Hi~ Been a while!
Chapter 35 is here!
Thanks for the reviews, by the way.
Pikapikaluv: There is actually four left. Aki was
defeated by Korin and was left half-dead in Choice
while Jecht was too defeated by Korin[F] there.
Enjoy this chapter :)
'Thoughts'
"Talking"
Others' thoughts/skill names/spells/dreams/flashbacks
Inner Voice
Chapter 35 Female self appears!
Okay, my sanity is slowly slipping from me… Magic,
flames that comes from the person's dying will, I
can handle that. But WHY GOD DAMN IT IS MY FEMALE
SELF RIGHT IN FRONT ME?-!-?-!
This is my new life…
Xxx Normal POV xxx
"This is no biggie to the extreme!" Ryohei shouted, "It doesn't hurt at all!"
"Shut up." Korin sighed as he slapped another medical pad on his back, him shouting again that it doesn't hurt to the extreme.
"Onii-chan, you're trying too hard…" Kyoko said.
"You do realise that you have an artefact, right?" Korin stated, "Why don't you just use it? By the way, what is your artefact anyway?"
"Ah! It's some kind of white glove with pink ribbons by… the… side…" She then clammed up with a small blush, remembering what she did to get the tool.
"Ah, what's the matter, Kyoko?" Ryohei asked.
"Ah! I-It's nothing!" Kyoko immediately tells her brother.
"What can it do?" Korin asked on.
"It can heal… But not completely…"
"Good enough." The teen tells her, "Heal up your brother as much as you can." He stood up just as he hear Kyoko chanted Adeat and walked off, heading to the newest addition to their group, more exact, the female version of him who was sitting at the corner.
"Yo." Korin greeted her, who looked up at him. No matter how many times he sees it, he still can't believe that she is right there. After the event at the rental shop, they decided to go into the forest, where Tsuna first came from the past. It was there that they start to heal and patch up all the injured. Along the way, Korin found out that Kairi, his female self, assisted Gamma and the other two to find Yuni, just as they saw Yuni get taken away.
"H-Hi…" She stuttered before looking at the ground again.
"Geez…" Korin sighed, "How are you here? For I know, it should be impossible to travel between parallel worlds."
"Actually, I have no clue…" Kairi tells him, "I was just reading my novel in my room and this purple bazooka came in through the window hits me. The next thing I knew… I was in the Assassino main headquarters in Italy. If it wasn't for the female Nate, I wouldn't know about the Millefiore and Byakuran."
"Nate? Oh, you mean Nanami-san." Korin realised, "So… you were from a parallel world that the possibility of all of us born the opposite gender?"
"Yup, although I can't believe that I saw the female Riku." She stated, "She is as beautiful as he is handsome…"
"…You like him?"
"W-What?-! N-No!" She shook her head vigorously with her face red as a tomato, "I mean… he is good-looking and all…"
"Never mind that." Korin sighed, knowing that she and he are the same, and that he too has a crush on Mikuri, not that he would admit it yet, "So, how are the rest of the Knights and the Guardians from your world?"
"They're okay." Kairi said taking a small cute thinking pose, "Neri is a little hard to get along, her brother Kai-kun seems nice like Riku, and then there are Hakate-chan and Taki-chan, oh even our leader, Hime-chan is rather fun to be with, when she is not tripping over her feet most of the time."
"Hime-chan? Oh, the female Tsuna." Korin realised.
"Tsunahime." Kairi stated, "She is also known as-."
"Dame-Tsuna?" Korin stated. The two stopped, looked at each other before laughing, "Our worlds are much alike! Except for the gender part."
"That's true." She giggled.
"Oi," They looked over to them, Tsuna waving to them, "can you guys come here for the briefing?"
"Sure." Korin stated, Kairi coming afterwards.
"Looks like you are aching to say something." Gamma said to Gokudera, who was staring at him.
"I was just surprised you were still alive." The bomber stated.
"I could say the same for you." The electric warrior stated, "I'm quite staggered."
"What's with the brats?" Tazaru grumbled as Lambo played with his face, "Everywhere I look brats, brats and brats! Hard to believe that Millefiore was being troubled by a bunch of brats." He then looked over to Irie lying on the floor, "And what's more, I'm happy to meet you again, traitor of the Melone base."
"W-Wh- How are you any different?-!" Irie cried, "It's not like ever thought I'd be seeing you savage people again!"
"What did you just say?-!" Nosaru shouted, "Are you trying to provoke my brother?-!"
"A-Are you going to be violent…"
"Stop it, Nosaru!" Yuni said angrily, "Be friendly with everyone."
"H-Hime-sama!" Nosaru suddenly changed his tone, "We are being friendly! See?" He lifted I-pin up by her legs, "Great friends!"
"Suminasen, Irie-san."
"N-No, I was a bit harsh too…" Irie said.
"By the way," Gamma said, gesturing to Olivia sitting at the end next to Norio and Lal, "Who are they?"
"Now that think about, I didn't saw Nurari with us at the Kawahira Rental Shop." Korin stated.
"Oh! It's the female Nuri and male Noro!" Kairi stated.
"This idiot just went the wrong the direction and we ended up walking around in circles for hours before meeting you guys here." Norio stated annoyingly.
"Shut up!" Olivia shouted.
'She got lost again?-!' Everyone thought.
"Hahaha, she is exactly like Nuri-kun!" Kairi laughed.
"Okay, first two people who is the same person from different parallel worlds, then 'magic', now yokai?" Gamma said, "What is this, a freak show circus?"
"Tell that to Ero-Ray." Korin and Kairi said at the same time, "Blame him for ruining my life in the first place."
"You guys even talked the same way." Mikuri stated.
"Really?" The two asked in unison.
"No matter how much I look, you two really looked almost identical!" Sol examined them, Kairi a little scared. "That's true." Nerio stated, "It is as if Korin create a clone and have it eat the gender pills or have it cross-dress." He then squeezed her chest, much to her horror.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?-!" She cried as she lands a kick on his family jewels, all the guys looked with sympathy as the teen fall to the ground grabbing his groin in pain.
"Nerio-nii-san…" Kasumi said worriedly. "You kind of deserve that one…" Korin said.
"Lal-san… here are some water." Yuni said as she gave Lal a glass of water.
"Thanks." Lal said, then looked at Yuni for a while, "You really do looked so much like your grandmother Luce."
"Doesn't she?" Reborn stated.
"Uncle Reborn always says that too." Yuni stated.
"Lal's familiar with Yuni's grandmother too?" Tsuna asked.
"Yuni, do you know about the birth of the Arcobaleno?" Lal asked.
"Birth of the Arcobaleno…?" Korin and Tsuna wondered.
"Yes… a fragment of the memory was passed onto me." Yuni stated.
'A fragment?'
"Luce had a… mysterious power that let her read into the future." Lal stated, "Do you have that power as well?"
"A-A p-power to read into the future?-!" Tsuna cried.
"I had it once…" The Sky Arcobaleno stated, "But lately, it has grown weaker…"
"Weaker?" Korin asked.
"However, that goes for Byakuran as well." Yuni added, "He knows it himself, that his power is weakening."
"Byakuran-san's power?" Irie asked, "You mean the power to look into the parallel worlds?"
"Yes." She stated, "Upon being sucked of energy by the power itself, he should only be able to complete one task at a time."
"There's no mistake that we were discovered at Kawahira's Agency through Byakuran's power." Reborn stated.
"Then that should mean that he should be quite worn out for a while."
"Why can't you do the things you do?" Irie asked.
"In my case…" Yuni was hesitant to say it, but she eventually stated it out, "It's due to the withering, and aging of the power."
"A-Aging?-!" Tsuna and Korin cried.
"But Yuni-chan, you're still so young!" Haru cried.
"Is your brain okay?" Nerio asked worriedly.
"From the day they were born, humans are destined to die. It's a natural process" Lal stated, Nerio, Kasumi, Sol and Mikuri all looked down, knowing that she is true from experience, "From what I recall… The Sky Arcobaleno has a short life."
"Eh?-!" Tsuna cried.
"So she can't live very long?-!" Korin cried.
"No, it means that she lived to be a runt forever." Nerio stated sarcastically, "Yes, she dies young!"
"You should really stop with the sarcasm, Nerio." Korin stated.
"The reason that Byakuran needs me so desperately lies there as well." Yuni stated, getting Tsuna's and Korin's attention, "He wants to extract the true power of the 7^3 and make it into his own as quickly as possible. That's why he is very hasty now."
"Is it something to do with his power weakening?" Korin asked, before he realised it, "Didn't you stated that the 7^3 is the very foundations of the world?"
"Yes, that's correct." Yuni nodded.
"Then… he intends to become the creator with the three cornerstones… but it should not be possible… Unless…" He looked over to Kairi, who flinched under his gaze, "I see… that's why…"
"What is it?" Reborn asked.
"I think I know why Kairi is here." Korin stated.
"That's not the main problem here!" Tsuna cried.
"But it is connected!" Korin shouted, "In order to utilise the 7^3, he too needs the two keys! One being the Vongolia Knight Rings, the other being the Mare Knight Rings; without them, the 7^3 is useless. But… all he needs are the Vongolia Knight Rings, no matter which world they are in. Kairi, do you have a red tattoo on any parts of your body?"
"Eh?" Kairi flinched, "Hm… no, I don't think so…"
"So she never met Prima…" Korin mumbled.
"What does this have to do with Kairi?" The hitman asked.
"It is obvious!" Korin stated, "The one that brought Kairi here is Byakuran!"
"Eh?-!"
"B-Byakuran?-!" Tsuna cried.
"He probably thought of her as a back-up for the Vongolia Sky Knight Ring." Reborn stated, "But such things are-"
"Impossible?" Korin interrupted, "No, not completely. Byakuran can experience as many parallel worlds as there are possibilities out there, right? There should be a world that the possibility that mages thrives in the open. If he can utilised the power of the unknown, picking her out and bring her here should be easy."
"That's true." Olivia stated, "There are countless possibilities of spells that has yet to be discovered or created, even in this time. Korin's future self didn't even scratch the surface of it when he starts to research about it."
"So in the end, Magic is the cause for it, huh?" Nerio sighed, "Even so, even if the albino found a way to utilise magic, he wouldn't be able to use it so easily."
"No, it is possible." Norio stated, "In certain areas in the world, there are gardens where magic flows out from the planet, something like geysers spewing out magic energy instead of heated underground water. If he goes there, even a novice can use the most complex of spells."
"Adonis used to be one of the elites in the Assassino; getting information on such things is nothing to him." Olivia stated
"Then… I'm here because of Byakuran…?" Kairi stated.
"In think the fact that you appeared at the Assassino main HQ is that my future self realised this." Korin stated, "With the 7^3 all messed up, interference with other parallel worlds are possible so he used that chance to alter the course in which Byakuran will bring the only me in the parallel world that has the Vongolia Sky Knight to the Assassino, where she could be trained and prepare to fight him."
"But I can't really use my flame with my ring chained up…" Kairi stated her showing her ring all chained up.
"The chain is probably the safety procedure," Korin tells her, "since it would be disastrous if there are two of the same keys in one world."
"I don't know what Byakuran intends to do right now…" Yuni stated, "Now with this girl here, there's no mistake that he'll do anything in order to capture me and her."
"W-What?-!" Tsuna cried.
"I have no idea… So that's why he was so desperate…" Irie sighed.
"How do you know that Byakuran's power is weakening, along with yours?" Reborn asked.
"I just know." Yuni stated, "It's hard to explain but… he and I, we are alike… Sawada-san and Korin-san are similar to him and Adonis in a way too."
"What?-! Me and Byakuran, alike?-!" Tsuna cried.
"But for Korin and Adonis to be similar is kind of true." Olivia stated, "After all, those two were fellow colleagues once."
"And… there is one thing I must tell you all." Yuni said, "I will no longer run."
"Eh?-!" Tsuna cried, "Y-You can't give up! We've gotten this far!"
"It's not that I'm giving up." Yuni stated.
"Eh?"
"It is the one thing I have known for certain, for a long time," She added, "that this place would serve as the battle field for the final battle with Byakuran, that come tomorrow, dawn will signify the start of a battle that will end it all."
"At dawn…" Korin repeated.
"A battle that will end it all?" Kairi asked.
"Hai." Yuni nodded, "Byakuran feels the pressure. He is gambling everything on this last battle."
"You're certain that your premonition is unmistaken?" Lal asked.
Yuni nodded.
"Can you… foresee the outcome?" Irie asked.
"No… what I have been able to see until now, is a scenery just like this, in which I am talking to you all," Yuni said, "And this forest, in which the battle begins. That is all."
"W-What?-! You saw this scenery?-!" Tsuna cried.
"A-Ano… when this fight is over…" Haru asked, "Will we be able to return to our world again?"
Yuni smiled at them, and nodded, "Although Byakuran has the knowledge to share his powers with himself across different parallel worlds, if you think about it, logically it also means that all of these worlds are interconnected, like Korin-san stated, and there is only one solid being."
"One solid being?" Tsuna asked.
"Stop! With Korin-kun talking about that before, I'm a little confused…" Kasumi stated with her head smoking.
"Same here, what are you talking about?" Sol asked.
"There they are… the dummy-duo…" Nerio sighed.
"Basically, all the Byakuran in the other parallel worlds are actually one person, Byakuran." Korin explained, "If I put it simply, think of a water pump. The pump is situated in the middle, while the holes connecting to the pump through the pipe are a distance away from the pump. If you turned on the pump, water will splash out from the hole but the water is from the pump alone. In the same way, the way Byakuran experience the other parallel worlds is just like water from a pump to the other holes, it all originated in one point."
"Oh, I get it." Sol and Kasumi said.
"You could be a teacher in the future!" Nerio said.
"That could be a choice worth for you." Reborn said.
"E-Eto…" They turned to see Kairi, whose eyes became all swirly, "I don't understand any of that…"
"Oh great… my female counterpart's an idiot…" Korin mumbled.
"So that means that if we took down one, the rest will follow?" Mikuri asked.
"That's right." Yuni said, "If we defeat the Byakuran in this world, then the Byakuran in each parallel world will cease to exist. You will be able to return to a peaceful past, completely free of fear."
"H-Honto?-!" Mikuri asked excitedly, as the girls all cheered.
"It means that our greatest crisis could also be our greatest chance." Reborn stated.
"If we win this battle…" Tsuna clenched his fist, "we'll finally be able to return to the past…!"
"IF we win, that is." Lal stated.
"W-What?-! Don't say it like that!" The brunette cried.
"Though we've been able to scrape through with our boxes until now, there's no mistaking that they'll have more up their sleeves." Reborn stated, "It's going to be a tough battle."
"Not to mention that they still have two Knights with them," Olivia said, "both of them have a magic booster each, and most probably an artefact."
"HIIIEEEE!-! B-But… by dawn… AH! Now that I think about it; that hardly gives us any time!" The brunette cried, "We haven't even got a plan!"
"Pretty late to realise that now, baka." Reborn stated, "No wonder you are Dame-Tsuna."
"HIIIIEEEE!-! What now?-!"
"What's with him?" Nosaru asked, with Tazaru looking at the teen with rather surprised expression.
"It's hard to believe he's the same guy that rescued Hime…" Gamma stated, "What's with him?"
"Juudaime is just explaining the situation to us very straight-forwardly!" Gokudera shouted.
"That or he is just panicking." Nerio said.
"Hm…" Gamma thought for moment, "Then who could be better suited to think about a war plan than the former captain of the Melone base, Irie Shouichi?"
"Eh?-! M-Me?-!" Irie cried.
"Quit kidding around!" Gokudera shouted, "The one that makes the decisions is Juudaime!"
"Gokudera-kun is right." Irie said, "I have no right after making such a blunder in the Choice game. This battle should be in the hands of the Vongolia Boss, Sawada Tsunayoshi."
"I-I told you!" Tsuna cried, "I'm not the boss! I never even said once that I'd be the boss!"
"Baka, you think you can back out now?" Reborn stated, his Leon-pistol out, "Want me to crack your head open?"
"HIIEEEE!-! Matte matte matte matte! Time out!"
"Yare yare, what a perplexing man… the Vongolia Tenth is really beyond me…" Gamma sighed.
"I wouldn't expect someone who met him a few hours ago to understand him! Juudaime is a deep, deep man!" Gokudera shouted.
Kairi let out a small giggle, "I knew it… they even acted like them too…"
"If you don't make a decision, I will." Korin tells him, "Boss, make your choice, do you want Irie to help you?"
"D-Don't call me that, Korin-san!" Tsuna cried, "Eto… t-then, will you help me plan a strategy, Shouichi-kun? Please lend me your strength!"
"Sure, if it's the boss' orders, I'll happily oblige." Irie stated, as Korin gave the brunette a thumbs-up, "Firstly, we need to get a grasp of our fighting capacity. The ones who won't be able to fight due to the previous battle are: Gokudera-kun and Basil-kun, Lal Mirch, Ryohei-kun, Nosaru and Tazaru, Sol and Mikuri."
"What?-!"
"No way!-!"
"We can still fight!"
"This is barely a scrape!"
"Shut up." Reborn said as he fired a shot into the air, calming the angry fighters.
"Ah-hahahaha…" Irie laughed nervously, "Next, let's count how many box weapons we have that are still intact."
"Oi, that Delfino di Pioggia I saw in the last battle, whose was it?" Gamma asked.
"Ah, that would be my Alfin…" Basil spoke up.
"Has it been brain-coated with the other box weapons?"
"Brain-coated?"
"Don't tell me you don't know about it… it's an ability only possible with the high intelligence level of the Delfino di Pioggia." Gamma explained, "It also known as the 'Inter-Box combination system'. The Delfino di Pioggia is able to interconnect ally boxes with its high level of operating knowledge and brainwaves. When the boxes are in perfect formation, they are able to launch secret combination attacks."
"T-That's right! I'd forgotten about that!" Irie cried.
"I remember reading about that in the self-help book." Basil stated.
"A combination special attack…" Tsuna said, "That sounds… impressive!"
"There's no way we're not using this, everyone, open your boxes." Gamma tells them.
"You don't have to tell me twice." Nerio said, opening his box, "Rave!"
"Uri!"
"Shin!"
"Zamusa!"
"Alfin!"
"Colulu, Widget!"
"Mukurowl."
"Gyuudon!"
"Ame."
"Kangaryuu!"
"Christ!"
"Na-Tsu."
"Rin-Ko."
Kairi looked at the display of box weapons in awe, "So cool~"
"It's a spectacle seeing them all together!" Irie stated.
"We're missing Yamamoto-san's, Adhira's, Materro-san's and Hibari-san's but it still looks amazing." Korin stated, "We might be able to win this."
"All that's left is to get Delfino di Pioggia to do the brain-coating and we're good to go." Gamma stated.
"Hai," Basil nodded, "then here goes-."
"Oi! Na-Tsu!" They turned to see Na-Tsu cowering behind his master, "Come on… what's wrong with you, outside of battle mode he's such a scaredy-cat…"
"That's true…" Korin sighed, as he looked down on his lap with Rin-Ko napping on him, "Whenever this fella is not fighting, he just became really lazy."
With that, Uri suddenly pounced on the lion cub, and the two just start wrestling over each other, Uri winning.
"Oi, Uri! Show some respect!" Gokudera shouted.
"Oh boy…" Nerio sighed.
"Now now, you two…" Mikuri tries to calm the two down.
"Na-Tsu is just like Dame-Tsuna." Reborn said.
Na-Tsu then just ran and jumped onto Tsuna, along with Uri and then ends up with a tussle on the brunette's head. "That's not good…" Korin nervously laughed, Rin-Ko opened one eye to look at the crazy situation, before returning to his napping.
"A-Anyway! Let's try to aim for a good battle plan with this battle capacity, Tsunayoshi-kun!" Irie cried, but the brunette was still in the middle of the feline brawl on his head and didn't hear him, "Tsunayoshi…-kun? Tsunayoshi-kun!"
"A-Ah, h-hai!"
"Gao…"
"What's with this school festival atmosphere?" Gamma sighed, "It's nearly shocking that this group of brats managed to come survive up till now."
"It's because of that." Yuni tells him, "It is due to this brightness that they are able to make it this far."
"That's true…" Olivia stated, looking at the group, where she thought back to many years ago, where she and Norio met Ray and his group of young new Assassino recruits, the same group along with their friends all arguing and having fun even within a mission, "One can't walked through the darkness without the light… after all."
"Yuni, I'm giving this to you." Lal said as she passed her Colonnello's pacifier that she has been keeping.
"Ah! That reminds me!" Norio said, "We should probably be sure of the kind of artefacts we have!"
"Artefacts?" Ryohei asked.
"Come to think about, Olivia-san did say something about it." Tsuna stated.
"But what are artefacts?" Gokudera asked.
"I'm a bit curious too."
"I think it is easier to show you." Olivia tells them, "Korin, if you may?"
"With or without the outfit?"
"The outfit should be better."
"Okay then." Korin stood up, as he gestured the knights along with Chrome, Haru and Kyoko, "Adeat." With that, everyone changed into their respective pactio clothes, Kyoko being in a full nurse outfit with her gloves and Haru in a magical girl outfit with a white staff with a yellow circle at the top and a red orb in the middle.
"Oh! Extreme costume change!" Ryohei shouted.
"K-Kyoko-chan?" Tsuna stuttered.
"This is what an artefact is." Korin tells them, lifting his sword for them to see, "For those who don't know, they are tools given to those who made a contract with a mage, magic weapons that helped the contractor to fight."
"Oh! Nice!" Gamma stated.
"Oi! Crazy Tattoo!" Gokudera shouted, "Why do you have this weapon and not Juudaime! Give him one now!"
"You really want to know how to get this?" Korin asked.
"Of course! Juudaime deserved the best! Not you!"
"Okay…" Korin sighed, "Well… you have to kiss the mage, got it? Kiss."
…
…
…
…
…
"WHAT?-!-?-!-?-!"
"T-Then… all of you kissed?" Tsuna asked, them nodded with a blush.
"Who kissed her?-! Who kissed Kyoko?-!" Ryohei shouted, "I'm going to beat him up to the extreme!"
"M-Matte Onii-san!" Kyoko cried.
"That will be Tsuna." Korin tells him.
"W-Wait a minute, you mean that time where Haru and Kyoko-chan…" Tsuna said.
"Yup, for this." Korin tells him.
"So…" They turned to see Ryohei standing up with his fist ready, "It was you… Sawada…"
"O-Onii-san…?"
"If it is you, it's okay to the extreme!"Ryohei shouted.
…
…
"Eh?"
"I full acknowledge you as my little brother, Sawada!" the boxer stated as he pats the brunette's back.
"M-M-M-M-M-M-M-Matte!" Tsuna cried, his face all red, "Y-You got it wrong!"
"T-That's right, Onii-chan!" Kyoko tells him, her face equally red, "I need this so Korin-kun helped me."
"But Tsuna-san's lips are so soft~" Haru cooed with a small blush, you can actually pink hearts flying out of her.
"Teme… you stupid woman…" Gokudera growled.
"Say, Korin, don't you have a second form for that?" Norio asked.
"Oh, you mean the Full Release?" Korin asked, "I do but it might attract Byakuran so…"
"It should be fine." Olivia tells him, "I have already placed cloaking charms around the area, so Adonis or any magic sensors can't detect us."
"O-Okay… if you say so…" Korin sighed. He got up and walked over to the end, him assuming his stance for it, "Full Release!" His sword glows as the white aura surrounds him in a white-blue flame-like aura, much to their shock. The aura then slowly changed into a black aura with orange outlines, and the aura diminished to show Korin in his Full Release outfit, which consists of a black trench coat that has shoulder plates and long end that reached to his ankles and a white T-shirt under it along with black pants and brown boots armoured with sliver metal plates that reached his knees with a silver metal knee cap.(T/N: If you are wondering why I described Korin's full release form, it just that I think I need to be more detailed with the full release form, just in case some of you don't understand from before)
"What the hell?-! Bleach?-! Tensa Zangetsu?-!" Tsuna cried.
"You watched that anime too?" Korin asked.
"Those are some flames…" Gamma mumbled.
"Gamma." Reborn said, gesturing the blonde to follow him.
After all that madness, everyone all eventually fell asleep. Gokudera was shouting at Korin on why he should give that power to Juudaime, but Korin just tells him that it doesn't work that way. When they discussed about how they should split them up, they found out that Haru's artefact is a long ranged weapon, capable to firing red energy orbs and controlling them. Korin thus made a mental note of everyone's artefact's abilities, including writing down their knowledge of the artefacts thus far.
Mikuri: Septem Stellas(Seven Stars)(Don't ask why I came out with such name); a long white bow with white wings at both ends; capable of firing large barrage of arrows, other properties unknown.
Nerio: Malum Lamina(Evil Blade); a double edged dagger with a black guard and violet handle; getting cut by this blade is equivalent of getting cut by thousands of the same dagger, also capable of extending to a short sword and summoning evil spirits to fight for you(Got the last one from Darksiders II :3).
Kasumi: Ultarius(Water Bearer); a silver ring with a blue crystal in the middle; able to summon out water from the air, able to manipulate any forms of liquid and its natural states, such as freezing water and creating ice in the air.
Sol: Sacra Grana(Sacred Beads); two Buddhist meditative bead necklace, one white and the other yellow; allows the user to manipulate the energy around him into any forms, other properties unknown too.
Chrome: Inlusio(The Illusion); a black staff with a violet orb in the end; creates solid illusions that are close to the real thing, other properties unknown.
Kyoko: Curantis(The Healer); white gloves with yellow ribbons at the sides; capable to healing wounds of any kind, but can't heal wounds that are caused by fire or poison.
Haru: Amante(The Lover)(If you are wondering, I want her artefact to reflects her affectation towards Tsuna); a white staff with a yellow circle at the end and a red orb in its middle; fires red orbs and create basic barriers.
Korin sighed at the list he written. 'Everyone's weapons are different from each other… If Irie's tactic works…'
"Can't sleep?"
He turned to see Mikuri standing next to him, him at a clearing in a forest where he can see the night sky, the crescent moon glows within million of simmering stars.
"Oh, Mikuri."
"What is that?" Mikuri asked, looking at the piece of paper in his hands, "A list?"
"A summary of the artefacts all of us have." Korin tells him.
"Oh, I see." Mikuri nodded. The two looked up in the sky, watching the stars shimmer, enjoying the natural melody of the night. Korin looked over to Mikuri, noticing her beauty that shone in the night sky. His heart starts to beat rapidly, his face heating up from just staring at her. Unknown to her, Korin actually starts to develop a crush on her. He originally thought he wouldn't start liking anyone again since his rejection with his first love and childhood friend, but this girl beside him has done it. He still thinks that it was a stupid puppy love from his childhood days so he would never admit it.
"Ne, Korin." The teen snapped out of his thoughts when Mikuri spoke up, "Do you think… that we would be able to win this battle?"
"Who knows?" Korin tells her, "Byakuran's strong, not to mention the other four real Funeral Wreaths and Adonis."
"Is that so…?" Mikuri said, turning towards the sky again.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine… just… scared…" Mikuri said, Korin noticing her hands shivering, "The whole world is at stake… you know? If we fail… the entire world, ours and Kairi's world will be doomed. So… it's just… I never did something this dangerous before!" Tears dropped down on her palms, "It's scary… so scary… I… I might die… I might never see my family again…"
"I know."
"No you don't!"
"I do."
"You never worried about your family!"
"I do worry."
"You never want people to get close to you! Never want them to know you! The real you! You… you stupid stupid stupid Korin!"
At that moment, Korin just went and hug her, her eyes widen in shock.
"You baka. I do worry about my family." Korin tells her, "I too am scared. But if I don't do this, I won't be able to face them. You're right. I never let anyone near me. I don't want them to know me. I don't want them to be scared of me. But…" He looked at her in her eyes, "I won't die, and I won't get defeated by anyone. And I promise you, I will protect you, I'll never let you die, let you get hurt," he held her hand, "I'll never let go of your hand. I'll be with you all the way; I'll be your light, Mikuri."
"K-Korin…" Mikuri stuttered, she is mesmerised by his beautiful brown eyes. Same as Korin, him being mesmerised by her beautiful blue eyes. Without knowing, the two just slowly inched towards each other, their eyelids slowly closed as they lips are now few inches away.
And just when they are about to touch…
"Ah! Mikuri-chan! There you are!" Kyoko called out from behind, causing the two immediately separate with burning faces, "Eh? D…Did I interrupted something?"(T/N: You sure did.)
Behind a tree, Kasumi was looking at the scene with great interest with Kairi. "Oh… They were so close~!" Kasumi whined.
"So they have that kind of relationship?" Kairi asked with a small blush.
"By the way, Kairi-chan." Kasumi looked at the parallel world girl, "Is my other self cool?"
"Oh, Kai-kun? He is nice and cheerful, like you but he is rather 'height challenged'." She tells her.
"So, he is short?" Kasumi asked.
"Yup." Kairi tells her. She then looked at the girl for a moment, "I can't take it!" Kairi cried as she went and hugged the rain knight like a plushie, "You're too cute!"
"A-Ah! K-Kairi-chan!"
"Why do you have to be so cute~ You and Kai both are too cute~"
Dawn came, and with Byakuran's orders, the four remaining Funeral Wreaths all advanced towards Yuni. Apparently, when Torikabuto capture Yuni, he has left some left kind of powder on her that allows them to track her down and pin-point her location to the forest. With their strategy of divide and conquer, they raced towards the girl.
The first is currently Zakuro, who is rocketing through the trees. 'Heheh, fools, I'm taking first kill.' He thought. At that moment a cloud centipede came out and wrapped and tied him down, which is followed by two black lighting wolves that blast right its side along with two storm blasts right through him, leaving huge holes in him.
In front of him, stood four people, Gamma, Lal, Mikuri and Gokudera who is tied to the trunk for support.
'Did we get him?' Lal thought.
'He was a tough one…' Gokudera thought.
'Bull's eye.' Gamma thought.
'He's down.' Mikuri thought.
"Ha." Zakuro laughed, despite coughing out blood, as he ignited his ring, "I'm on a different level than Daisy and Torikabuto, you imbeciles!" He inserts his ring into the white box in his chest, a huge sphere of storm flames ignites from the forest, so big that it can be seen from Yuni's end, where Tsuna, Korin, Kairi, Fuuta, Irie, Reborn, Kyoko, Haru and Yuni are situated.
"Ah! There's an explosion over there!" Tsuna cried, "It's where Gokudera-kun, Konoe-san, Lal and Gamma should be at!"
"Those guys, sure hope they manage to take down the enemy in one blow." Reborn stated.
"Lal is sick, Gokudera-kun is injured to the point where he shouldn't be able to move much and Mikuri-san has strained her right leg." Irie stated, "If the fight extends for too long, it'll be dangerous…"
"I see…" Korin mumbled. The brunette looked over at the direction of the blast, thinking back to last night's planning.
Xx flashback last night xx
"We have an idea of the direction they'll probably attack from thanks to Yuni." Irie tells them, "All we need to do is decide on a pivotal point which we'll set up defence."
"I'll do the honours," Gamma tells him, "Even if the enemy has read through the moves of the Nero Volpe, we still have the secret code to use. There's nothing to worry about."
"I'm going too!" Gokudera shouted. "Me too!" Mikuri cried.
"Eh?-! But the both of you are hurt, Gokudera-kun, Konoe-san!" Tsuna cried.
"Don't worry, this is nothing!" Gokudera tells his boss, "I'm perky compared to the others!"
"Besides, I only sprained by leg." Mikuri stated, "I can still fight!"
"Oi, you can hardly stand up straight." Gamma tells Gokudera, "Don't try and tough it out. They took a lash at your back, right? That's pretty critical."
"Shut up!" Gokudera shouted, "My fighting spirit that I dedicated to the tenth is nothing like yours!"
"What?"
"I messed up at Choice too!" Gokudera shouted, "If I don't do something about it, I fail as Juudaime's right-hand man!"
"Gokudera-kun…" Tsuna said in shock.
"I'll go too." Lal stated.
"No way! L-Lal too?-!"
"Even if I can't move much," She tells him, "I can still put up a wall of defence for Gokudera and Mikuri. Don't worry, Korin. I'll protect your girlfriend for you."
"Ah, thanks La- Wa- she's not my girlfriend!" Korin cried.
"Just you watch, Juudaime!" Gokudera tells the brunette, "We'll defend the pride of Vongolia with all we've got!"
"You can't go Gokudera-kun."
"Eh? Juudaime?"
"I won't allow that!"
Xx flashback over xx
Back to Gokudera's group, they are getting bombarded with huge gusts of wind from the Open Carnage Box's opening process. "It's the Open Carnage Box!" Mikuri cried.
"That creature… It's emitting flames from the box embedded in its chest!" Lal cried.
"Let us see then…" Gamma mumbled, "What's next, another insect, reptile humanoid?"
"Idjit, you fools."
"Eh?-!"
"Insects, animals? I'm nothing like Daisy or Torikabuto!"
"W-What?-!" Gokudera cried, as what stood in front of them is beyond what the other three humanoids are like. What Zakuro has transformed into is a huge red reptile-like humanoid with large claws and feet, with storm flames bursting out of his shoulders and his shirt torn and pants ripped by the legs along with a large red tail.
"What on earth is that?-!" Mikuri cried.
"It's enormous compared to the others!-!" Lal cried, "And it got claws and a tail…!"
"Calling it a lizard would be an understatement." Gamma stated, "But I thought all box weapons are modelled after an animal that lived on the earth at one time!-!"
"You got that right!" Zakuro shouted, "It's true that my box weapon stems from an animal that lived on this earth. But it is one that terrorized the plains 65 million years ago!"
"6-65 million years ago?-!" Gamma cried.
"B-But that would mean…" Mikuri stuttered.
"A dinosaur?-!" Gokudera cried.
"That's right…" Zakuro sniggered, "With the Millefiore's level of science, we succeeded in taking the DNA and fusing a non-existing creature with the box weapons!"
"T-That's impossible!" Gokudera cried.
"Now then, sit back and enjoy the overwhelming power of the !" With that, Zakuro just dashed forward, as he disappears from view.
"H-He disappeared…" Mikuri said in shock, just as Zakuro appeared right in front of them and gave Gamma a strong fist to his chin, sending back along with his two black foxes, "Gamma!" Gokudera cried.
"Why you!-!" Lal opened fired her gun(?), the bullets seems to be not affecting the dino-humanoid, "What's this? These bullets are about as damaging as drops of rain." Zakuro laughed.
"I-It's not working?-!" Lal cried.
"What a joke, Idjit!" He flew over and gave a punch at the military woman, who has her centipede barrier up but it was not strong enough to block the fist and was sends back with a many bones broken like twigs.
"Lal!" Gokudera cried, "Damn it!" He fired a storm blast at the storm dino-humanoid, who just easily blocked it the blast with one hand, "Blow away!"
"Oi oi…" Zakuro snared at him, "It almost felt like a refreshing shower."
"What?-!"
"Then take on two!" Mikuri shouted as she fired another storm blast alongside the bomber, the blast doubled but it still have no effect on Zakuro.
"Why don't you quit playing and show me you're Vongolia Box already?"
"Don't need to be told by you." Gokudera spat, "Let's go, Uri!"
"Meow!" The cat lands on Gokudera's Storm Arrow.
"Shin!" Mikuri cried out, her bird circles above the two of them.
"Cambio Forma!"
Shin glows brightly as he flew right down as a flying fireball, just as Uri gave a meow as he too glows and merged with their masters' weapons. Their weapon glows brightly, the symbol of the Storm Guardian and the Storm Knight appears on their weapons.
"What now…?" Zakuro asked.
Lal slowly got up when the light shone, noticing Mikuri's and Gokudera's new weapons, 'T-That is… of course… that's the weapon that was used by the first generation Vongolia Storm duo… the childhood friend of Vongolia Primo and the princess of an eastern land. It was said that Knight Primo met the princess during his time in the Assassino as one of his targets offered by the client. She has unknowingly managed to capture his heart and spared her, before meeting her again in Italy where she became the Storm Knight.'
'Just like Korin's and Mikuri's situation… huh? She and the first Storm Guardian assisted in the creation of the vigilante group with Vongolia Primo that became the Vongolia. They were said to wield a gun that they carried like a second arm, but whenever they are send by the orders of the Primo's, they used the weapons that were given to them by the two skies themselves and never failed.'
'And those weapons are…' the glow from their weapons diminished, showing Gokudera with a long bone bow with a metal plate covering his hand that has an 'I' in the middle, four flaming metal circles ignites on its side; and showing Mikuri in a long crossbow with the handle chained to her wrist, an eagle's head at its tip, 'Known as the raging storm that rips through the battlefield, G's Archery and M's Marksmen!'
"Ho…? So this is the Vongolia Box." Zakuro said, still unfazed and his hand still not moving and blocking the blasts with ease, "I've got it hand it to you that the power is definitely stronger than before, but against my dinosaur skin, it feels like a cold shower that turned lukewarm. Now, wanna die?"
"Tch…" Gokudera clicked his tongue as he remembers his declaration to the brunette.
Xx flashback last night, continued xx
"No! I won't allow it!" Tsuna cried.
"W-What do you mean, you won't allow it, Juudaime?-!" Gokudera cried.
"You're always going on being my right arm, when I couldn't care less about a right arm or Vongolia's pride…" Tsuna stated, "I don't want you to gamble your life on something so insignificant!"
Gokudera was taken back by his boss' words, but then he said, "Suminasen, but I can't follow that order!" Everyone was shocked, that the loyal dog has barked back at the brunette. Even Korin was shocked. "Oh, this is the first time Gokudera defied Tsuna." Reborn stated. Gokudera looked at the hitman, confused, then looked back at Tsuna was freaked out along with Na-Tsu, who is hiding behind his master.
"N-No! That's not what I mean!" Gokudera quickly tells him, "What I want to say is that even though they are words that I've said before, I mean them in a different way."
"A different way?" Tsuna asked.
"Even now, I aim to become your right arm, and that in itself is the proof of my existence." Gokudera stated, "But throughout the many battles we fought together, I've come to realise that the right-hand man you need is not just strong, and fearless in the face of danger. The right-hand man I aim to become right now is different from the past."
"The right-hand man of Vongolia Decimo that I aim for is…" Gokudera looked at the brunette, "one who is able to share laughter with the boss and does whatever he can to survive, for that sake!"
"Gokudera-kun…" Tsuna was startled by Gokudera's new determination, even Korin smiled at that.
Xx flashback over xx
'That means for us to defeat Byakuran, and with Juudaime and the family and I, not a soul missing…' Gokudera pulled the string on his bow. "Oh? He's storing up his power?" Zakuro wondered. 'will return to a peaceful past!' "Tornado Arrow!" He fired a storm arrow at the dino-man, the projectile spiralled by his cheek, "I-Impossible! He's shaving off the dinosaur skin!" Zakuro cried.
He immediately flew up, but to reveal hundreds of orbs of storm flames floating above him, "Go! Storm Arrow Rain!" Mikuri chanted, as the orbs changed into storm arrows and strikes at him, managing to damage his limps, even though it was only skin-deep as he managed to dodge most of it.
"Don't you dare run!" Gokudera shouted as he aimed his bow up, but then the pain from his back spikes him, causing him to stumble a bit before firing his second arrow. The time gap allow Zakuro to easily dodge the projectile, "Idjit, too slow." Zakuro laughed as he flashed under Gokudera, and knee'd him up into the air.
"Gokudera-san!" Mikuri cried as she got ready to fire her crossbow.
"Stay out of this, woman!" Zakuro back-handed her and sends her crashing beside Lal, "What was I thinking? Getting worked up against a bunch of halfwits."
"Die!" Gokudera shouted as he pulled back his bow in mid-air, "Gatling Arrow!" He fired multiple arrows at the man and stabs him on the limps with four arrows that impale him to the ground.
"You son of a bitch!" Zakuro shouted as he easily break the arrows with just a swung of his arms.
'He's crushed Gokudera's arrows with the storm flames of his body…!-!' Lal thought, 'What a creature…'
"Idjit! I'll crush you to dust!"
'That's right, get angry…' Gokudera thought, 'Go into a rage and come straight at me!'
"As if." Zakuro laughed, "You're thinking that at close range, you'll be able to shoot me down, right?"
'H-He saw right through me!'
"If I fought at full power, your arrows wouldn't be nothing against me." Zakuro taunted, "It wouldn't be fun if I fell for your trap so easily." He flashed away and appears right behind the silverrette, "And now, you'll face a pathetic death!"
'Shit! He got my back!' He tried to turn but his wound doesn't make it possible, 'I can't turn around… I won't make it… Damn it… Turn!' with that, a burst in flames from his weapons caused him to turn his weapon at the storm Funeral Wreath, 'She used the force of the flames to turn us around…' The weapon meowed proudly, 'Thanks, Uri!'
"It's still useless! Go to hell!" Zakuro shouted.
'I can do it at this distance…' Gokudera thought, 'Die!' he fired, and an huge explosion rung from the forest. As the smoke clears, what left of the area was a burned piece of lands and trees all fell or burned away to their stumps. Zakuro slowly got up, him panting like crazy. He then felt an emptiness of his right side, and then it replaced with pain that stabs him like crazy as it appears that his entire right arm is torn off. Blood is still dripping down the huge wound.
"ARRRGGGGGHHHHH!-!-! My arm!" Zakuro shouted, "Damn that brat! You bastard!"
Gokudera grunted as he aimed his weapon from where he is lying, 'The final blow…' He pulled the bow string, 'Die!'
At that moment, six round projectiles flew down and hit Gokudera, "Gokudera-san!" Mikuri cried, as she saw the bomber lying unconscious.
"For goodness sake." A girl's voice said as two figure flew down, revealing to be Salvia and Bluebell, "How pitiful, Zakuro. I got lost so I helped you out while I'm at it."
"Bluebell!"
"Looks like we got them all." Salvia sighed, before noticing Mikuri looking up at them in horror, "Oh, we missed one."
"Wait! These are MY prey!" Zakuro shouted.
"You're not as capable as Daisy, but you can still re-grow your arm." Bluebell laughed as she took off her rope, leaving her butt naked, "So I guess you're going to ask me to wait while you do that right? Right?" She threw away her rope as Salvia quickly turned away blushing, "Well I can't wait that long." She went and opens the box at her chest, a huge sphere of rain flames erupted from her and she transformed into a mermaid with a long blue tail with some scales on her shoulders and head.
"I'm still embarrassed for that indecent form of yours…" Salvia mumbled with a blush, "Not that your chopping board is that interesting."
"Shut up, Sally!"
"Oh well, might as well join you." Salvia sighed as he took off his upper ropes, and he opened his box, the same phenomenon happened transforming him into a similar merman but he has an additional sharp fangs and a shark's fin on his back. His arms became a cross between a shark's flippers and his own forearm. "Let's finish off these idiots."
"Wait you fool!" Zakuro shouted, "I'm responsible for seventy percent of this!"
"Muu… Then let's attack together." Bluebell tells him.
"What?-!"
Do it, or just shut up." Salvia tells him.
"…Fine then…" Zakuro grumbled, "Though I still can't shoot at my fullest power…"
"Let's go~!" Bluebell cheered as she raised her hand in the air, a giant shell is created above her, "Bomba Ammonite!"
"Tagilo Squalo!" Salvia shouted, his arm raised and a huge rain flame ignites around it.
"GO!" The two shouted as they fired off their respective attacks.
"Magma Infiammato!" Zakuro cried out as he blasts a huge amount of storm flames along the two attacks.
'T-This isn't good!' Mikuri thought in panic, 'K-Korin…!'
A loud roar rang as the ammonite turned to stone and crumbled away. At the same time, a flash of orange and red countered the sword wave attack as well as large stingray came out and blocked the large storm blast.
"Nya?" Bluebell meowed in shock.
"What?-!" Zakuro shouted.
"Who's there?-!" Salvia shouted.
"Having a little chat, are we?" several footsteps walked towards them, revealing to be Xanxus and all the Varia behind him, "You trash."
"Xanxus!" Gokudera cried.
"Are you all right, Mikuri-san?" Chris asked as he pulled her up by her arms. Lara did the same for Gokudera.
"Go and tell Sawada," Xanxus tells them, "that the ninth's immediate independent assassination group, the Varia, beneath the flag of the Vongolia, will assist those that wear the Vongolia Rings!"
…
To be continued
つづく
There! Chapter 35 DONE!
Varia arrives! And I did a bit of fluff between Korin and
Mikuri! I want to give them some time to think about
their feelings.
With that, I thank you for reading and please Review!
Arigatou!