I am, so surprised, that despite this is my new story, the one that people read the most right now is the one you react to your other selves' world.

Ruby: "*Eyes sparkling* Really? We're that popular?" You are. And the second story's slightly more than this one as well.

Weiss: "Reasons?" "Don't even know ourselves. But maybe it's because yours is a react story, so it gets more love."

Blake: "*Reading the review* Uh, did we say something offended someone before?" "*Leaning to see the review* Not so sure. But maybe it's about volume 6. We don't understand that either."

Yang: "So about T.O and Kurome's appearance..." "Only briefly, but it's enough."

About half an hour later, after Setsuna's group escaped the cinema town, Negi's group

"Do we have to wait more? They haven't arrived yet." "They're on the way, just a few more moments." Asuna lost a little bit of patient, as the Dark CPU was holding the group down to wait for the others. Nodoka was enjoying her little 'happy moment', as Negi's resting his head in her lap. Then, they heard footsteps, and they turned to see her friends coming to them. Nothing odd happened.

Kurome jumped down, as the other girls started gathering around her group. She then greeted T.O: "Did anyone follow us?" "Definitely not the enemies. And I sent a telepathy Asakura and told her NOT to follow us, and I explained to her why." "So it's on only us now?" "Yes. And it's better that way." "Yeah."

"Kuro-sensei!" The two turned to Setsuna, as she said: "We're finishing Negi-sensei's work now! There's not much time!" Kurome then turned back. "You called yourself Kuro?" "Nope. That's what she assumed."

During the walk, Setsuna turned to T.O and talked: "Kuro-sensei, how did you know when we're in danger?" "I told you already that I'm not him, right?" "But, the way you talk and act, it's…" "Right now, it's not matter. I will tell everything later, once we're refreshed, okay?"

Konoka: "What happened before? You just appeared…" "Just… later, please."

Asuna whispered to Kurome: "We're in the enemy territory now, why can you two be so relax?" "Hm, is it? Kuro only told us that we had to save you from the enemies back then, not saying anything about this place." "That's weird. I thought he knew everything?"

Setsuna overheard the conversation, as she answered: "Right now, we're not in danger. It's because…"

"Is this the entrance, Setsuna?" She turned to the twin to see them pointing to an entrance leading to a gate. "Yes, we are." "Then what are we waiting for? Let's head inside!" Asuna immediately pulled out her card, as Negi prepared his staff and shouted: "Wait a second! This place is…"

"Welcome back, Konoka Ojou-sama." Two lines of people wearing white robes appeared before them and bowed politely. The reactions were varied: Negi, Nodoka and Asuna being surprised, Fuka and Fumika being excited, Setsuna sighed, Konoka just politely waved back, and Kurome and T.O being indifferent since they already noticed them.

When they stared asking questions towards Negi and the others, Asuna immediately asked Setsuna: "What… what is the meaning of this?" "Um… basically, this place is both the headquarter for Kansai Magic Association, and Konoka Ojou-sama's personal home." "EH?" Negi overheard and joined Asuna's scream, as the girl continued: "Really? Why didn't you tell us earlier?" Then she saw Kurome and T.O's unchanged face. "You two knew, didn't you?" "To be honest, it's because I did feel the power inside Konoka." "But it's true in my case." "You…"

"Are you mad, Asuna?" She turned to a bit worried Konoka. "For what?" "About how big my house is?" "Oh no! I was just a bit surprised, that's all."

Jaune: "So the Konoka girl is like a princess?" "Well... kind of..."

After that, they were led into the main room, where everyone started getting their own places in the middle of it, with everyone (except the two Deities) looking around the room in curiosity and excitement. While they're waiting for the Chief, Asuna then recognized one thing: "Wait, if this place is Konoka's house… then the leader is…"

"Sorry for the wait. Welcome everyone to my humble place. Please make yourself at home." The Chief walked down from the stairs in his traditional outfit. Then he's greeted by his daughter running to him and giving him a big hug. "Otou-sama! It's been a long time!" "There, there Konoka." Which he responded by hugging her back.

"So that's Konoka's father? He's so good-looking!" "Yes, he is…" The twin started commenting on the Chief, with T.O just knocked them on the head, making them wince a bit. Negi's a bit surprised as well, with Chamo thinking about the possibility being easily expected. Nodoka was just being shy as she closed her space with Kurome, who didn't mind at all… and knocked on Asuna's head while she's fantasizing how 'handsome' Konoka's father was.

Nora: "So Asuna likes men that's older about a decade than her?" "Not very sure about it. I mean, it's likely, but I don't dwell into researching about it."

"Oh right! Leader-san…" Negi called out the Chief's attention, as he's pulling out the letter and giving it out. "From Mahora Academy President, Konoe Konoemon, to the Western leader, please accept the letter." The Chief received it with a thank and started reading the content… Then, he said: "In appreciation of the Eastern leader's will, we will negotiate to end the discord between east and west. Your mission is completed, Negi Springfield!" And Negi answered back with happiness: "Yes sir!"

The Chief then looked outside, and said: "You all should stay here tonight, the sun is coming down. We will prepare a welcome banquet for you." Which earned him loudly cheers from the twin, and smaller ones from Nodoka and Chamo. But Negi asked: "But we're in the middle of the school trip…" "That's fine, I will send…"

"I suggest you don't. These people have troubles dealing with the copies last night already." T.O interrupted the conversation from behind Negi, with him jumping up a bit in surprise. The Chief took a look at the Deity, then asked: "If I'm right, you are Kuro, Negi's assistant teacher right? I thought you were somewhere else?" T.O just swung his right arm, and a screen appeared…

"You guys have made it, I see." Kuro, sitting in group 6's room and in a chair, was looking straight towards the caller, with group 5's missing members (Asuna, Nodoka and Konoka) and group 6 as well, playing something in the background. And that immediately gained everyone else's attentions, as Asuna asked: "Wait a second, you can use East magic, too?" "Nope. The ones you're seeing are my creations, your clones to be exact. They have the exact memories and characters of yours, and they can base on them to replace your place in case you got into problems. T.O and Kurome can give you more details in the future."

Konoka just pointed between T.O and Kuro, as she's confused: "Wait. If you're there, then… who is this?" "Well… he will tell you. For now, congratulations for escaping the enemies. If you need help, call me." Then the screen turned off.

All eyes then turned to the person who looked exactly like the person they just talked to. And their answers: a chuckle, and: "Depends on how much you want to know."

During the banquet, Asuna asked: "Okay, so who exactly are you two?" "You heard how Kuro called me: T.O, or The Observer. I'm exactly what I am called." "Observe what?" "You all. Your life, your progression, your improvements. Nothing surpasses me, even your hidden feelings." "But why did you look like Kuro?" "Because we are one and the same. Our main roles are just different: Kuro would deal with the problems, but if he's out of reach then I will replace his place for a while."

Nodoka: "Then… you know everything?" "Yes, I do. However, I won't say anything too secretly out of the opens. And I rarely appear unless it's urgent."

Setsuna: "Then, Kurome…" "You know Ram and Rom being Goddesses, right? Kurome and Uzume are the same." Then Nodoka suddenly asked: "Who's Ram and Rom?"

"That's us!" Everyone turned to Fuka, as the other twin just nodded her head in agreement. "I was Ram, and Fumika was Rom. We are the Goddesses from the past!"

Konoka was obviously in the dark, as she asked out loud: "Wait wait wait, hold on! I don't understand one bit! Can someone start from the beginning?"

The Chief took a glance towards T.O, who just nodded in return. He then said to his daughter: "The first thing you should know is that, magic is real. And our bloodlines can use it for a long time."

The girls' eyes opened wide like dishes, as she asked her father: "Otou-sama… Magic is real?" The man nodded. "Then…all the time, when we saw Kuro saying about technology…" "Uh no." She turned to T.O. "That's true technology. Yes, even time travel and its after-effects. The ONLY few things that were magic you witnessed… Let me remember… Yeah, the frogs in the train, those in the Love stones as well. And when you're kidnapped for the first time. And today with the enemies' demon. And my display of power as well." Konoka's face fell down a bit, and thought for a few seconds… then suddenly she smiled: "Then I can use magic, right? Otou-sama said that our bloodlines can use it." "Uh…Yes?" "Yay! Now I can do those fancy moves in the movies, and…" She basically ranted about how she could do with magic.

"Youth." Kurome just chuckled, followed by T.O. Then, the girl spoke: "So I think that's about it…"

Nodoka then poked at Fuka's right cheek. "You said you were Goddesses? Goddesses of what?" "What do you mean by… Oh right! It's not the same with Japan's Deities though. Think of us as leaders of a nation. We're called Goddesses because we're immortal in time." "Then, why…" She then got her mouth covered by Asuna. "It's a bit sensitive to them." "Oh."

The chief then asked T.O: "Can you give us more details about the enemies?" "Unfortunately that's the info we can't give out, due to how crucial it is to the future. But we can give you the name: Chigusa, Fate and Tsukuyomi."

Negi counted the number of names, then he asked: "Wait, that's three. Where's the fourth one?" Kurome answered: "We didn't mark him as our enemies. He's only there to fight us, and that's all. And he's an honorable fighter, so we have no quarrels with him." "But he works with…" "Yes, but we can't blame him. A mercenary would do anything just to live, and we can't judge him because of that."

Setsuna: "You must have dealt with that kind of problems before." "Let me count… Heavenly Host… ASIC… White Fang… Kuro himself…" "Wait, why Kuro?" "He fooled everyone that he's going to destroy Remnant, a planet, and even named the protocol Armageddon, when in fact it was just a teleportation device." "*Sweatdrop* Wow, that's a bit intense." "It is."

"OH and…" Konoka leaned to Asuna and whispered: "So the cards, they're made out of magic? And you had to kiss someone to have it?" With an uncertain nod from her friend, Konoka planned to go near Negi, only to be stopped by Setsuna. "I suggest you not doing so just for collections, Ojou-sama." "AW! But I really want those…"

"There are requirements to do so, Konoka." The girl turned to T.O. "Requirements?" "Not really, but there are a few things worth to be noticed. First off, who will be the partner, you or the other?" Konoka blinked. "You know nothing about it, I forgot, sorry. This Pactio ritual is to create a contract between the mage and his/her partner. And the partner will be the one protecting the mage. However, if you're planning to kiss Negi for the Pactio, then who will be whom? You understand at that point, right?" Konoka re-thought about it… "It's because both of us are mages, right? Well, more like I have magic potential to be counted as a mage." "Correct. Also, take a look at Asuna's card?" "Why?" "Just do it." The girl looked at her friend for permission. The girl hesitantly nodded and pulled out the card. "Here it is." "Thank you Asuna. *Examining* Wait, you are holding a sword in here… But you were just using fan before…" "That's a little bit of downside from Negi himself." "WOAH? Why?" "Negi is a strong mage, but he's inexperienced, and so is Asuna, that's why they can't pull out the full potential of the card. Hence why she could only pull out a fan instead of the sword in the card."

Pyrrha: "So the power of the card's also affected by the users?" "Yes. Also, the more powerful you are, the more detailed the card will be."

Konoka's father asked in surprise: "You knew it quite well…" "Remember that we knew about the future, right? And we're planning to direct everyone to the best scenario in our power." "Then, what's your suggestion?" "Well…" T.O just looked around, then focused on Setsuna, making her a little bit uncomfortable. Then, he smiled, a smile that Kurome knew too well after interacting with the Deities. "You are planning something." "More like Kuro's shipping blood is boiling for actions." "Right…"

Nodoka obviously didn't understand, at first, but then she noticed the gaze, and with the memories about Haruna's 'mangas', she said: "You mean, girls can make Pactio with each other?" "Yep. I said partners, right? And there's no limitation for that."

"If that's okay then. Se-chan…" And Setsuna slided a good few meters away, while still in her squat position and blushing. "I don't have the honor to do so, Konoka Ojou-sama! Besides, girl kissing girl is wrong! Leader, please say something about this!"

Thankfully, Konoka's father is on her side: "Mister T.O, do you think it's a good idea? I mean…" "I'm just stating the truth. I'm not pushing them." Though, that smirk was still there.

Kurome just shook her head and pulled him away, causing the Chief to ask: "Where are you going?" "Sorry sir, but our jobs here are done. We will definitely meet in the future, but for now, take care of yourself." Then without another word, the two just disappeared without a trace.

Negi looked dumbfounded a bit, then: "Wait, so we're on our own? What about the enemies?" Which the Chief replied: "I think the wards around here could keep them off for a while. You will have a quite night for now, but still, better be careful."

Later…

"I'm still a bit surprised. So magic exists from before?" "Yeah. Sorry for keeping you in the dark, Konoka." "Don't worry. It's because of Negi's safety, I understand." The two girls were walking with each other, while admiring the cherry blossoms blooming late at night. "But, about the Pactio…" "We had to do so to have a chance fighting against Eva." "Eva? You mean Evangeline?" "Yeah. Turned out she is the vampire in the rumor. Though, Kuro-sensei managed to convince her and lead her to another path. However, based on their reactions now… I don't know." "Know what?" "I feel like they're hiding somethiOW!" The bell-hair-clip girl looked at the thing she just got hit at her head, and saw… statues…

"Asuna, what is… wait, statues? I don't remember we have this much statues." However, upon examining closer, the girls realized a shock truth: They are not simply statues. The clothes, the expressions of screaming, the perfect size of the same figures… they knew now what they're looking at: the people here, they're petrified into statues.

"It's better to kidnap you directly." A voice spoke behind them, as Asuna turned back, just in time for Fate to give a chop to Konoka's head, make her unconscious. Asuna immediately called out her fan and tried to hit Fate, but he just jumped back and casted his previous spell. Though, when he expected that she would just be petrified like the other… only her clothes broke away.

"What the…. KYAA!" The girl immediately sat down while covering as much of her body as possible. Seeing that the girl was being distracted, Fate then brought Konoka up and teleported away. Though, there's one thing clinging in his mind: She wasn't petrified, and that's not from her Pactio card, then, how did she negate the spell?

"ASUNA!" The rest of the group managed to find the girl after half a minute. Though, upon looking at the girl's a-little-pathetic-pose, Fumika immediately took off her yukata and put it on the girl. "Thanks Fumika." Asuna then counted the number of people… "Wait, where's Konoka's father?" Setsuna answered: "He's… petrified as well. Look, do you know where Konoka is?" "Just got taken by Fate, as he tried to petrify me, but I survived, somehow." Negi answered that: "The people here's still living, but we have to hurry to get Konoka back before saving them from current state."

The girl then noticed Fuka trying to press something on…whatever she's holding. "What are you doing?" "Trying to call any of our friends!" "They're normal girls, we can't just…" "Not them! I mean the ones who's like us!" "What… oh." After another minute… "No answers. Guess we're on our own."

Negi looked a bit down, but shook his head and said: "It's not important now. Asuna, will you be okay to stay and look after…" "No way in hell am I leaving you! We're facing the enemy that's way ahead of us in power! Without Kuro, we have to stick with each other!" Negi stumbled back a bit in surprise, but then Nodoka said: "It will be fine, Negi-sensei. And it seemed they only wanted to take Konoka away. If I'm not in the way, then maybe they won't attack me." "But, you will be alone…" "I will be fine, Sensei." The young teacher sighed. "Please be careful, Nodoka. Everyone, let's go!" "Wait… let me get my old clothes back before going in, okay?"

Outside

"You should have done that from the beginning." "Don't forget the duo was still there before I attacked. If they didn't leave, then I wouldn't have a chance to get the Ojou-sama that easily." "Never mind. All that matters is that we have Ojou-sama now. Let's take her to that place and claim our…" Chigusa got interrupted by Fate poking her shoulder, as she turned to see the boy pointing at something, and she turned… "Oh great. Here they come."

"HAND OVER OJOU-SAMA/KONOKA IMMEDIATELY!" The group has arrived, with Negi and Setsuna demanded the opponent. Chigusa just casually walked down and stood on the surface of the water, with her monkey holding Konoka next to her, and said: "You're persistent, I will give you that. But, we have Ojou-sama in our hands now, and you can't fight her power. Let me show you why." Konoka woke up, just in time to receive an immense pain as the rune paper attached on her collar started draining her power for the woman to use.

"HOW DARE YOU…" Setsuna planned to rush towards, but stopped as the summoning glyphs appeared between her group and the woman. Then, from there, Youkai of all kinds raised up, completely stopping them from advancing towards. And with that, the woman smirked: "It's for the payback two days ago. Don't worry, they won't kill you, that's one thing I wouldn't let myself so low." Then the enemies just floated away, leaving Negi's group to deal with the summoned demons.

"Really, a bunch of kids? After years, and we're called just to fight just that?" One demon complained when he saw what's in front of him. Another one said: "Sorry kids, but we're not going easy on you. Don't curse on us after you lose."

Everyone's backing each other up, as Asuna shakily commented: "Okay… Setsuna… this is not what I signed up for…" "Calm down Asuna, it will be okay…" "Ram, can we fight all of them?" "Maybe, but not without scratches though…" Then Negi used his magic and called out a tornado surrounding them, stopping the advances of the demons for a while.

Chamo: "We will have a short time before the wind barrier goes down. Setsuna-nee, what should we do now?" After three seconds, she answered: "We will separate into two groups. One will stay and distract the demons here. The rest will chase after Ojou-sama. Is that okay with you all?" "DIDN'T I JUST…" "We don't have much time, Asuna. The more we stall here, Konoka will be further away from us." Everyone then thought about that… and Fumika agreed: "Then Negi-sensei and Setsuna should chase after Konoka, you two are the fastest in our group. Asuna, we will stand our ground." And Chamo understood the idea: "Asuna's fan can one-shot the demons here. It could be a greater help if she stays here." But, he asked Negi: "Aniki, if you supply Ane-san with magic and minimize your defense, how long can you stretch?" "Um…not long. I will try to extend it to fifteen minutes." "Not much, but we will use the best of it. Okay… the game plan will be like this: The twin and Asuna will stay here and fight the demons, while we fly straight to Konoka and get her as fast as possible. We're not going to fight that boy, only Kuro can deal with him now. Then we rush straight back to the temple and try to call for back-ups, okay?"

Fuka: "That's a poor gamble…" "Do you have another idea?" "I didn't say I disagree with it." "Alright then… Aniki, Setsuna-nee, Pactio, now!" "WHAT THE? NOW?" "THAT, OR THE CHANCE TO SUCCEED IS LOWER!" "Right, right…"

…

"Finally…" The leading demon gave out a sigh of relief as he saw the tornado calming down. To be honest, he didn't want to fight someone who's way weaker than him, but he's summoned to do so, that he can't back down from the request. He moved his right arm and prepared to attack, only to notice a spell being shot out that he only had a bare second to dodge before he got vaporized. His subordinates were not so lucky though, as about ten of them got returned back to their own realm. During the confusion, he noticed something flew away, as he turned to see two figures, one riding on a staff and one with wings… so one of them is half Youkai?

"You ready Asuna?" "A little bit." He turned back to see the rest, who were preparing their attacks. "So you girls will stand your ground? How brave you are."

"It can't be helped, really… Let's hunt these bastards down!" Asuna rushed towards, followed by the twin with their weapons ready. With one clean swing, Asuna took down one of the Oni, much to the surprise of the others. Taking the chance, Fuka threw her shuriken around, cutting a few more and creating deep wounds on their bodies, which then finished by Fumika's continuous strikes. Once the others recovered, they started returning the attacks from the girls. One of them swung its massive arm towards Asuna's head, but she ducked and returned the favor. One planned to hit her from behind, but Fuka intercepted by using her shuriken as a melee weapon and cutting the Oni right in the middle of his body, sending him back to where he was. Then, from the same shuriken, she pulled out an identical duplicate and threw one around with her mind while using the other to back up Asuna and her sister. At Fumika's side, she's doing pretty well with her katana, slicing up demon like a certain someone, just a little slower, and even if some survived her attacks, the flying shuriken would finish the job.

The fight went on for a few minutes, with the girls started standing back-to-back now, slightly exhausted with their clothes a little torn. "Half… down… We're doing good job, right?" "Yeah, Asuna. Though, it's been a quite since we fight monsters." "And they're not intelligent ones, Ram." "Hey, Fumika, can you teach me those moves of yours?" "I think you should ask Setsuna or Kuro for that."

One demon exclaimed in shock: "Just a short amount of time and we lost half of our force to them! What's with those girls?" The other agreed: "That damn fan is just cheating! And that twin is too small and fast to hit!" The leader just laughed at that and said: "They're energetic girls, I will give them that! By the way… the modern fashion is to not wear underwear? I thought it's twenty-first century already?" That made Asuna immediately blush and try to cover her 'lower' part. Fuka didn't understand at first, then she remembered: "Oh right, your clothes were destroyed before… No matter! Let's continue the fight!" "WAIT! I'M NOT READY YET!"

Ren: "*Shake his head* You are used fighting in that condition?" "Did you really ask that? Considering Gamindustri is a fan-service world, that's bound to happen."

To the duo…

"What's that light?" Negi narrowed his eyes and saw a column of light, just in time to feel a surge of energy coming from there. And Setsuna recognized the place: "That's where a demon was sealed! Don't tell me that woman tried to wake it up using Ojou-sama's power!" "EH!? Then we must be faster! ACCELERATE!" The two immediately increased the speed to catch up… only to notice something behind them, they turned and saw black wolves flying straight towards them. Negi couldn't react fast enough and his staff got hit, flinging him off the air. Setsuna was luckier that she managed to deflect the attack, but she had to descend down and caught Negi before he touched the ground, in a hard way. "Thanks Setsuna…" "It's nothing, Sensei. But the attacker…"

"YO! Finally, the chance to rematch is here!" Said the half-Youkai, Inugami Kotarou, with excitement clearly showed on his face. Negi put his staff up on guard as he spoke back: "Kotarou, we don't have time for this! I have to save my friend right now!" "No can do. It's the only chance that you would fight me seriously. After a long time, I have found a Western Mage who's my age and can put up a fight with me! Now, let's fight!"

Chamo whispered to Negi: "This is bad, Aniki. How can we…" Only to receive an answer from Negi: "Setsuna, you're faster than me. Head to Konoka now, I will stall him here." "There's no way…" "We don't have much time, remember?" Upon hearing Negi's surprisingly serious statement, Setsuna can only nodded and rushed out. He then turned back to Kotarou, who's grinning like mad now. "If you want, I will fight seriously. But only for a few minutes, okay? I have…" He got interrupted by Kotarou throwing a punch right at him, forcing him to dodge away. "That's all I need to hear! Bring it on!"

Back to the girls

"*Gasping* How many left, Fuka?" "Not too sure. About fifty or so…" "My arms hurt…" The girls stopped attacking for a little bit, as they took a look surrounding them. So far, the lesser demons were defeated and sent back to their realm. The remaining here were mostly the bigger and tougher ones, including the leader. And to their surprises, he slowly clapped his hands. "I have to say, you girls are really something. You must have fought a lot before if you can keep up to this point." Asuna just sweatdropped, and answered back after she regained a little bit of air: "Actually it's my first time seeing demons like you." "Oh, really?" "But… hey, Fuka, Fumika, how long have you found monsters before you're reincarnated?" "Definitely over three years." "Around that…"

The leader obviously was surprised by the word's exchange. Reincarnated. A word that nobody really used that freely. And yet, those girls spoke about it like nothing… Shaking his head to let that idea fall to another part of his mind, he readied his club. "Break's over, girls. We will face you directly now, prepare yourself!" He then ran towards, more like taking two big steps, and swung his club down, creating a massive crater at where Asuna was, as she immediately dodged to avoid the hit. She then raised her fan and started fighting with the Oni, though her hits were easily blocked by the massive club. Fuka planned to help her, but had to raise her shuriken up to block a strike from a Tengu youkai, and called back her flying one to dual-wield and fight her enemy. Fumika also took a defense stand against the fox-masked Youkai, and a second later, their blades clashed against each other, emitting sparks everywhere. The fight went on for a while, until the Oni managed to grab Asuna's weapon's arm and held her up, and the twin had to stand back-to-back against their opponents again. "You girls are good. But not enough to defeat us."

Ozpin: "How strong are those demons?" "They're slightly weaker than the Goddesses in weak forms. Though, because the CPUs are assisted by me, they didn't get the problems like before."

Far away…

'Damn it. It's harder than I thought.' Setsuna thought, as she continued dodging Fate's pillar-throwing. She never thought about beating the boy, but she never thought that the boy could be THIS fast: No matter how she turned left and right, he would follow her to the end with no problems. She even tried her new card, which sent out a ton of small daggers towards the boy, his stone swords would cut them down like butter. Luckily she could cut through those stones projectiles, but it would waste a lot of her energy. 'I know they're relying on my success, but at this point…'

Back to Negi

"Can we stop now, Kotarou?" "Not until I say so!" Sending his wolves towards, Kotarou followed with a right hook, which was dodged by Negi with the lightning arrows destroying his spell. With a swing from his staff, the young teacher flung the half-Youkai right to the tree… and made it fall off the ground, thanks to the previous missing arrows. "Listen, Kotarou, we're facing a life-or-death situation here. Your client's holding one of my students as a hostage, and they have petrified everyone in the shrine. Don't you know that?" "They're not in any dangers. Why do I have to bother?" "Not in… Not now, but if your client succeeds in whatever she's doing, everyone will get hurt! Do you want that to happen?" For once, Kotarou's not immediately responding, and Negi continued: "Look, Kotarou, I have heard about you through Kurome. She said that you didn't have any bad intentions when you attacked us, that you only did what you did to live and be strong. We didn't blame you for it, we really didn't. However, we're having a serious matter at hands, which this fight didn't involve. We can fight however we want in the future, but for now, please step aside."

And his answer… Kotarou started charging up his fists. "Sorry, but no. First, you're not going to fight seriously after this. And second, this is my job, for now. You have to get past me first, before you can do whatever you want. Now, one last moment, make it counted!"

"HEY! How about you fight me? I'm not going to hold back, you know."

Monty: "Who?" "You will know."

The trio…

*Bang x3* Three shots were fired, hitting the Tengu's head, the Oni's club and slightly missing the Fox's mask. "AHH! That hurt!" The Tengu let go off Asuna's hand as he used his free hand to cover the place he just got shot. The Oni noticed his weapon has been broken in half, and the Fox's mask had a scratch on it. "Anti… no, that's pure magic bullets! Who could shoot those directly?" All the high-tier demons looked at the direction where the shots were fired, and the girls followed to see two figures. One was a girl with violet hair, with her hoodie down to reveal her familiar face, Nepgear, or rather Viola now. The second one, who's holding a barrel-smoking sniper, was a girl in her high-school age (older than the girls here), having dark short hair with the sides tied by small ribbons. Her pale face was decorated with a pair of half-rimmed glasses oval-shaped lens over her black eyes. She's wearing a black suit, with a black tie over the white shirt, with the black knee-socks and black shoes.

"Good job, Ram, Rom." The mysterious not really girl spoke up. "You held on pretty well, despite that this is not your advantage skills. Though, I suggest you stop holding back now."

Asuna looked at the two and was briefly grateful that the twin's friends have arrived. Then, she heard the last words… "Fuka, Fumika… you're still holding back?" Fuka just scratched her head comically: "Well, it's not that I'm holding back, but fighting close range is not our specialties…" "But you could have done more than this!" "Eh…hehe, whoops?"

Viola just smiled at that. "At least they're better now." "I can see that." The other girl just giggled back. Then she said: "Rom, Ram. Ready to fight like a group before?" "*Nod*/Let's go!" And with that, four power symbols appeared before the CPU girls, as they grabbed them… and four small pillars of light shone up, causing everyone around to cover their eyes because of the brightness. And when it died down and everyone else could see… Replacing the girls before were the CPU Candidates of Old Gamindustri, in their default costumes, floating in the air freely. In their hands were their traditional weapons, Purple Sister with her beam-saber, Black Sister with her rifle-cannon, and the White Sisters with their wands ready for actions.

All beings around were shocked at the scene before them, and Asuna being the most shocked one. She has seen the faces of the twin before they were reincarnated, but she never thought that they could have another appearance… then she facepalmed in her mind: Obviously she had to see that coming, because her assistant teacher did that before!

The leader shouted in shock as he looked at the closest CPUs, the twin: "This power! Not even that Shinmeiryuu could release this much energy! What are you!" "If you want to know…" The leader turned to Black Sister, who's pointing her gun straight at him. "In the place we're from, we're called CPUs, or for another term for you to easily understand, GODDESSES!" With the last word being shouted out loud, the cannon's barrel started gathering energy, and with a lucky move, the Oni leader was able to avoid the deadly laser firing from the cannon that eliminated all the demons behind him. He looked back and grimaced at the damage the shot has done, then noticed the atmosphere around him dropping temperature every second. He slowly turned his head to see what happened in front of him… and saw a massive Glyph right over their heads, covering the whole area. And then he heard the twin saying: "And we will show you that, even in another world, we're still be able to fight with all we have!"

To Negi

"Hey, who the hell are you? This is our fight!" Kotarou shouted at the person who just arrived. Negi and Chamo also turned to see a boy that nearly resembled them Fate, except he's wearing what a normal boy would wear during a trip, and his white hair was spiky and messy. He's putting one of his hands in his pants pocket, while smiling widely. "Hey now! The teacher here is quite busy, and you want to fight someone without holding back. And I'm sure I have met that requirement."

Kotarou looked up and down, then commented: "Really? I can't see that…" Only for the boy to teleport right in front of him, much to everyone's surprise, and deliver a punch to Kotarou, sending him backwards with sounds of wind being cut in the air can be heard clearly.

The boy just casually spun his right arm, while turning back and chuckling at Negi and Chamo's shocked expressions. "Hey! I'm stalling him here! Go and save your students, now!" That snapped Negi out of his current state, and ran away with a "THANK YOU!" shouting back at him. The boy just smiled, and turned back to his opponent, who's slowly standing up. "Hope that didn't hurt you so much." "Well, it hurt… but just because of surprise. I totally underestimated that, and I paid the price." Kotarou then grinned and prepared his attacks. "The name is Inugami Kotarou. Yours?" The boy just moved his right arm slowly to the back a bit, with his hand closed to be a punch, as he took a fighting stance. "I don't really have a name. But, you can call me… Chaos."

Glynda: "That boy... it makes sense for them to fight each other." "I was planning to call Tekken or Nisa, but then remembered about him, so I called."

To Setsuna

"Setsuna!" On one side, she's glad that her teacher has managed to shrug his opponent, but, she can't let that cross over her mind yet as she's focusing a hundred percent to block Fate's slashing strikes. Then, she felt the force on her lessened, and she saw Fate flying away, briefly dodging lightning arrows coming towards him. Taking the chance, she retreated back to her teacher and asked: "How did you tell Kotarou to stand down?" "I didn't. But someone, who I guessed is Kuro's friend, is fighting him right now, giving me a chance to help you." "What about the others?" "I haven't heard them, since…" They then separated as a pillar was thrown right between them, and they focused back at their opponent. "We need to distract him." "Got it."

"Hmm." Fate looked at the duo, and knew what they're planning to do, based on their mouthing: They're trying to lure him out to get the Ojou-sama. 'Futile efforts.' He thought, as he threw even more pillars to them, who barely dodged them. He didn't really have to do much, since the client's about to succeed in summoning the demon she wanted…

"!" His vision then got covered by the mist emitted from the water Negi just used the spell to affect to. 'Trying to blind me? Not a chance.' He then summoned a stone sword, this time was much bigger than his previous ones, and slashed into a figure heading straight to him, and hit… nothing. And his barrier acted up to protect him, as he looked down to see what hit him: Negi's staff. "I see." He said, then immediately spun back and grabbed Negi's punch, much to the teacher's surprise. "Nice effort, but that doesn't work on someone more powerful than you." Then he slowly pinched Negi to the bridge (after dodging the arrows, Fate flew back to the surface of the wooden bridge). "I have expected you to be better, considering that man's helping you. Turned out, you're nothing but a child after all."

"So?" He then heard the teacher chuckling. Then, he felt a pressure on his stomach, as he looked down to see Negi's free hand pushing at his body. "That doesn't mean I can't stop you. Binding Arrows of Air!" Instantly his body got wrapped by the arrows in place, as he looked down to see how effective it was. "A delayed spell? With that little experience in combat of yours, you can come up with that plan. I take back my words about you, Negi Springfield."

Negi jumped back a bit, just in case if Fate somehow escaped the bind faster than they thought. "You're surprisingly calm." "And you're supposed to get your friend back." "Why do you think I have to…" He then stopped speaking as he felt an enormous magic emerging from afar. He and Chamo looked up…

To Chaos and Kotarou

Kotarou was lying on the ground, face-downed, with Chaos sitting next to him and admiring? the destroyed battlefield they just created. "Even I went serious, I'm no match for you." "But it was fun, so it's worth, even if it's a lose." "You said your name was Chaos, right? I wonder why your parents called you so." "Oh? *Laugh* You misunderstood. That's not my name, but my title. I am The Deity of Chaos. And I am The Deity of Death's brother, who is Kuro's partner." Kotarou widened his eyes in surprise. "Deity of Chaos? I never heard of that title before." "It's because we're not from this world. We are…" Both of them then looked at the bright light afar. They saw the figure, as Chaos started throwing Kotarou's left arm on his shoulder and brought the Youkai up. "Hey, what are you doing?" "We're going there. It will be an epic fight going on there, and I don't want to miss it. And you're going to be awed for that, I'm sure."

To the CPUs and Asuna

"Oh no." Everyone turned to see the light, and saw the sealed demon starting to awaken. "Negi and Setsuna failed…" "There's no time to wait. Asuna, head there now." "But…" "We will hold the demons here. GO!"

After complying Purple Sister's order, Asuna started running straight up to where the demon was visible to be seen. About ten seconds later: 'Ane-san? Can you hear me?' 'Chamo?' 'We're facing a big trouble now! Aniki will teleport you to our position now!' 'Teleport? Okay! I'm ready!'

To the summoning side

"Two-faced four-armed giant demon 'Ryoumen Sukunanokami'." Chigusa has floated to the demon's right side of its front head, with Konoka floating in front of her, her mouth being covered by a tape. "A giant demonic god defeated 1600 years ago. The legends said he was about 180 feet tall, but it looks like he's even bigger than that…" Then she saw Setsuna floating before her, as she smirked: "Well well, you're one step too late, Shinmeiryuu. The victory's mine." "Not if I can get to Ojou-sama!" Setsuna shouted and flied towards Chigusa, but an arm swing from the summoned demon hit her and flung her away. "It's totally under my control, so you have no chance to get to me."

"I'm impressed that you managed to get this far." The binding broke, as Fate turned to a shocked Negi. "But too bad. You lose." He then raised his hand towards Negi and started chanting a spell. "Don't worry, I won't kill you, but you will feel the pain this spell coming to you."

"Not so fast! Summon, Ministra Negi, Kagurazaka Asuna!" The summoning glyph appeared between the boys, and a second later the girl from class 3-A appeared. "Alright! Now what's going… WHAT IS THAT?" Asuna turned back to ask Negi, only to be surprised about the unsealed demon. Then her attention got back to Fate, who spoke: "That won't help you. Vishu talri shutal vangait…" "OH NO! That's a spell key of a Western Mage! Aniki, Ane-san, dodge now!" The duo managed to avoid the direct hit of Fate's spell thanks to Chamo's warning. Though… when they checked each other up: "Negi… your hand…" "It's fine. Just a little touch is not going to do much." "That's one of the worst attempts to deduce the danger if I ever heard one." The three looked at the unchanged Fate. "You will be slowly petrified. Give up."

"How about you do that first?" A hand raised up below Fate and grabbed his leg, catching his attention. Then, the shadow revealed the person to be none other than the Shinso Vampire. "You took care of my teacher quite good. Still an amateur, though." In her right hand, an Ice spear appeared, and she threw it through the Averruncus's body, stabbing him to the bridge. Then, she turned to the stunned trio. "Good job on getting through this, but now, stand back and watch we deal with the demon."

Near the demon

Setsuna felt another presence of power, as she turned back to see a visible Ice spear at the bridge, and a black cloak floating on the bridge. 'That power… Evangeline?' Then, something hit the demon's barrier, but from the impact, thunder emitted and stunned the demon, also surprised Chigusa, as she temporarily got distracted. Taking the chance, Setsuna rushed in and grabbed Konoka out of her capture. Upon having the girl in hand, Setsuna did a spell to peel out the tape on her Ojou-sama's mouth and shouted: "Ojou-sama! Are you alright? Speak to me!"

"U…urgh…" The girl slowly moved in Setsuna's arms, and her eyes opened. And she smiled when she saw who's holding her. "Se-chan. I knew you will come and save me again." "Thanks goodness you are already, Ojou-sama." The Hanyou sighed in relief, only to be a little panic when Konoka asked: "Your back…are those wings?" "Ehm, Ojou-sama…it's just…" "They are beautiful…" "Eh?" "You are so much like an angel now, Se-chan."

To the ground

"Alright." Eva, with her enhanced sight (her nature trait, not from her current status), saw that the girl was saved, spoke: "Okay, you three. The boy's out, so I will deal with the demon. I will show you the power we haven't showed to you before, from the ultimate mage herself!" The girl then flew up… just to stop mid-air, then turned back and shouted: "MAKE SURE YOU TAKE A REALLY GOOD LOOK OF THIS!" Then continued her destination.

"… Negi." "Yes, Asuna?" "What was that about?" "I'm just as clueless as you are now."

The vampire then started chanting her spell: "Lic lac la lac lilac! Queen of Eternity, bound unto me by contract. I call upon thee! Darkness that is forever ETERNAL GLACIER!" With that, the demon was frozen in place. Chigusa was too surprised from both attacks, as she shouted out in shock: "What the hell's going here? Who are you, brat?" Wrong question, woman. "How dare you call me a brat! I am the Shinso Vampire Evangeline, Gospel of Darkness! That demon of yours is nothing to me! COSMIC CATASTROPHE!" And with an angry finger *SNAP!*, the demon broke into pieces and fell into the depth of the lake.

From the CPU's place

"Hmm… the Great Demon has fallen." Everyone has stopped fighting after they saw what happened. The Oni leader asked Purple Sister: "You girls have won. What will you do?" "Kuro told us to let you go. And we knew that you don't have ill intentions." "You trust that person's words quite easily." "He has lived longer than any of us, and we know his wisdom well."

"Well then, see you in the future, ladies!" The demons were fading away while saying the farewell. "It's quite a long time we fought a good fight." "Give the others our greetings, okay?" "How about a friendly rematch in the future, girls?" With that, the demons were completely gone. Black Sister then looked at Purple Sister with a little of satisfaction. "They reminded me of Brave. Guess the honorary of people here is true after all." "*Giggle* Kuro knows much." "Hey, you two! We should head out to help Negi-sensei now!" "Oh, right!"

To the bridge

Humiliation. That's the feeling he's having right now. He was defeated like this before, but it was because he was facing a team of 'heroes'. And they have proved themselves before to live up to their names as they defeated his master. But now, he was beaten, during a simple mission. He was informed that a man could blatantly stand against the maniac swordswoman without a care of safety, and then defeated him in a parallel dimension WITHOUT him noticing he got pulled into it, and then this…

With no one noticing since they're cheering for Eva's victory, he pulled out the spear that went through him, and then immediately flew straight to them to deliver a magic-infused punch… only to be hit right in the face by something super soft, but powerful enough to make him lose his ground and slide on his back for a few meters before getting hit away again by Eva with a punch to the chin. Once he got up, he tried to see what hit him: A robotic girl was floating between him and the vampire, with a sniper rifle on her back and… a little doll in her left hand… a doll, that looked exactly like the girl… He had two options: either he went all out, or retreated. But… considering he's facing the infamous Vampire now…

'I'm at a disadvantage now. Better retreat for today.' And with that, he jumped, feet first, into the lake and used the water-teleport-spell to get out of the place.

"Hm, running away? Coward." Eva just looked at the space Fate was previously at, then turned back to Negi, who's trying to hide his petrified arm. "Check on that arm now, boy. Can't let you die today."

"Is everyone alright?" The CPUs have arrived to the scene, and the twin noticed the petrified arm of Negi. "Negi-sensei? What happened to you?" "Does that matter? Can you two fix this?" Not directly replying to Eva, Rom started chanting a healing spell, and the spell dusts started covering the arm… the spread has stopped, but it's not improved either. Ram immediately rushed her sister: "Rom, hurry up! We don't want him to turn like the people in the temple!" "I know, Ram! But no matter how much power I put in, I can't reverse the progress!"

"I think it's because of the different of magic types." They turned briefly to see Chaos and Kotarou walking to them. "Purple Sister, you have seen that problem before, right?" "…Yes. I was afraid so." "Then what can we do, Nepgear?" "Unless Kuro gets here and heals him... does either of you have a healing ability?" Eva shook her head. "My regeneration isn't counted." Then, Negi's phone rang up. Asuna hastily pulled it out, as Chachamaru started positioning Negi in a better posture for him. "Nodoka, you're in trouble?" "No, no. Kuro just called me, he said that our group has someone who can revert the petrification spell, but he didn't say who." "Oh for… how did you know we need one now?" "I'm using my Artifact to check on the fight." "Right… Okay, thanks for it."

With that call done, everyone looked around for a bit to see who Kuro could have talked about… and they spotted Konoka. But Asuna had a little doubt: "But she couldn't use magic, right? Then how can…" "I think he wanted Konoka to make a Pactio contract with Negi." Setsuna explained: "Saying Ojou-sama hasn't used magic before is wrong, since I have seen her doing them a few times, but very hard to notice or call it magic. I think Kuro-sensei knew it, so he said so… But, Ojou-sama…" "It's okay, Setsuna. Besides, everyone has worked hard today to save me. Even if this is a small thing I can do to pay for it, then I will do it." 'That's not small thing though.' That's everyone thought, but it got washed away as Konoka sealed the contract with Negi. And when the Pactio card appeared, the girl used it immediately and healed the teacher. And when Negi was healed properly, everyone started cheering up…

Then Kotarou started walking away, causing Chaos to try to call him back: "Hey, where are you going?" "I'm not going to stay. But, I will return for a rematch." "Well…okay then!" Then the Deity turned back to his group. "We should return to the shrine now, there are people that need Konoka's healing to return them back to normal."

Ruby: "So that ended the day?" "No, it will be a small talk with Nodoka and the CPU girls before they returned back."

Though, I have to ask you readers this: can someone confirm the size of the Dark CPUs, please? I checked in the wiki, and it said they're 30 meters tall for each, with Dark Orange one and a half higher. But in the opening scene, they looked WAY bigger. I was planning to let Kurome fight the two-faced demon, but...