Kyoko and Haru had changed into their outfits and adorned their own unique weapons. Kyoko wore the pink dress made just for her, and Haru wore a yellow dress made just for her, just like Tsuna saw in his dream. The part that covered their chest was shaped like a heart, with floral frills that were fiery, too. From one side of the heart was a flower patterned line that swirled around to her back, where a rose emblem was on her back which was surrounded by fire, along with a fiery patterned line that stretched across to the emblem on her back from the other part of the heart. The bottom part of it had a fire pattern, giving it the appearance that it was burned into with the scorch marks on it. It sparkled like a wedding dress and seemed to fit them both perfectly. The dress was also like Rose's, with one leg able to stand out and the bottom part not spread out as far. It gave them enough room to spread their legs around and walk in. Or in their case, kick really hard and far with their flexibility.
"Wow, these dresses are the most beautiful dresses I have ever seen, Rose-senpai!" Haru did a twirl in her dress as she fawned over her new outfit.
"These...are just for us...oh, Rose, these are wonderful!" Kyoko said blissfully, looking down at the dance shoes she wore with Haru grabbing her crossbow.
"I'm glad you like them. I had them ordered specifically to my standards of a maiden from Talbot. Oh, he must be tired of doing all these favors for us all the time," Rose sighed.
Tsuna questioned how Talbot knew to sew dresses so well, along with crafting weapons and such. But he questioned Rose more, who was letting them handle something like the Giobbani! Without his help, no less.
"Are...you sure that you three are enough, Rose?" Tsuna asked Rose, who looked back at him directly for a moment. Then a slick smile appeared on her face that looked so innocent and gentle.
"I promise you it will be fine. There are three...I can sense them, can you not? They aren't anything near the true threat of the Giobbani, but alas, their abilities still prove to be a nuisance. However, I and my students are enough for them, I assure you. This will be training for them. I alone would be enough to stand up to this feat; however, this is a good opportunity since they came to us. I assume their only reason for showing up is to test something...So let's greet them, shall we, ladies? It's rude to keep our guests waiting!" Rosabella said cheerfully.
Kyoko put on her white gloves that went along with her shoes and Haru aimed down her crossbow.
"Let's do it!" Kyoko and Haru exclaimed as they followed Rose out the door just outside the room. Tsuna followed behind them holding two dying will pills in his hand for when he must. He doesn't care what Rose said, he will intervene if he must, but the looks Kyoko and Haru gave him before they opened the door spoke more than words could yet he still heard them. "Watch us. We promise we won't die."
Rose opened up the door, and the four of them walked down the steps to the courtyard where they saw the threat that stood before them at the other side of the courtyard. They had gotten past the Mist barrier easily and stood before them.
There were three men, all varying in size and shape with odd appearances. The smallest one on the far right was about as tall as Kyoko and Haru. He wore a black beanie along with a green tuxedo. He had green hair poking out from under his hat and sat hunchbacked like that of a frog sticking out his tongue. He looked grotesque in his appearance, with bumps on his face and gross yellow eyes along with yellowish skin. He really did resemble a frog. The one on the far left was the tallest man in the group with long purple hair like the tentacles of a squid. He had a real womanly face and purple lipstick on. He had a mirror in front of his face and was admiring his beauty apparently. He wore a black tuxedo with a purple flower pinned to his pocket. However, the one in the middle was obviously the strongest one there with a build of a brick wall. He had a very wide figure with a dog's mug face and a chin that sagged low to match. He had a buzz cut of red hair and darkish skin. His expression carried a wide face and a mean look. He wore a red tuxedo with black shades and had spiked gloves on. These three were from the Giobbani...or the circus, Tsuna thought.
"Ah, so this was the place, after all, Calamaro!" The smallest one said to the tallest one. He laughed a gross laugh that made Haru want to puke. She did a little in her mouth.
"Hmm, you're right, Ranocchio! I guess it was a beautiful idea to count on you to find this place, after all." He laughed a weird laugh that was a mix of man's voice with a woman's. This made Kyoko want to feel sick.
"Yes! We did seem to find the place that was mentioned. As I can see two people on the target list right here in front of us." The one spoke in a deep, rugged voice that made Haru and Kyoko feel a little bit scared. He pulled out a small booklet from his pocket and flipped through the pages putting his thumb on one of them. "Yup! The Vongola Decimo is right here, and...we got Maiden Primo here too. The other two girls are probably just his wenches."
"Wench? Who are you calling a wench, dog face?" Haru exclaimed, taking a step forward, but Rose stopped her. Haru remembered her super powerful senpai standing right beside them. She shouldn't lose her composure with such a dignified woman next to her...until she saw she was trembling.
"Uu...there had...to be...a-a lot of people...in one place..." Rose was shaking in fear. Apparently, she has a condition where she goes back to her Chrome-like personality when are more than four people including her was around. Kyoko, Haru, and Tsuna sighed at the woman trembling beside them. They'd just lost some respect for her.
The smallest one spoke up. "Hey! You guys are the clam heads, right? The Vongola? Make this easy for us and just die already, huehuehue," the small one snickered and stuck out his tongue at Kyoko. "Au...maybe we can keep her alive. The pink one...I like her."
"Oh, that's completely gross...I don't kiss frogs! Eww! And I'm pretty sure you wouldn't turn into a prince either way," Kyoko exclaimed as she shook from the sheer thought.
"Ouch! She has some bite, huehuehue," he laughed.
The tall one spoke again. "Now, now, that isn't beautiful at all. Not like the yellow one there." He pointed to Haru. "Marry me! Make me your beautiful swan among a lake of Sakura petals dyed with love!" He announced.
Haru was horrified by this man...woman...thing before her! Tsuna didn't know if he could take these guys seriously or not. Maybe they weren't really that bad after all.
"Oh, quit yapping. Let's not forget we have the Decimo and Primo's wife here. They won't be easy, so let's get started," the big one said.
Rose took a step forward and pointed her ring out.
"N-now...n-no bird brains such as yourselves...w-will do any killing today. R-ready girls?" Rose said shyly to Haru and Kyoko, who reluctantly nodded to her. "But before we begin...I don't suppose...y-you guys can answer my questions?" Rose said, pointing to the biggest one.
"Depends. What's the question? We ain't talking about our famiglia if that's what you're getting at, wench," the big one said, folding his arms.
"N-no...of course not...I understand...just answer me this. Which...o-one of you is the strongest?" Rose asked shyly. Her voice cracked badly and she could barely speak. The two next to the big one began laughing at her.
"Humph. Obviously me, wench. I am the strongest of the Animalia experiments," the huge one said with a smug grin.
"Ah...okay...thank you..." Rose smirked back and ignited her ring with sun flames, allowing her hair to grow longer as she grew taller. Her hair color didn't change this time, as Haru explained she wasn't using her full power. And at that point, she can choose to change it if she wills it. But her personality definitely changed. This was her Maiden Mode.
"Fiamma Persona: Sun..." Rose got into a running start position and glared at the middle one. "Sun...Freccia!"
She launched herself from the top of the steps and straightened her leg out with her high heels pointed at the big guy's face. Her leg was ignited in sun flames, and her body turned into a glowing arrow! She landed a kick straight in the big guy's face, and they both were propelled into the brick wall. She jumped off from the big one's body and landed on the ground. She back-flipped quickly between the other two guys, who stared in awe at the spectacle. She performed a handstand and eyed them both.
"Sun: Lancio...Doppio..." She kicked both with sun enhanced kicks and sent them both flying sideways to each side of the courtyard.
And all of this happened in a matter of seconds! She moved so fast! Haru and Kyoko were only so far in their training and only practiced in just their respective flames, but Haru remembered the sun flame's ability well, which was Activation. It had the power to induce and improve the efficiency of any type of activity. Thus, Rose used it to improve her overall physical prowess and speed herself up tremendously.
"Oh...shoot. I forgot to ask what the big guy's name was before I killed him. Oh well. Hey Haru, Kyoko!" Rose said happily as she looked back at Kyoko and Haru. Her sun persona caused her to be more energetic and smiley. Happiness was the catalyst for the Sun Flame.
A surprised Kyoko and Haru answered back to her.
"Y-yes...Rose-senpai..." They both said in sync.
"Those other two aren't dead. Go take care of them, won't ya, pretty ladies?" Rose said, winking. She smiled and waved at them happily. Haru and Kyoko shivered at this. Tsuna felt their training with her had been a bit traumatic for them under the past few days. All Kyoko told him about was she needed to apologize to Chrome immediately. Tsuna was reassured, though, of Rose's strength. She alone was enough for these guys. So maybe Kyoko and Haru fighting wouldn't be so bad.
"Humph...no wonder you're called the Red Rose of Death...Maiden..." The big guy was standing right behind, Rose looking down at her with blood coming down the side of his face. He quickly launched a strong right hook at Rose, who performed a split to dodge his attack, and swiped at his legs with her legs. The big guy jumped and attacked once more with both fists coming down. However, Rose back-flipped away to dodge again.
"Oh ho, I guess I should've figured you would still be alive. I was hoping to erase that ugly mug of yours from existence, hehe!" Rose said, laughing.
"Cane...the name's Cane. And you...bitch...you're about to get mauled." The guy held out his hand and showed his ring that was emitting a flame that was not too familiar to Tsuna, but recognized after feeling it. It was a flame of the Earth! The Mountain Flame!
"Oh, a flame of the Earth? I thought only the Simon Famiglia can use those...Interesting. Looks like fun. No wonder you're as fat as a mountain, after all!" Rose smirked, standing up from the ground as she dug her heel into the ground.
"I'm going to make you eat the dirt, wench..." Cane remarked to her.
"Oh, really? I guess you've had enough of the dirt yourself, dog breath?" Rose retorted as she launched herself from the ground she stood on towards her foe and sent rapid kicks to Cane's body. Cane guarded himself with the earth he manipulated from the ground to cover his arms with like a shield to withstand the blows. They were then locked in combat as the other two finally recovered from Rose's kicks.
"Oh, shit! That...really hurt! Oh! My face! I hope it's not..." The squid guy came out from the hole he was sent through and noticed a mark on his face through the mirror he pulled out from his pocket."Nooooo! I look like...Hell! Where is that Maiden?" He looked over to notice his partner fighting Rose. "Damn...he got to her first...humph...very well...back to my original target anyway; the yellow—" Before he could speak again, he noticed a bright yellow arrow get shot into his face and send him back through the hole in the ground outside the wall again.
It was Haru who already stepped onto the courtyard and aimed her crossbow down at Calamaro.
"Sun: Fiamma Colpos..." Haru said as she shot another powerful arrow from her crossbow at Calamaro, who after recovering from the last shot, quickly covered his face before the next one hit him with his hands. Haru's crossbow worked by having just one specially-made arrow in the part that holds the arrow. She then charges the arrow with dying will flames along with her bow. And as if the arrow was shot, she launched dying will arrows from the crossbow rapidly with the arrow still staying in place. Only energy was being shot from it, using the primary arrow as a catalyst for her shots, and her arrows were faster than Tsuna could see in his normal state. It was more like a machine gun than a crossbow.
"Ugh! Not my face!" Calamaro got up, and with an enraged but bruised face, looked at Haru who stood with dead eyes at him.
"Sorry...but like my senpai tried to do...I really don't like looking at you. I think I have seen garbage that looks better than you. Is that like a drag queen thing or what?" Haru asked, tilting her head to the side.
"Henhenhen...you...someone who is imperfect in every way wouldn't understand the true beauty! I redefine it; I am it! And not once...not twice...but three times today my face has been hurt...damaged...ruined!" He put his ring hand up to his face and ignited it with flames! Sun flames just like Haru's and Rose's came from it and healed his face. "You...will pay, wench!"
His long squid like hair began to grow and expand as one of his hair strands came right for Haru. Tsuna was about to pop some pills in his mouth before he saw Haru fall backward onto the ground and stick her hands out, doing a handstand like Rose did, and back-flipped while kicking the tentacle away.
"Oh...so I see. You and that other girl standing by Decimo must be the new maidens...that explains the fancy footwork you guys have. But you must be the weakest if you're using a crossbow! How tasteless!" He ignited his ring making his hair grow even longer. He was using his sun flames to increase the hair growth of his body. He then used his hair to attack. He sent more hair tentacles at Haru who crouched down, aimed down her sight, and shot more dying will arrows that burned each tentacle down that came her way.
"Okay...I've seen enough on the internet to know where those tentacles are going...so you're going to have to do a lot better than that if you want me, ugly!" She stuck out her tongue at him. He lost all his joy and self-pride with that word alone. He completely broke down.
"U...u...ugly...ugly...UGLY? How dare you call me ugly! Me! The epitome of beauty! Let's just see how long you last, bitch!" He sent more attacks her way, prompting Haru to fire rapidly, not letting one tentacle get close to her again. Now they were locked in combat that Kyoko and Tsuna focused on completely. Tsuna then felt a sudden negative presence near him. He looked to his left to notice the frog-like one crawling on the walls of the house beside him. Before Tsuna could defend himself from the attack, Kyoko pushed him to the side, and raised her leg up quickly that was coated in rain flames and drop-kicked the guy down through the porch. Tsuna was speechless as he watched Kyoko take a fighting stance.
"Be more careful, Tsuna! Don't focus on us with the enemy so close by!" Kyoko said, bopping him on the head.
"W-wha...what...was that?" Tsuna said, pointing to the huge hole in the porch. He peered down it and saw it was pretty deep. How far did she kick that guy?
"Owie," Kyoko said as she rubbed her leg. Tsuna remembered how tired her legs were. She wasn't in any condition to fight with them, yet she still managed a powerful kick like that!
"You...alright, Kyoko?" Tsuna said, putting an arm around her.
"I'm fine...but I'll be even better once I beat this toad," Kyoko said, standing back up in pain. The frog guy jumped out from the hole suddenly and attached himself to the roof. He then jumped away from Kyoko and Tsuna to the right side, away from Rose and Haru's fights.
"Oh, shoot! That hurt a lot, you know! I would've been killed by that alone...hehe...if it wasn't for this," he said as he held out his ring to reveal a swamp flame that ignited it. A surprised Kyoko looked down the hole and noticed he turned the ground into a swampy mess and softened the ground to make his fall gentle. "A smart move for a dumb toad," she thought as she glared at it.
Tsuna was surprised though. Two flames of the Earth? He thought that only the Simon famiglia held those flames. So why do these weird animal looking guys have them?
Kyoko began to walk down the steps, but Tsuna tried to stop her. Kyoko looked back to him with a serious expression.
"Please, Tsuna...do not try to help us. We want to show you our strength, and how strong we can become for you. I know we're nothing compared to Rose-senpai and you, but..." Kyoko said, looking at Rose who was toying with the big guy now it seems. She was dancing around him, dealing blows all around him that he couldn't avoid or counter while singing...She was actually enjoying this. A scary persona indeed, Kyoko and Tsuna thought.
"But...you know how I am right now, Kyoko...I was already afraid to lose anybody. Now...after that dream...you guys are even wearing the dresses I saw! I...don't want to—" Kyoko just shook her head, and then kissed Tsuna on the cheek making him shut up from the embarrassment.
"Me and Haru already told you. We don't plan on dying. And even if we were...we both know you would save us, right?" Kyoko said with a bright smile before she walked away. Tsuna looked to Haru, who was fighting with all she has. She would've done the same thing, he thought to himself. He decided to pop the pills in his mouth and go Hyper Dying Will mode anyway, which was about to get him scolded by Kyoko.
"Very well, Kyoko. I will watch yours and Haru's fight as you two wish. But I'm stepping in if I must," Tsuna said, with a determined look.
"Hehe, I wouldn't have it any other way and neither would she...Tsuna..." A shy Kyoko said, walking down the steps with a cheerful expression until her eyes met the frog guy.
"Awh! So sweet! Psych! Love? Gross, why don't you ditch that loser for a real man such as me?" Ranocchio started stretching and flexing the muscles he thought was there for Kyoko. Kyoko tried to keep herself calm, and not puke as she readied herself for her fight.
"No? Nothing at all? Oh, you're no fun! Come on girly, I mean obviously you're flexible...we could really make that work out in be—"
A dying will beam only just missed his head as a shocked Ranocchio looked slowly to the huge hole in the wall next to him. If that would've hit, it surely would've been over.
"Woah! I was just kidding! Don't kill me!" He said, shaking on the ground he fell back on.
"Oh, I don't plan on killing you. I'd rather not have to take your life for something like this!" Kyoko said with an innocent smile.
"Oh...that's good..." he said, letting out a sigh of relief.
"But I will permanently make sure you cannot hurt anybody ever again, and not move for the rest of your life...okay?" Kyoko said, raising her leg up to the level of her target's head. Her dancing shoes ignited with rain flames, and she let out another beam of dying will flames just like Rose had demonstrated before. Ranocchio hopped away on all fours, dodging Kyoko's attacks. She jumped and twirled in the air, letting out more beams, but he dodged them by hopping around.
"Hmph...a slippery one for sure..." Kyoko fell to the ground, now kicking low and rolling. Tsuna was somewhat mesmerized by this performance. Kyoko's movements were odd and calming. It was more like she was putting on a show. Her movements were like a ballerina's, with the twirls in the air and movements on the ground like she was dancing. Yet every time she let out an attack, there was a moment of seriousness that you wouldn't be able to catch. She motioned herself over to her target who was still dodging her kicks barely.
"Eep! Woah! Ack! You're really trying to hurt me!" he exclaimed as he dodged Kyoko's graceful kicks.
"That...is...the plan!" Kyoko yelled out as she dashed towards him suddenly with overwhelming speed, her foot aimed directly for his face. He closed his eyes ready to get kicked, but she didn't kick him and instead kept her foot on his face.
"W-what...are you do—"
"Rain: Lancio Calcio!" Kyoko exclaimed, smirking as she dropped the foot from his face and let her other leg come up and kick him high up into the air. Yet something odd happened to him as he started to fall back down. He was falling slowly in the air as he came back down.
The big guy noticed this during his fight as he saw his partner up in the air. "Rain flames. Her kicks and attacks were purposely not hitting him. She was slowing Ranocchio down with each attack. By getting close to those flames of hers, your body begins to feel the Rain Flame's tranquil ability and slows down tremendously. She kept her foot on his face to slow his body down completely. As for the other girl, she is using her sun flame's activation ability to accelerate her rate of fire to high speeds and let arrows out like it's nothing. What kind of maidens are y'all supposed to be?" He said to Rose who was still laughing at him.
"What kind of Maidens were you expecting? We don't just sip tea and talk about fashion now, Dog-Face," Rose smirked. "We are the maidens of Vongola! Not wenches or bitches as you like to call us. We're warriors that are even tougher than any man. Don't be too distracted by our dazzling beauty, or you might just lose your heads. Though right now, it wouldn't be a bad thing to see your head up on a pike or something!" she said maliciously, yet her expression was still so cheerful. She rose her leg up and charged up a sun flame kick to prepare for a big attack. The big guy quickly made a mountain appear from the ground to protect himself!
Haru, at the same time, also charged her bow up with Dying Will Flames and let it glow golden with sun flames. She aimed it straight down to her target and shot arrows all around him; she missed every shot, however. But still, she smiled, giving off a real confident look at her target which made him look back angrily.
But what she was really thinking was, "Oh, my, God! I can't believe I'm doing so well! I knew shooting all those pictures of Gokudera with arrows would pull off eventually!"
Meanwhile, where Gokudera was with G...
"Achoo! Damn, got a cold..." Gokudera said walking with G to Tsuna's house.
"Hmph. Or somebody is talking badly about you. Which would be most amusing," G laughed.
"What was that!?" Gokudera yelled at him.
Back to the fight, a slowed down Ranocchio was falling to the ground in slow motion and he looked around himself nervously. Kyoko raised her leg high up and charged it up with rain flames. She was going to drop kick Ranocchio hard when he got close enough. He couldn't move at all. He shot his tongue out to maybe pull himself away, but it too was slowed. Haru's arrows that were around Calamaro began to glow a bright yellow, and Calamaro was too focused attacking to notice it until late. All three of the maidens were ready to finish their fights.
"Sun: Haru's..."
"Rain: Rain..."
"Sun: Sole..."
"Big Bang!" Haru said, charging her hand with Sun flames then letting off an arrow that split into several more arrows and went towards Calamaro, who blocked the arrows with his hair, but the arrows she already shot exploded around him suddenly!
"Drop!" Kyoko yelled as she let her leg come down hard with a powerful drop kick that even though Ranocchio turned the ground to swamp to avoid damage couldn't avoid. The force of the kick alone practically crushed his face as he went through the swamp.
"Lancia!" Rose screamed out as a huge beam shaped like a lance shot from her heels and through the mountain barrier, causing an explosion!
A speechless Tsuna just watched as the maidens all back flipped towards the center and stood back to back. They all looked at each other and smiled at one another cheerfully while giving the other praise.
"Woo hoo! Haru's big bang was a success!" Haru jumped up and cheered at her own prowess.
"Did you see me, Rose-senpai? Your training really paid off! We followed your words exactly!" A cheerful Kyoko said happily.
"Hehe, of course! You two are unique in how you choose to approach a battle, but I believed that you two wouldn't die! Especially since I wouldn't be able to replace either of you if you did!" She laughed hyper-actively, making Kyoko and Haru stare at her for a moment silently. They both then refocused their attention to Tsuna.
"So? Impressed?" Kyoko said with a bright smile.
"Right, Tsuna? We can handle ourselves!" Haru said, punching the air.
Tsuna nodded and joined them in their celebration, but Rose and he both sensed a strong negative feeling. They weren't done yet as their enemies got up from their injuries... Time for round 2.
"Oh shoot, why do Boss Battles have more than one round?" Haru said with a sigh.
The Giobbani's counterattack begins! Next Chapter: Animal Transformations?!