"What? They didn't come back?"
Ban and Hiro immediately began asking as soon as they returned to the camp.
"Could it be...?" Tenma's guess was on point.
"We were attacked by a Killer Droid, and afterwards, they vanish."
"Something happened when we weren't looking."
"A hidden attack..." Professor Yamano narrowed his eyes in thought.
"It's already late." Takuya stated. "We can all search together tomorrow. For now, let's rest."
They reluctantly agreed.
~~~~~
"Do you understand? Eliminate them in one shot."
"Ha..."
"Understood."
Fran headed back to camp, setting her plans in motion. Little did she know, a little boy saw her walking about.
~~~~~
"Where have you taken Kazu and Ami to?!" Jessica had Ami's CCM in her hands.
"Be honest with us!" Asuka added.
"We don't know anything!" Kirino replied.
Yukimura took a step forward. "Don't create weird problems with us."
"But we found Kazu and Ami's CCMs in your tent." Yuuya said, holding up the brunette's. "What does that mean?"
Hakuryuu's eyes narrowed. "So you're saying that we kidnapped them?"
"If you say it isn't you, then give us a reasonable explanation." Jin stated.
"Are you sure they didn't disappear due to all the space-time confusion?" Kariya immediately took back his words when red eyes pierced through him.
"What? Easier said than done!" Asuka continued to accuse.
Kinako couldn't take much more. She ran in between them. "Don't quarrel! Don't quarrel!"
"Get out of my way!" The blonde pushed her away.
She would've fallen had the white haired boy not caught her. "Hey!"
For a second, she seemed to regret what she did, but it all went when Jessica continued, "Our friends have disappeared!"
"Like we said, we have nothing to do with it!" Taiyou argued.
"These guys..." She pulled her hat over her eyes. "... are our enemies! Vampire Cat!"
Yukimura narrowed his eyes at the spear pointed to him. "Why you..." He tossed the ball he held into the air. "Panther Blizzard!" The machine had just barely managed to dodge. Jin, Jessica, and Yuuya all side-stepped to avoid the shot before the latter two simultaneously took out their own LBXs.
"Jeanne D!"
"Liu Bei!"
"I have no choice." Frankly, Jin didn't like the idea of resorting to violence, but it was his only option at the moment. "Triton!"
The three LBXs surrounded Yukimura. Despite their size, he knew just how dangerous they could be. The fear and unease began to consume him, but then there was nothing.
All eyes went wide. Neither side were prepared for what they had just seen.
"He disappeared...?"
"You guys did that, didn't you?"
"Yukimura! Where did you go?!"
"No matter how you look at it, you guys are the suspicious ones!"
"It seems like there's no room to talk anymore!"
Jin's eyes narrowed as he watched them go back and forth with accusations. He took both sides' perspectives bitterly. They made a mistake.
"Guys!"
"Stop it!"
Tenma and Ban's voices came from the distance. All those who weren't present before came running their way.
"What are you doing, Hakuryuu?!"
"Everyone, stay calm!"
"What on earth is happening?"
"Everyone, please stay calm."
"Don't fight."
"This isn't the time for fighting!"
But all of their pleas were drowned out when Taiyou stated coldly, "Yukimura has disappeared."
"Disappeared?" When Tsurugi repeated after him, all murmurs seemed to have died down.
"We can't just keep quiet about it." The orange haired boy grunted.
Hakuryuu clicked his tongue. "Everyone, out of the way." The skies turned dark as all the light entered the ball at his command. He jumped into the clouds, the ball ready for a shot.
"If you're looking for a fight, bring it on!" Asuka sent out his Vampire Cat once again.
Taiyou created a streak of sunshine in the cloudy sky.
Jin took out his Triton as well. "Hissatsu Function!"
"White Hurricane!"
"Attack Function, Devil Soul."
"Sunshine Storm!"
"Attack Function, Ocean Blast."
Just as all four shots were about to hit, two figures appeared between them.
"No you don't!"
"I'm sorry about this!"
A bright light engulfed them. When it dissipated, two blondes were in their vision, their hands held out. The two balls and robots were stopped mere inches from their palms, but that wasn't what caught their attention. Their eyes were glowing.
Kimiko took a deep breath, letting the balls fall. When the glow disappeared, she held her head. "That was a close one..." She turned to the other blonde. "Eva, you okay?"
Hers were still glowing. She was shaking, as if too afraid to stop it. Asuka and Jin both found that their LBXs wouldn't move. When Kimiko placed her hand on her shoulder, her eyes returned to normal, and the two were able to move their machines again. "S-Sorry..."
"Wait!" Shinsuke came running in from the other side. "Everyone, just wait! I saw it... I saw Fran walking out from the tent." He turned to the mint haired girl, who had been sitting behind a log. "Fran, what did you do last night?" She remained silent.
"Were you the one who put the CCMs into our tent?" Kirino asked.
Shindou frowned. "Why would you do that?"
"Answer us!" Hakuryuu demanded.
"Wait! You can't suspect her based on that!"
"That's enough everyone!"
Tenma and Hiro both ran to her aid, but she decided to answer. "It was me. I put them there."
"Fran..."
"I want to see you all divided among yourselves." Two boys appeared by her side.
"They found out at last."
"It won't make a difference whether or not they know."
"You guys are..." Tenma trailled.
"The guy from the stadium!" Shinsuke finished.
Hiro's eyes remained wide. "Which means..."
"That's right. The three of us attacked the stadium."
"So that's how it is." Tsurugi growled.
Realization flickered through Ban's head. "So Kazu and Ami were..."
"They were erased." The blonde boy stated.
"So what about it?" The grey haired one teased.
"Just what are you trying to do to the world?" Ran asked.
Fran's smile dropped. "We'll erase unwanted things in this world. No matter what."
Jin stepped forward. "Why haven't you erased us then?"
"It's not that she won't, but she can't." Tsurugi concluded.
"You're pretty clever." Fran mocked. "That's right, we can't do it right now. However, you won't have the strength to resist once we've destroyed you in battle."
"I get it." Ban continued to glare at them. "That's why Ami and Kazu had their LBXs destroyed!"
"Fran..." A shadow was cast over the soccer captain's eyes. "Why? Why did you do all this?! You can't just do this to us!"
"Tenma..." They all became speechless at the brunette's outburst. They could hardly believe this was the same boy who had such a pure smile on him everyday.
Ban bit his lip. "I won't let you do as you please!"
"Alright. Then, I'll make an exception and play with you." She continued to mock. "Asta will play soccer." The blonde one. "San will play LBX." The grey haired one. "You'll regret the mistakes you've committed very soon... And how foolish you are to ask for a fight!"
"We'll be waiting for you tomorrow at coordinate G223." With San's finishing message, the three disappeared.
The tense atmosphere slowly became awkward. Out of everyone, Hakuryuu was first to make a move. Asuka got uncomfortable. "What now?"
But he did what no one else ever expected him to do. He bowed his head down. "It seems that we misunderstood you."
"No." Jin returned it in kind. "I apologize for suspecting you."
"We also apologize."
Both sides were now able to truly smile. Tenma would've joined them, if only he didn't feel so betrayed. Fran...
~~~~~
"What?" Takuya tried to wrap their heads around what the 23 children were all trying to tell him.
"Fran is the one at the center of the chaos." Shindou stated.
"So this mayhem was all her masterpiece then." Professor Yamano turned back to the hologram of the timelines in catastrophe.
"If we go, we'll be able to help those who vanished right?" Tenma asked.
"We'll all go over there!" Ban nodded at Hiro's words.
"Then let's do like what we do in soccer!"
"Like with soccer?"
All the children formed a circle as they held each other shoulder to shoulder. "Guys! Have faith in our victory! Let's fight!"
"Yeah!"
They were all about to go and prepare on their own, but then Kariya suddenly spoke up. "So are we not going to talk about how Kimiko and Eva stopped all four attacks?"
All eyes turned to the two blondes. Kimiko gave him a look. "Seriously? The three people who just disappeared already admitted to what they did, and you still want to point fingers at me and Eva for saving our sleeping spot?"
"Just saying..."
"You stopped the balls in midair without touching them." Hakuryuu pointed at Kimiko.
"And you stopped our LBXs from moving without any kind of device." Jessica eyed Eva.
The one with pink streaks clicked her tongue. "Guess I'll have to specify this time. I'm not just a kid from 200 years in the future. I'm one of the Second Stage Children, if you will. We have all kinds of abilities. Telekinesis is just one of them, though it's a little harder to use without ampules since I've already taken the cure."
"...What."
She wanted to roll her eyes, but took a deep breath instead. "Long story short, the SSC have powerful abilities, but it's at the cost of their lifespan. In my timeline, we had some matches against them, and when we won, the SSC were given antidotes so that they'll have a regular lifespan and zero abilities. At the same time, apparently, they discovered I was an anomaly for whatever reason, and I still have some of my abilities. I can use telepathy as easily as I always had, but telekinesis is a lot harder. Am I making sense to you?"
"Um..."
"I can guarantee you that she's telling the truth." Professor Aruno piped in. "I had a feeling those SSC abilities would come in handy for your fight, which is why I brought her here."
"But then what about Eva?" Ran asked. "I don't think our world has any children with special abilities." Eva felt herself shrinking under everyone's gaze.
"Unfortunately, I'm not very knowledgeable of your world. I brought Eva here because she's good with machines, and I figured that would be useful for you."
"Well, she's a little bit too good." Asuka frowned. "You took a look at Vampire Cat and Triton yesterday, didn't you? Did you put some kind of command in them so you can take control?"
"No, I... I didn't..."
"Then how did you stop them like that? And also, what's with your eyes?"
"That's..." She swallowed. She turned to Jin, only to remember that he didn't know anything about her either. She was on her own.
"Hey, back off. You guys are gonna make her panic." Kimiko defended. "Maybe in her timeline, there are things that are different from yours. I mean, her existence itself is already a difference, so..."
"You know," Cobra spoke up. "I actually tried to do a bit of research on you two, with Otacross and Professor Aruno, just to make sure you can be trusted. And... Well..."
Takuya's eyes narrowed. "Cobra, do you know something?"
"This probably isn't the best way to break it to you all, but that kid's a living robot." Those words shot through her like an arrow. "Her brain is artificial, supported by an AI made by Professor Oozora."
"By mom?!" Hiro exclaimed. "E-Eva... What...?"
Otacross nodded. "I'm afraid it's true. To be more specific, her brain is an optima organ prototype. The AI is there to keep it stable, giving her the ability to control any computer within range."
"The optima?" Ban hadn't heard that term since the Innovator Incident.
"So then..." Ran muttered.
"Eva is..." Yuuya trailled.
Takuya's eyes landed on the girl, but her head was down. "... an android-"
"No!" Her hands went to her ears as she shook her head violently. "No, no, no! Shut up! Don't call me that! I'm not a machine!"
All eyes widened. She had always been a shy girl, never speaking up unless someone asked her first. Raising her tone was something they didn't think she could do.
"E-Eva..." Kimiko tried to approach her. "Calm down. We didn't mean-"
"Back off! You're all the same! Stay away from me!" She took several steps back, but tripped over a rock and fell. Her CCM fell out of her pocket, a hologram of a video message appearing above it.
Tenma ran forward, but still kept a respectable distance. "Eva, are you okay?"
She didn't respond. As she sat up, her hand accidentally pressed a button on the CCM, playing the video.
"Hey... Hey! Heeeeeyyy!! Eva!! You there?"
"Asuka, get back here! She can't see any of us if you're that close to the camera!"
"Aww, you're no fun, Jessica. I was just saying 'hi'."
"Haha, even when facing something this weird, Asuka is still Asuka, huh?"
"Hey! Just what's that supposed to mean, Ami?!"
"Oh, nothing~" The purple haired girl smiled at the camera. "Eva! Hope you're doing alright!"
"This strange guy appeared out of nowhere saying you're off in another dimension."
"What Kazu said. When Jin told us you disappeared, you gave us a huge scare, you know?"
"Ban's right. We all panicked and went all over the city to look for you."
"Hiro's putting it lightly. We went as far as the suburbs, and even gone to Akihabara!" Ran frowned. "Also, what the heck is with you disappearing all the time?! Do you have a problem with telling us where you're going?!"
"Well, in this case, she couldn't really help it..." Yuuya chuckled. "That time professor told us he took her without permission, after all."
"Why are we mentioning that so casually?" Kazu blinked. "When Detector did it, it was all anger and anguish all the time, but with this guy..."
"Well, he already showed us how Eva is doing." Ami replied. "And he's letting us send Eva a message like this too, just to let her know that we'll be with her in spirit!"
"You're making it sound like we're dead..."
"S-Shut up!"
Ban sweatdropped at his two friends. "Well, anyway... Professor Aruno also told us you're in a dimension where you don't exist. It must be rough for you, but... if it's any comfort to you, we're all still here. We're all waiting for you to come back, Eva."
"That's right!" Hiro grinned. "We decided that when you get back, we'll all stay over at Ban's house again! You missed out on the curry last time, didn't you? You should know, the curry Ban's mom makes is the best thing in the world!"
Yuuya nodded. "I agree! It wasn't too spicy, so I'm sure you'd like it." He turned to someone off camera and waved them over. "Jin, come on. I'm sure she's waiting for you to say something."
"Oh, right!" Jessica jogged off screen and came back dragging a reluctant Jin. "Come on, say something to her! We all know how worried you've been, so don't even try to pretend like you weren't!"
The black and white haired boy had a deadpan face on as he turned to the camera. "... You're grounded for two weeks."
"Hey, Jin!"
Kazu's mouth fell open. "What the heck are you saying?! If you say that to a 13 year old kid, they'd run away! Not come home!" His attention went back to the camera. "Eva! Ignore what he just said! We want you back, so we'll all fight him if he insists on grounding you!"
Jin crossed his arms. "Jokes aside-"
"T-That was a joke?!"
"Use your abilities wisely." His gaze was a serious one. "Our counterparts may not take to your abilities kindly. I don't like asking you to refrain yourself, but this time, I think it's for the best that you do. We can't help you if something were to happen because of it, so make sure you keep it hidden unless you absolutely need it."
"I forgot about that..." Hiro blinked. "But Jin, you really sounded like a mom just now."
"Especially with the grounding thing." Ami chuckled. "His overprotective older brother side is showing."
"Older brother? Don't you mean boyfr-"
"All that aside," Said boy cut off. "Be sure to come back soon. We'll all be counting on your return."
"We'd love to hear all about your adventure!" Ban added.
"Bring back some goodies if you can!" Jessica piped in.
Then, there was the sound of a door opening. "What are you all...? Oh! Is everyone recording a message for Eva-tan?! I want to join in!"
"J-Jin, go get the camera!"
"Already on it." He ran over, blocking the old man's view of the device. Now, all they could see was his face. "This video is already long, so I'll just say one last thing. I don't know if you still need to hear this, but you've always been and always will be human first, okay? Don't forget that no matter what anyone says. See you soon, Eva."
The hologram depleted when the message finished. By then, any form of doubt they had for her had already gone away. She sat there, staring blankly at her CCM.
Eventually, the black and white haired boy was the one who first made a move. He held out a hand to her. "Get up. You won't get home if you don't."
She looked up at his hand. "Get home...?"
"None of us here are your friends. That's been made clear too many times." He stated bluntly. "If you want to go and see your friends again, you need to get up and fight. The longer you stay down there, the longer you're making them wait for you."
Her gaze kept flickering between his expression and his outstretched hand. Finally, she nodded and let him pull her up. He was right. She needed to get back home. She needed to taste Ban's mother's curry, to go shopping with the girls, to take another look at each of their unique LBXs, to teach them more about customization... She needed to see him again.
As they all began to pack up, Professor Yamano approached the children. "Ban. Hiro. I have something to give to you." He held out two new machines. "New models. Ban's LBX will be Odin Mk2. And for Hiro, Achilles D9. I'm sure they'll be a great help for you both."
Their eyes glimmered with hope and excitement for the battle ahead. With this, they will definitely win.