So Li Xiao had a day with Charice when it came to spells. Why not someone else…?

/= [DAY 79] =/

She had no idea why Kiku was waiting in front of her doorway that morning. He stated that he was passing by when she opened the door and offered to walk with her to the school if she wants him to. Charice was more than willing to allow him to do so, and so they skipped out the door.

"Why do I have the feeling that Arthur used another spell again…?"

"What, after I almost beat him into yesterday?" Charice grinned. "Nah, I don't think he would-"

An explosion echoed just a few feet away, and five seconds later they saw Francis flying in the air wearing the strangest outfit with red mechanical gauntlets the size of forever and with red visors over his face. He was accompanied by a screaming Tino with gauntlets and visors bearing the Finnish crest. A few feet away, they heard Anri and Lin Yi screaming at their "doji" to keep attacking as they headed further into the campus.

…

…

…

…

"Where's Arthur. I need more English blood on my hands…"

/=+=/

"Charice…"

"What the FUCK is going on here…at least last time it made more sense- WAAAAAGHHH!"

They ducked over a flying attack.

"Charice, if I may say something…" He stated. "I think this is based off a manga of mine…"

"A manga?" She cringed. "Is it that Bobobobo whatever the heck it is?"

"No, I don't think it's that…" Kiku answered. "It's something a little more serious…and by the looks of it, that's exactly what it is…"

"Do you have any proof…?"

Kiku and Charice looked out the window and watched as two other strange machines started flying in the air. They weren't the same as the last time, but definitely were mechanical beings. The two bystanders stared at each other for a few minutes before Kiku rubbed his chin.

"Definitely that manga."

"OK then…what the hell are the rules of thumb in that manga of yours?" Charice looked at him.

"Well…there are robots in them."

"FANTASTIC. What we need in modern New York City on a beautiful November morning: GIANT ROBOTS. Sheesh, what's next, clubs? Boy Scout cookies?"

"There is a separation between the good robots and the bad robots."

"What."

"Yes, seven on the good side, and eight on the evil side. Two of them are pure good and pure evil…and the remaining six represent the Six Perfections of Buddhism and the Seven Deadly Sins of Christianity." Kiku nodded. "These two sides are supposed to fight each other through their machines, which can be only be operated through their masters."

"So…what are you saying?" Charice stood up. "There are sides now?"

"Until Arthur can turn this all back to normal, there will be a war here. Hopefully, the both of us are on the same side…preferably the Good one."

"Yeah…so now what? We go machine hunting?"

"They'll find us if we are decided to be masters."

"Greeeaaaaatttt…"

They continued through the hallways for a few minutes, hearing a truce-like silence in the hallways and hearing the other students hiding or trying to fight someone off. They stood there for a few minutes in silence before looking up and realizing that there was a machine in front of them, hidden as if it was invisible. He had a purple theme with his gauntlets and visors, bearing a maple leaf image. He looked up.

"Matthew?"

"Charice? Kiku?" He stood up. "W-what's going on?"

"You're a machine." Kiku stated.

"W-what…?"

"Arthur did something again, and we're under the assumption that fifteen nations have been turned into machines." Kiku pointed out the window. "The fight that's happening outside can only be done when you as machines gain a master."

"A master…"

"Hey! What if I be your master~?" Charice chirped. "So now what do I do?"

Suddenly, Matthew paused in place, the thing that's supposed to be a shirt levitating over his face and revealing that his soul was now a ball deep inside his chest. Charice did what she always does and stuck her hand inside the hole to see what it felt like. Instantly, her mind relapsed back to the day that Alfred finally cleared her for independence. There was so much pride radiating from her people, it made her smile…

They were thrown back as a strange design appeared on Charice's arm. It was the yellow Filipino sun surrounded by spirals that looked really beautiful. Every time she stared at it, she could feel the happiness of her people radiate from it. She looked up at Matthew and saw that the hole in his chest had closed up, protecting his soul and on top of it was the symbol of the maple with red spirals. They both stared at each other with a blank look on their face.

"…awesome." She did a thumbs up. "No obvious soul sticking out."

"T-that's good…I felt so naked with it out there…"

"So that means that all machines that are without a master are vulnerable to be destroyed." Kiku tensed. "The murderer will take advantage of this…!"

"OK! People calm down! Let's just go machine hunting right now…so that way people are not vulnerable anymore!" Charice shrugged. "All good?"

"Y-yeah…"

/=+=/

As they were running through the hallways hunting down machines, it was revealed that in this space Matthew was known as Pardonner. It was a strange name, but it was French, so no one really cared. Halfway through the walk, they found a shaking and crying Erika, looking so innocent in her bright yellow outfit and her obvious soul sticking out. She didn't want to say anything other than the fact that her title was Sophia, and fortunately Kiku seemed to be her master. He grinned.

"So we're on the same side. That's good." He smiled. "No false fighting now."

"Yeah…but we still have to stop this." Charice stated. "So now what?"

"We have to find the others on our side at least." Kiku folded his arms. "If we find the opposite side, well…we're going to be in danger."

"At least they can't touch our souls or something…" Erika rubbed her chest. "It felt weird having you hold it, Kiku…"

"Well…l-let's not mention it to Vash, shall we?"

"Y-yeah…"

Charice and Matthew stared at each other for a few minutes before continuing to walk through the hallway. As they were about to round a hallway, they heard a strange clicking noise that stopped them. Kiku held his blade tightly and looked at Erika, who nodded and tried to be strong on her own. Matthew's visors clicked on, and he saw through the walls.

"They know we're here." He informed.

"Then we'll do a stalemate." Kiku nodded. "Guard me."

"Okay…"

They stepped forward for a few minutes before they both lunged forward. Erika's gauntlets caught on hard kicks that almost knocked her back, and Kiku's katana bounced off flying spiritual bullets. Charice and Matthew ran out of the side and saw the two figures pausing and staring at them.

"Sister…?"

"Vash!" She clung onto him. "You're a machine like me, aren't you?"

"Yeah…got attacked by Magnus and Gilbert, the crazy freaks. If it hadn't been for Lovino, I would've been dead."

"Che. It just happened." Though it looked like Lovino was clearly worried at the point. "Did you guys see anyone?"

"Just a huge fight between two machines that didn't kill us." Charice shrugged. "But that's about it."

"OK, that's fine. Me and Vash here found a whole group of people that aren't going to kill us in this plain." Lovino stated. "According to them, we're missing one more person."

"One more…?"

"The ultimate Good doji…" Kiku rubbed his head. "This is not good…"

"M-maybe he found a master?"

"That's why we're looking for him." Vash stated. "Come on."

Charice couldn't help but panic as they ran through the hallways. Could it be possible if any of these nations can be destroyed with their souls sticking out of their bodies like this? She was grateful that these three had their souls sealed before something happened, but what could happen with a murderer on the loose?

Whoever you are…please be patient…

/=+=/

Thumbs up if you guys guess what manga this is based off of. And DAMMIT, ARTHUR WHAT THE HELL.