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Chapter 24 - Volume 2 - chapter 6

The ground trembles. The stadium shifts — metallic walls rise from below, enclosing the four teams in separate sectors. Spotlights flicker overhead, casting shadows on the cracked arena floor. A mechanical hum grows louder, like something massive is awakening beneath.

MINNIE (voice crisp, excited): "Alright~ Now that everyone's been sorted… here are your team lineups!"

Team A

RAPHAEL

ALI

LUCAS

MYLES

ASH

ZAYDEN

Ali (smiling politely): "Captain, I hope we can work well together."

Myles (grinning at Lucas): "Bro, we're so lucky to get the captain!"

Lucas: "Yeah! But… not so lucky with Luca gone."

Luca (patting his brother's shoulder reassuringly): "It's okay, bro. I'll do my best on my side!"

---

Meanwhile…

Ash (pouting): "Aww, Armin… we're not on the same team?"

Armin (laughs softly): "Haha, it's fine. Maybe next round."

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Team B

YUUTO

RENJI

ZHANG HAO

REN

SAMUEL

DANIEL

Nike & Wonbin (grinning, holding Samuel's shoulders): "Yo! Our boy's with the MVPs. Let the midfielder SHINE!"

Samuel (blushing): "Hey! That's embarrassing!"

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Team C

WONBIN

ASAHI

ETHAN

SHAM

DION

MIKA

Mika (dramatic sigh): "I wanted to be on the captain's team…"

DION (calmly): "It's okay. I'm here with you."

Mika (startled): "Oh wow—! You're good at surprises, huh?"

Dion (stone-faced): "...No."

Wonbin (sneaking up behind them): "BOO!!"

Mika: "AHH!! Bro, what the heck?!"

Wonbin (snickering): "Hehehe~"

---

Team D

MILES

ERIC

ARMIN

NIKE

LUCA

LEON

Nike (fist-bumping Leon and Armin): "Let's wreck those robots!"

Armin: "Heck yeah!"

Leon: "I'm all in!"

Luca (smiling): "Let's do our best together."

Eric (grinning at Luca): "Of course. We've got the youngest player — we'll protect him, right?"

Armin & Nike: "Definitely!"

---

MINNIE: "And those are your official teams! NO COMPLAINTS ALLOWED!"

Everyone (in unison): "We weren't gonna complain anyway!"

---

Suddenly...

A low growl echoes beneath the arena. Giant metal doors open one by one. The crowd gasps. From the shadows, four massive robots stomp forward — each unique in design.

One floats with rotating energy blades.

One has massive armor and a built-in cannon.

Another moves like liquid metal — fast and unstable.

The last is smaller… but emits a strange, unreadable signal.

MINNIE (nervous glitch in her voice): "Introducing… your opponents. Level X-Class Battle Droids. Custom-designed for extreme stress tests."

(Raphael narrows his eyes.)

RAPHAEL (murmuring): "Something's not right… That last one… it's not part of the original system."

(Minnie freezes for a moment.)

MINNIE (voice static): "...Launching combat simulation in 3… 2… 1… GO!"

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(Metal clashes. Sparks fly. Each team rushes into formation. But beneath the chaos, a faint signal pulses from the rogue robot — something is watching…

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TO BE CONTINUED…

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