"Those fools! Those idiots! Those... little...!"

Pudding was just releasing the anger she was channeling in from the second incident that occurred after holding it in for so long. She was about to curse in the last sentence when she suddenly stopped herself, and instead fired several bullets at a Prinny who was just passing by with her gun, taking her frustration out on it. But she was still pissed. This was the second time Fuka and Desco had not only ruined her experiment, but destroyed her home and equipment as well. It almost felt like they were doing this on purpose to Pudding, which would make sense in the Netherworld, but she was still angry.

Almost out of nowhere, Smokey approached her mother as if nothing happened. "Mommy?"

"What?" she lashed out. Her tone almost matching her anger.

"Um, do you think Fuka likes me?"

"What the hell are you- ...Wait. Don't tell me..."

As if hindering her to this degree wasn't bad even, it seems Fuka had somehow attracted Smokey somehow in a sexual matter, which would explain why he had been drawing pictures of her ever since. It was just as Pudding was afraid of. The fact that the rifle demon was attracted to the 9th grade school girl was difficult, if not impossible to shallow. Then again, Smokey did had a child-like mentality anyway, but it was still disturbing.

"You're not seriously interested in that wretched little human, are you?"

"BUT SHE'S PRETTY MOMMY! AND SMART AND FUNNY AND BRAVE..."

"But her of all people? Don't you realize that both her and that sister of her's destroyed our home twice in a row? You're much better off with a Prinny. And she's supposed to be one too."

"BUT MUUUM...!"

Clearly, Pudding does not approve of it one bit, but her concern in the matter was slowly fading. Normally, Pudding could care less on who Smokey was interested in, but having it being the one of the few people she truly dislikes was bothersome. But she eventually stop caring. "You know what? Just go after her if you want. See if I care. It's not my problem anymore."

"O.K!" With Pudding's permission, Smokey then rush after Fuka in hopes of at least gaining her attention. Pudding did nothing to stop him. It seemed like nothing would change regardless on what would happened afterwords. With most of her necessary equipment damaged or destroyed from Desco's blast and her test slaves escaped, there wasn't much else the woman can do. As Pudding just sat there on the debris, she began to wonder if she really deserves the Noble War Prize, or if the Aw to Fear project would even work. Although she did managed to do some amount of good with her past experiments, none of them really held up well enough to live up the title. Pudding Bun was now at a depressing state. She let out a faint sigh of sorrow.

"... Am I doomed to mediocrity? Am I unfit to change the Netherworld? Am I no better than a Prinny?"

Just as the lone scientist was about to cry, another female demon was waking by her. She appeared to be a busty Magic Knight. "Hey... is something wrong, comrade?" she asked in somewhat of a Russian accent.

Pudding slowly turned to the other woman, almost immediately recognizing her. "... Sophie? What are you doing here?"

Sophie bowed respectfully before answering. "Yes, it is me. I was just walking by when I witnessed a familiar blast, so I decided to investigate. It looks like you had an intense battle on your hands."

"No. Fuka and Desco once again screwed up my experiment, destroying my house in the process."

Sophie laughed. "Those two don't seem to be very competent outside of battle, huh?"

"Apparently not." Pudding was slightly feeling better during the conversation, but her expression hasn't changed.

"What were you working on, anyway?"

"I was trying to see if I could convert Aw energy into Fear energy by having those two pray for me. Unfortunately, Desco didn't know how to pray right so she ended up channeling her energy into her Final Boss attack instead, destroying this entire wall here."

"Hmm..." Sophie thought for a moment. "I believe Aw energy goes directly to the angels if one was praying," she brought up. "I do not think demons can obtain such as easily."

"So we do need an angel! I have to get to Celestia!" Pudding pound her hand on her palm, regaining some of her confidence.

"Not to discourage you, comrade, but it won't be easy. Demon's are not allowed in Celestia."

"Artina wasn't allowed in here either and she got away with it!"

"Good point. In that case, I shall help you. But not now. You'll be needing some rest. I can tell you've used up a good portion of your energy."

"What are you talking about? I need to get this done as soon as possible!"

Sophie held on to her shoulder. "Even Professors need break, Pudding. You clearly work too hard."

Pudding rolled her eyes and shrugged. She was eager to start her mission now, but it seemed like Sophie wouldn't let her.

"... If you insist."