulled her with him towards the window.

"Wait, why are we-"

They quickly jumped out.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM*

From the back of the couch, a large explosion suddenly occured blowing up not only the fourth floor, but also the third and the fifth floor.]

"At that time, we didn't make direct contact with the bomb behind the couch, but it exploded immediately. That's when I realized... the second bomb you blew up, was just you predicting our movements."

Kirai heard this... and decided to explain what she did as well.

"...When we blew up your starting position, a normal person would immediately run away to gain some distance, at that moment you had three places you could run to.

You could either run straight, which would be the death of you, since you still had no idea what sort of ability I have except I could cause explosions.

You could also run at other directions, but because it was an open road, your backs would be defenseless.

That's why I prepared C4s at the alleyways next to the straight path since that's the most plausible direction to run to.

...but still... how did you figure out where-"

"You bombed us at our starting positions. Of course, that would mean, you went all the way from the opposite side of the whole area towards our direction by using this moron's ability.", Keima said as he pointed towards Izanagi.

"And since you predicted that we would move towards that direction and created that explosion, that would mean you knew we would run to the southern part of the area, looking for your base.

If that was the case, you had to hide your base somewhere you can be sure we wouldn't go to...

And since we started at that area, there's a huge chance we hid our base near there too.

...Meaning, the best course of action, would be to hide your base near our starting points."

Kirai looked enlightened about the situation but immediately turned confused right after.

"...Where did you guys hide your base anyways? You-"

Kirai suddenly noticed something different about the two.

"Wait...I just realized...

Weren't you two taller before?", asked Kirai.

"We lost from the very start.", said Izanagi as he stopped walking.

"Their bases...

....were with them the whole time."

"Heh."

Eight suddenly spawned her robot arm.

"You guys..."

"I used by manipulation ability to merge our base on Aris's robotic arm, and a small part of it was at the bottom of our shoes. If you wanted to win against us, you should have checked whether we were done for in the building or not."

Kirai's eyes suddenly widen.

"When you created that smoke screen, that was when Aris, came and looked for your base in that building. It was just a wild guess, but turns out, that guess I made was correct.

You could've beaten us too. If only you weren't such a perfectionist and confronted us at the second floor of the buildings."

'That-"

Kirai then remembered the events in the building.

'If I didn't throw those C4 to them back then, they would've just fall flat on the ground.'

"We completely lose.", Kirai admitted with a gloomy tone.

Eight looked impressed while Kirai just showed a withered expression.

"That's my Kei-chan, come here!"

She suddenly hugged Keima out of nowhere.

"HEY! Get off of me!"

"Kei-chyan!"

"Still, we were really no match for you, huh?", Izanagi interrupted them with a genuine smile and with his hands in his pockets.

*kug*

Keima suddenly punched Izanagi's waist.

Kirai just slightly smiled at this.

"Huh? What was that for?"

"...Never try to cheer me up again."

"Heeeeeh.", Izanagi replied with a smile.

'He never was serious about it, wasn't he?'

Keima stared at Izanagi's hand.

It seemed rather unscathed.

'He never was planning to fight me seriously in the first place.'

[Izanagi pointed his fist towards Keima, planning to punch him with full force...

*BOOOOOOOOOOOM*

The missile and the C4 suddenly exploded, creating a large smoke screen in the area.

The smoke covered Keima, forcing Izanagi to blindly punch in front of him.

Kirai turned towards Izanagi's direction to see if he had taken care of Keima when suddenly...

"AUUUUGGGGHHH!", Izanagi screamed of pain.

The smoke slightly faded away as Izanagi saw what he had punched.

"A robot!?"

Izanagi held his fist he used to punch earlier as a robot stood between him and Keima.

He suddenly grinned.]

'He probably knew about our base as well, but kept quiet. Guess I might owe him one.'

From the distance, a certain person came to their attention.

"Yo, Izanagi, Keima. Seems like you two have a deal you have to-", Akira approached them with a smile.

He watched their whole match and saw Keima and his partner win, and decided to congratulate them and teas when suddenly...

*KUG!*

Keima kicked Akira's knee.

"AUGH!"

Akira slouched down as he did that.

"What the hell was that-"

Keima walked near Akira's right ear as he was bent down.

"I'm looking forward to beating that new ability of yours.", Keima whispered.

Akira's eyes widen as he heard this.

"How did you-"

"Remember what Kami told you after our quiz with Sir Knight?"

"Huh? What are you-"

["Ey, Akira! Seems like you angered your brother again, didn't you? You're all beat up. Something happened with you two?"

"Turns out he didn't like the thought about me beating him in a game. So he got all riled up.", Akira explained.

Keima's eyes slightly widen from this as he turned his head towards Akira who was chatting with Kami.] (003)

"You suck at games, Akira."

"...You..."

"RPG games, strategy games, whatever... You always choose what you think looks cooler, than go with the ones that have stronger stats. You melee ranged heroes in games, because you think you've got an unbeatable hero. You have bad aim when it comes to fps games...

You lied back then, didn't you?"

"...I-"

"...Takumi wouldn't tell us how you defeated the villain, and there's no way your brother would train you when he's busy training with the tournament as well...

I bet you trained with someone strong and you have some sort of powerup now, don't you?"

Akira's eyes widen as he heard this.

"Whatever new ability you got, I'll be sure to defeat you."

Keima then walked away as Eight followed.

Kirai was walking next to Izanagi as they planned to leave the simulator.

She seemed to be complaining to him as well.

Akira fixed his posture, looking a little concerned.

"Sup, Akira!", Kami called on to Akira as he walked towards him, beside him is a sharp eyed, long messy dark green haired male.

Eiji walked towards Akira and hid his phone in his pocket, with a serious expression.

"Y-yo. What's up?"

"Seems like, the little guy told you off, huh?"

Akira slightly widened his eyes hearing this.

"You... You knew?"

Kami showed a devious grin at Akira as he put his hands behind his back.

"You know Akira, you've always been the cool guy in class, right?"

"...What? I'm not trying to-"

"We know. It's just your instinct, right? You're rivals with the top examinee, Inoue. You have girls falling for you and you even saved Abe-san from a scummy guy and... 'that' incident happened too."

'Is he talking about me beating that villain?'

"Of course, after all things said and done, you did it out of your heroic instinct... but you're not the only one who wanted to be a savior, Akira."

Akira changed his concerned expression to a serious expression as he listened to Kami.

'...Oh right...

During the group battles, the tag competition, the villain I fought, the girls I saved... It makes me look like some main character of a light novel, huh?

...but it's not just me... who wants to be a hero...'

"...So you're here to issue a challenge?"

"I might not be the only one.", Kami replied with a devious grin.

"Takumi, Keima, Ken and me... We all saw you a strong guy that's probably one of the best supports in the class.

...but that's even more the reason why we want to beat you."

"Huh.", Akira smiled after hearing this.

'Guess I've been hogging the spotlight for myself.'

"This time, the main character is-"

"Next round, Akira Ishikawa, Eiji Kagayaku, Kami Nagi and Hari Budonoki, please step in the simulator podium number 03."

"...gonna be me.", Kami replied while pointing his thumb to himself.

"We'll see about that."

Kami and Akira stared at each other with grins on their faces as Eiji and Hari just glared at each other.

"Let's go."

________________________________________________________________________________

"Kei-chan! Wait for me!", Eight called as she ran towards Keima.

"You're too slow, what the hell's up with you.", Keima replied as he stopped walking.

Keima was wearing his backpack on his shoulders as Eight ran towards him.

They were walking towards the school's exit, wearing their school uniforms and not their tracksuits.

"What did you tell that scary guy earlier? Was he bullying you? Just tell me!"

"That wasn't it. Just forget about that."

Keima has a straight face as he walked, but Eight looked at him with concern as if she knew something else.

"You're sad, aren't you?"

"...None of your business."

"You know, acting tsundere won't get you anywhere."

"I'm not acting tsundere, woman."

Keima then turned to his feet as he walked.

'That moron...'

Akira's face suddenly flashed in Keima's face.

["COME BACK HERE, INOUE!"

Kazuki, hearing his name being called, looked back at Akira's direction, and was showing a serious but irritated expression.

The others followed after him and hurried towards the direction Akira was heading.

"YOU FUCKING SHITHEAD!"

Akira immediately grabbed his collar as soon as he closed in on him, Kazuki just gripped tightly on his hand looking unfazed.

"HOW SHITTY CAN YOUR ATTITUDE JUST GET, HUH?"

"Let me down, Ishikawa."

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE HELL YOU JUST DID TO TAKUMI AND HIS PARTNER!?"

"We broke his limbs, what about it?"

"YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO GO THAT FAR!"

"If they're that weak, they might as well quit trying to become heroes."

Akira's eyes widened, as Kazuki kept the same expression.

He suddenly trembled as he lost to his anger.

"INOUE!"

Akira's arms started showing glowing green lines, as Inoue's arms started glowing dark blue lines too.]

'Why did I hesitate...? I was trembling of anger too...

All I did was tell him off though...'

He then carried his palm with his elbow folded and looked at it.

'I've always been living in his shadow...

During the group battles...

...the tag competition...

...he even defeated that villain all by himself...'

He then turned his head up and looked straight.

'...There's a chance I might fight against him in the finals... If that happens...

I won't be backing down.'

"Kei-chan, are you okay?"

"Uh...can't you see I'm having an internal conflict right now?"

"...Are you also mad at me?", Eight asked.

"...", Keima kept quiet.

"Kei-chan!"

Eight suddenly hugged Keima.

She had to bend over because of their height.

"YOU IDIOT! People will see your panties! Stop it!"

Keima pushed her away.

"...b-but... you looked mad... Even earlier... Did I do something wrong?"

Keima felt a little awkward and looked down.

"I told you to call me that only when we're alone, right?...Eight-ch-chan...", he said while blushing.

Eight's eyes suddenly lightened as she heard this.

"KEI-CHAN! I LOVE YOU!", she screamed real loud.

"D-DON'T GET TOO FULL OF YOURSELF! J-JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE A COOL NAME!"

She kept clinging to the flustered Keima as they exited the campus.

________________________________________________________________________________

"The robot went boom and bam, and defeated the villains, since they did all those bad things. It rescued the villagers, helped the sick children, and saved the day!", the beautiful white haired woman narrated.

"That's so cool! Robots are so cool! They could create lasers! Make stuff appear out of nowhere! Make things explode like boom!", the white short haired child said with excitement as she stood on her mother's lap.

"They're so cool, right? Did you also know...

...that this book was written by your papa?"

The child grew her excitement as she heard this.

"Papa!? Papa made this! That's so cool! I need to tell papa to make me another book right now!"

"Yes, yes. Just wait till he gets home, okay?"

The child then suddenly remembered something and sat down again.

"...so, does that mean that, mama... Did you name me Eight because you liked this story?", the child asked with a curious expression.

"Hmmm... The mom then put her finger on her right cheek, and made a deliberating expression.

"Can I tell you another story?", asked the mother while she tilted her head.

"Don't worry, it's just a short one."

"Mama! I like stories! It can be short or long as long as you're the one who tells it, mama!", the child said with a gentle smile.

"Did you know? That this story has another ending?"

"Another ending? What is it, mama? I wanna know! I wanna know! Tell me, mama!", the child eagerly urged her.

"Alright, alright...but this story is a bit sadder than this, okay?", asked the mother.

"Ummm... Ei-chan is a big girl! She can handle it even if it's a really sad one!", the child said as she made a look as if she's bracing herself.

"The robot always rescued a lot of people and protected them from danger. It kept fighting villains, and made sure that no one gets hurt. It kept doing so even when it's hurt. It will fight villains no matter how strong they are... So no matter how tough the villain is, and no matter how much risk it causes. The robot kept charging in to save the villagers."

The woman then turned her eyes down and looked at her lap.

"The robot then met a friend who realized how reckless the robot was being. The friend kept telling the robot to count on him no matter how risky it is, because the friend didn't want to see the robot getting hurt...

The friend was a very amazing person, and it didn't take long until the robot gave her-... I mean it's full trust towards the friend. The robot and the friend kept fighting villains together and everyone was happy.

Unlike others, the friend accepted the robot for who it is. No matter how obsessed it was towards machines, no matter how much of a geek the robot is."

"Mama? What's a geek?"

"...Ummm, just forget about that okay, Ei-chan? Let's just continue the story, okay?"

The mama looked a little awkward as if the last phrase from earlier was just a slip of the tongue.

"One day, some bad people decided to team up because they decided that fighting separate was stupid when they all had the same goal. These people were very very bad. They did horrible things to people, they hurt them, they steal from them, they're evil people who don't think about others' feelings.

The world had other people fighting them, other robots from different places fought these bad people, they even had friends of their own who support them throughout the fights...

The robot though, didn't want to leave it all to them, and decided to fight as well. The thing is though, at that time, the robot was very, very sick, and had to be treated or else it will rust and break.

The friend stopped it forced it to rest. In exchange, the friend would be fighting with other robots to save the world."

"That's so cool mom!... but the robot was sick, right? Does she have a cold?"

"...No, she didn't. She had something different... Something worse..."

"...Mama?"

The child showed a worried expression as the woman showed a sad face.

"...The robot was very stubborn though, and still fought since she hated to see other people getting hurt. There were lots of robots trying to save them...but they weren't enough to save them all, so she had to intervene."

'She?', the child thought after hearing her.

"Due to her leaving and forcing herself to fight, she was able to save a couple of people... but in the end... She couldn't fight everyone....

She almost got hurt by bad people, that is until... the friend came and save her."

The woman showed a gentle smile as she said this.

"The friend protected the robot even though he was just a support. He gave his all, and fought them...

The robot was happy after seeing this, but due to her being wounded by the bad people, she had to be put into the emergency room right away...

Her sickness became very very bad, and in the end...

Her legs have to be cut off..."

The child's eyes slightly widen after hearing this.

"The friend cried at her pain and held her hand throughout this. Her legs were... very, very important to her. So much that she can't even save anyone anymore...The robot became a useless robot...

...but her friend, also loved robots..."

The child opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but she shut it immediately after as if stopping herself.

"That friend of hers... worked hard, and studied so much...

He researched about robots and gave it his all, he was also...

...such a weird geek, hehe.", the woman said as she giggled in the last part.

"He then made her... some new robot legs for her to use, but those legs were fragile and broke easily.

He kept working hard and making those legs, and made sure that they can be used by the robot.

He made prototype after prototype, that is until, he finally made it, a recreation of the robot legs the robot used to have...

That prototype, is prototype number eight."

The child's eyes shined as she heard this.

"Due to the friend's love for the robot, he made legs that were made just for her, legs that reminded her of all the people she saved, of all the villains she defeated.

And that love he poured into it is also the love I want to pour into the child the robot and the friend had..."

"...Mama...", the child had slight tears in her eyes as she listened to this.

"Didn't you say you were a big child now, Eight-chan?"

"...but mama!... Waaaahh! I'm sorry I called my name weird!", Eight suddenly hugged her as she sobbed.

"...Haah. You're just so spoiled, aren't you? Come on, let's get you to your room. I'll tell you a bed story to make you happy again."

The woman carried the child in her arms as she stood up and walked to the door.

'Someday, you'll find someone like that too, Ei-chan.'

She walked with a normal pace just like a normal person had, but unlike them, her feet were made of metal.

'Someone who'll accept you for who you are.'

From the tips of her skirt, metal feet stepped on the ground as she exited the room.

End of Chapter 18

________________________________________________________________________________

(001) Something like this:

I don't know if I'd be copyrighted or whatevs, I just googled this so...

(002) He was wearing something like this suit:

(003) This happened during Chapter 14: "Dependent"

Here are illustrations about how the battle occured:

Keima's and Eight's starting points,

A red line does not show btw when Izanagi uses teleport. I just drew that to show his pathway.

I didn't draw here, but there were also explosions on the other side, on the left side of the straight path. Kirai knew they'd curve and won't go straight, but she couldn't predict whethere they'd go to the left or right path.

They used the robot as shield.

Izanagi and Kirai followed them to the building and hid, planning to ambush them.

They teleported to the second floor. (It might look like they were on a sample level as the second floor when they teleported, but they were actually on the ground.

They teleported back and stuff...

Keima prepared a robot that was made out of Eight's missiles.

Since it doesn't have a circuit or wires, it was just an empty robot that cannot move unless manipulated by Keima, although it can't really move like a normal robot. And could only be dragged around by his energy nerves.

Keima left the robot at a building while Eight gave him two of her missiles he manipulated.

After teleporting, Kirai should have thrown C4s towards the direction where that missile came from, thinking they hid there.

I forgot to draw it there though.

Every single explosion created smoke btw, I just emphasized this because it blocked Izanagi and Kirai's vision.

If you noticed, the illustrations started off great, but they ended looking shitty in the end. The first ones were made using my relative's laptop. While the last ones, I drew them using the sketch app with my phone.