'Thoughts'
"Talking"
Spells/Other's thoughts/Skills
[Captions]
{Korin's Voice}
Inner Voice
Chapter 22 Sky Battle Part VI; Finale
Korin stared in shock as he felt the fury of the man in front of him, never has he seen such anger and hatred all pounded together till it exploded in one person. Xanxus roared out as he fires behind him, launching him straight at Korin with him doing the same with a Shundo straight at him. With his spare hand, he ignites his Knight Flames and he punches the man straight at his face.
His flames erupts as he made contact with the skin, Xanxus roars as he pushed on while the flaming fist still remains on his face. Korin finding that not working uses the sword handle in his other hand and lands a strong hit into his guts hard.
The two stopped, Xanxus coughed out blood as he stared at him angrily, "What are you going to do with that?"
Startled, Korin leaped back as he felt the increase in flame energy from that man, "DIE!" He fired two large powerful blast straight at the teen, Korin preparing to recollect the blast into his broken sword with the flickering flame there on his head, 'Wait, this attack is…!' He took on the attack head on, not using the Zero Point Ascend Heaven and he redirected the attack up into the sky with a cry.
'If I have tried the Ascend Heaven here… I would definitely be disintegrated…'
"FUCKING DIE!-!" Xanxus shouted blasting straight towards him.
Korin raised his sword, 'With the remaining flame energy in the air, I should be…' He started to create the image of the blade he wanted to form.
What he did not expect was for Tsuna to launch out in front of him and grabbed Xanxus in a lock, the two struggling to push back each other as her flame flickers, "Tsuna, what are you?-!" Korin cried as the brunette struggles against the older male, 'Is she planning on performing Zero Point Breakthrough…?'
A bright flash filled the school, nearly blinding everyone there as Korin felt a sudden decrease in temperature around him. He then saw it, Xanxus standing there completely undamaged at first glance. But he knew something was up, with the man a bit startled and shocked by something. As the smoke slowly clears, he now knows why.
His hands are encased in ice, solid freezing ice around the hands that could bring out the Flames of Rage before.
"This is…" Tsuna muttered in shock as she looked down at her hands, cold mist radiating from her gloves instead of flames.
'She froze it…?' Korin thought.
"This is… this is impossible!-!" Xanxus cried, "It's impossible!-! How could a scum like you use the secret technique of the Vongola?-!"
Tsuna stared straight at him; she seems to have confirmation of something, "Those scars…"
"They're proof that you were once consumed by the Zero Point Breakthrough over your entire body."
"?-!"
"Flames can no longer ignite in those hands. It is over, Xanxus."
"Fufufu, HAHAHAHAHAHA, is that what you have to say?" Xanxus laughed, "Don't fuck with me!-!" He slams his hands onto his knees hard, drawing out blood, "Not yet!" He smashes his ice encased hands onto his bloody knees over and over, until the ice broke a bit, leaking out small streams of the Flames of Rage, "Hm? What do you think?"
"It's useless, Xanxus." Tsuna tells him, "If you continue doing this, you'll suffer much worse wounds than those scars inflicted by the Ninth."
'Ninth?' Korin muttered, 'So… those scars are made by the Ninth's Zero Point Breakthrough?"
"Shut the fuck up! X means ten! I am Xanxus! The man who would take the place of the Tenth boss with double X in his name, Xanxus!" He shouted, "Do you think I'll submit to a fake like you?-! The one who will win would be me!-!" He dashes towards her angrily, "Tenth Vongola boss is me!-!"
Korin hits the man hard with the back of his handle, knocking him down onto his knees, "You bastard…!"
"Casting… Forging…" Korin chanted as a misty and ghostly blade formed around the hilt, "Forging, Complete."
"Motoyama-san…" Tsuna muttered.
"Load, blade: Zero Point Breakthrough: First Edition." He stabs the astral blade right through the man, though the blade did not affect him physically. Ice then starts to spur out of the stab wound, Xanxus screamed out in pain as the ice starts to cover his entire being, "Why…? The Ninth, he…"
"Shut up!" Xanxus shouted, "Don't repeat the same thing as that senile old man!-!"
"The Ninth boss?" Korin muttered, he not understanding what he meant.
Soon, the ice encased the entire man; the ring around his neck breaks off from chain and lands into Tsuna's hands, 'This chill… not just the air, even the magic energy and the spiritual residue in the air is frozen. This ice is like a mass of negative energy… changing anything that is touched by it to near minus in whatever state…'
He felt his mind turning numb as his vision blurred for a moment, his body dropping to his knees as he struggles to keep conscious with his flames sizzling away, the brunette quickly run over to try and support him, "Guh, looks like it took a lot out of me…" He muttered before handing over the ring to Tsuna, "Here."
"Now it's our chance!"
He flinched a bit, he then saw two figures by his left, both are the Varia guardians of Lightning and Sun, Levi A Than and Lussuria, "Time to die!" The feminine man launched at him with a metal knee heading straight for him while Levi spread out his umbrellas with the electricity launching straight at them.
"Illusions." Korin said, as the figures slowly vanished.
"Muu, you saw through it very well." Mammon appears from within one of the illusion, "It looks like you don't have any energy to fight anymore."
"It's over, Mist Arcobaleno…" Korin huffed, "Xanxus has been put to sleep… there is no way of waking him up…"
"Let's see about that, shall we?"
"Eh?"
"Instead, shall we say that preparations are in good order for the ceremony that will declare our boss the successor to the next Vongola Boss." Mammon said, "Our boss will be revived once again." He opened up his hands, the six Vongola Rings all there. Sun, Lightning, Storm, Rain, Mist, Cloud, all of them is there. All that is missing is the Knight Ring.
Which is in Korin's possession.
"Do you know why they can only be rewarded to the TRUE successor of the Vongola?" Mammon questioned, "That's because the rings themselves have a hidden power."
'Hidden…?'
"After the Cradle incident, our boss was locked up frozen by the Ninth's Zero Point Breakthrough." Mammon explained, "When the ice was melted, there were seven burn marks left on the base. I'm not sure who did it, but the evidence was enough to come up with a theory."
Tsuna blinked as she heard the conversation, before she notices a glow from her palm. She looked into her hand, the completed Sky Ring now glowing the ever orange Dying Will Flame. "Exactly as I thought." Mammon said, the six rings on his hands too bursting in flames, although all of them of six different colours from a rainbow.
Korin felt the warmness on his pocket, as he took out the Knight Ring, the metal accessory bursting in golden flames. Although he is now wondering how his pants hasn't caught fire yet.
"You better watch this." Mammon floats towards the frozen Varia boss, the flames slowly melting away the ice.
"It's melting…?-!" Korin cried, 'No, it makes sense. That ice is basically the frost form of the Dying Will Flames… so it's possible for the Flames to melt the ice that can seal them… it is an endless weakness cycle…'
"That's not all." Mammon stated, "When the full set of eight Vongola Rings is passed to the successor, it's said that the rings will grant great power to the new blood of Vongola."
"To the blood… of Vongola…?" Korin muttered, he then recalled the images Dracul shown him. A knife then swipes the two rings out of their hands, "I'll be taking those." Bel smirked as he held the two flaming rings on the tip of his knife, "This ring belongs to the TRUE successor."
"You…!" Korin growled.
Xanxus falls out of the melted ice landing flat on the ground, "Welcome back, boss." Bel snickered.
"Give me… the rings…"
"Of course!" Bel smirked, "That second-rate imposter doesn't deserve this. It's rightfully yours, the true progeny of the Ninth."
"After all, this was meant to be, from the start." Mammon said as he starts inserting the rings into the chain.
"Wait!" Korin cried as he tries to get up, only to collapse under his feet with Tsuna trying to keep him on his feet.
"Hime-sama!" Gokudera cried as he and the other guardians rushes down to the field, just as Mammon was about to put the final ring in.
"Ushishishi, looks like everyone and their dog are here to witness the birth of the new boss." Bel chuckled.
"O pride of the Vongola, grant your successor, grant the young blood of Vongola with great power!" Mammon says as he places the final ring in, and Bel slips in the Sky Ring into Xanxus' middle finger. The very moment the ring fits onto his finger, the eight rings glowed brightly, "This… This is it…!"
Xanxus laughed as he got up, "Power! Limitless power is flowing through me!"
"Stop!" Korin cried, "If this carries on…!"
"This is the proof of the successor of the Vongola!-!" Xanxus shouted, "Finally… Finally it's mine!-! With this, I'll be the Vongola Tenth-"
He flinched, the ring's glows starts to fill ominous as the Knight Ring glows even brighter than the other. Golden flames erupted from it and flash a large burst of flame. Xanxus' body broke, knife wounds from all over appeared on his body and blood sprays out of them.
Xanxus coughed out black blood, as he dropped on the floor with a grunt, "Boss!" Mammon cried.
"What happened?-!" Bel cried.
"The ring… rejected Xanxus' blood…!" Tsuna realised.
"Rejected, you say?" Mammon asked, "What do you mean by that?"
"I tried to warn you… but you won't listen." Korin panted.
"…I certainly… had that coming, didn't I…" Xanxus panted, "…That's right. The Ninth and I, we aren't real father and son!"
Tsuna's flame sizzles out of existence, "Xanxus…"
"Don't fucking pity me, bitch!" The man shouted.
"The betrayal you suffered and your hatred… I understood it all…"
A familiar voice was heard across the field, Yamamoto was the first to realized who that it, "Squalo!-!"
"You're still alive… damn shark…" Xanxus panted, "You understand me… you say…? What… do you understand about me…? Don't talk as if… you know anything…"
"No, I do understand! I know everything!"
"Then say it! Just what you know about me, huh?-! Can't say it, can you?-!"
"…Back then, during our fight against the Ninth, I was still conscious, and I heard everything."
Xanxus flinched at that declaration.
"After the coup was over, I went to search more. You were born in the squatters, but you were gifted with the flames since birth. When you mother saw that flame, she became obsessed with the delusion that you were the lovechild of an affair between the Ninth and herself. Your mother didn't care about anything and brought you to meet the Ninth. He told you that you were his son and you believed his words without a doubt."
"You were adopted, and as the boss' son, you impudence grew. You used your dignity and you power as the son of the Ninth as the successor and grew to adulthood without anybody daring to challenge you. But the time come when you found out, that your mother has no connection to the Ninth, that you were taken in as the adopted son of the Ninth, and that you did not possess any blood relations to the Vongola. Worst of all, there is a law which states that without the blood of Vongola, you would never be accepted as the successor."
"That was when I first met you. I realized right away, and decided to follow that fury of yours. Half a year later, you launch the coup."
'That leads to the Cradle affair…' Korin realized as the images Dracul shown him became clear.
"That's all I know. I dug it up after the Cradle affair."
"All crap… all of it…" Xanxus growled.
"You betrayed the Ninth, yet he spared your life…" Tsuna said, "Till the end, hadn't he has always treated you with acceptance…? The Ninth didn't care about blood relations or law, he believed in you more than anyone else. The Ninth boss had always seen you as his own son."
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!-!" Xanxus shouted angrily, "Don't give me that unconditional love crap!-! What use is that shit?-! All I ever wanted was the seat of boss! I only wanted those scumbags to worship me! I only want them to praise me!"
"Ushishishi, how cool~!" Bel chuckled.
Xanxus coughed out more blood out of his mouth, the ring falls off his finger, "Xanxus-sama, we need to deliberate further whether or not you are suitable for the rings." The Cervello stated.
"Shut up! If I can't have them, nobody can! Kill them! Kill them all!-!"
"Xanxus-sama!"
"I approve! Way to go, boss!" Bel laughed.
"We're back to our original plan." Mammon said.
"As if I'll let you!" Gokudera shouted as the other guardians ready to fight them.
"You're all half dead already, aren't you? Even the two strongest people aren't in any condition to fight." Mammon said, gesturing to Hibari who just came here and Korin who was struggling to get up.
"Ushishishi, this time, I'll do it 1000% right. You're all going to die." Bel chuckled.
"Are you stupid or what? It is two against five! Who do you think the odds are against?" Gokudera asked.
"Two against one? What are you talking about? You're facing an army tens of times greater than this." Mammon stated.
"What?-!"
"All fifty members of our inborn Varia squad will be joining us here very soon."
"What did he say?-!" Ryohei cried.
"They were already on their way because after our boss' victory, we're supposed to kill the rest of the people here and settle everything." The hooded infant explained, "These are our elites, next in battle ability to us core members."
"W-Wait a minute!" The Cervello cried, "We cannot allow outsiders to interfere in the midst of the battle!"
"Huh? You think we care?" With that, Bel swipe his knife and drawing blood, killing that female judge in an instant.
'So they plan to do this from the start…!' Korin growled as he tries to get up, before he felt a pulsation in his mind.
"…He's coming…"
'This voice…!'
Three more people arrived at the field, all of them wearing the same black coats as the Varia members, "Nice timing~ We have been waiting for you guys." Bel chuckled.
"Reporting sir!" One of them panted as the other two dropped down in exhaustion and pain, "We're the only ones that are left. The entire Varia squad was wiped out!"
"What?-!" Mammon cried.
"Those guys are too strong! One of them is like a demon! He'll be here soon-"
"Bouja Reppa!-!" A familiar cry was heard as the all known black metal ball raids through the field in a fierce tempest, completely obliterating the remainder of the Varia squad. One lone figure stepped into the battlefield, the all too familiar chains in his hands, "Don't misunderstand, Vongola. I didn't come here to help." He states out, "I came here to say thanks."
"L-Lancia-san!-!" Tsuna cried.
"Lancia… you mean that Lancia…?" Mammon muttered in shock.
"Who is he?" Bel asked.
"The strongest and most feared man in Northern Italy, Lancia of the Family Massacre." Squalo said.
"So he's the one Mukuro…" Korin realized, remembering the slight sensation of chills when he heard the pineapple's message.
"Ushishishi, is that so?" Bel snickered, "In that case, let's get it over with right away~!" He tosses his knives at the brunette.
Tsuna shrieked in fear before gun shots was heard. All four knives are deflected, Korin now kneeling in front of her with his gun out with Yamamoto next to him, "We won't let you." Korin stated.
"Motoyama-san, Yamamoto!" Tsuna cried.
"Muu… if it's come to this, I'll…" Mammon took the chance and slips away, only to get caught in the illusionary fire pillar Chrome summoned. "You're not getting away."
"Hey," Hibari steps forward, a chain and weight appeared on the back of his tonfa, "We have unfinished business."
Ryohei stood forward in a ready stance, "Let's go."
"Hime-sama, are you alright?" Gokudera asked the girl worriedly.
"I-I'm fine, Gokudera-kun." Tsuna assures him.
All the guardians are now surrounding the Varia and Xanxus, all escape routes are cut off completely from them. Bel dropped down his knives as he raised his hands up in surrender, "This's it for me."
"Boss… I think we're done…" Mammon said.
"You all useless scums… Shit! Damn you! Damn all of you trash! All of you, I curse you all to death!-!" Xanxus shouted.
"Xanxus-sama," The Cervello kneels down in front of him, "Since you have been disqualified, you must forfeit the Vongola Rings."
"Cervello… it's all… gone according to… your wishes…" He panted, "You were right… are you happy now…?"
"You say words like that, but we do not have wishes nor do we predict anything." She tells him as she placed a palm on his cheek, "Everything has already been decided. Your role in this is over."
"…You… cunning… fox…"
"Thank you for doing your part." She states, as the other judge took a stand, "With this, the Ring Battles has ended. We will now announce the overall result. Since Xanxus-sama has been disqualified, the winner of the Sky Match is Sawada Tsunahime-sama."
"Therefore, the next successor to the Vongola is Sawada Tsunahime-sama and her seven guardians."
"Well done." Reborn praised, "We can go home now."
"Yeah…" Tsuna smiled.
"Reborn." Korin said out loud, "Remember my promise to you, that I'll hand over the Knight Ring after all of this is over?"
"Motoyama-san…?"
"He's not seriously considering…?-!" Basil cried.
"I've decided to break that promise."
"Eh?"
"Sorry, but I'll be Tsunahime's Knight." He stated out.
"…Are you sure? You will ready to withdraw back then." Reborn questioned.
"Yeah, but I've changed my mind." Korin tells him, "Tsunahime is a naïve crybaby who can't really do much on her own and pretty much too kind for her own good."
"Geh!"
"But she has much potential in her." He smiled, a true smile, "She is the one that Iemitsu and the Ninth has chosen, the wide and everlasting Sky. On her own, she won't make it. So I'll be her wings, her shield and sword. I wanted to see, how far will she be able to go, and I want to help her every step of the way."
Tsuna blushed brightly, her heart starts to pound hardly in her chest by his words, and his smile that wasn't faked or clinical has blinded her. This is the first time she saw him truly smile like that, and she will cherished that scene for years to come.
At that moment, Korin collapsed down onto the ground hard, startling everyone there as they all rush there to see if he's alright.
{That night, I can't remember what happened next. But all I know is that I have slept like the dead that day, and for the first time in my life, I have a pretty nice dream}
Korin stumbles as he opened his eyes, finding an unfamiliar ceiling, yet familiar at the same time. He then realizes, 'This is Tsunahime's room…' He slowly got up, finding himself indeed in the brunette's room. Speaking of the brunette, she is sleeping by the side on the bed with her arms as pillows for her head.
"Why am I…?"
"We brought you here." Reborn walked into the room from the window, leaping down to Korin's blanket covered legs, "When you collapsed back at Nami Middle, Tsuna wanted to take you to the hospital, but then Fon suggested we bring you home. But Dame-Tsuna doesn't want to leave you alone and I told her to bring you to her home instead."
"Is that so?" Korin muttered before looking at the brunette, the image of his twin sister filled that spot for a moment, 'I guess that's why I can't leave her alone yet… she is too much like Kinchi…' He then patted her on the head, ruffling her already ruffled brown hair, 'Wow… it's so soft…'
"Hm…" Tsuna stirred on her sleep before she starts to wake up from her slumber. She looked up in a daze, the teen looking down at her. She then felt a warm sensation on her head, moving her hand up to her hair.
She felt a hand.
It was Korin's hand.
He was patting her.
Her face turned bright red, letting out a yelp in fright before falling down and knocking her head on the floor hard, "Ite!-!" She cried, rubbing her sore head in pain.
"You alright?" Korin asked blinked.
"Y-Yeah…" She muttered, her face still blushing red.
"If you're up, go and change." Reborn tells her, "Mama wants to bring us out later."
"Eh? Where are we going?" She asked.
"To a party, to celebrate the stupid cow's recovery."
"Ah, yeah! Mom was talking about something like that yesterday." Tsuna said, "She said to head for Yamamoto's house right after we wake up. For some reason, she left early today, said something about Yamamoto's father want to talk to her about something."
'Yamamoto Takeshi's father…?' Korin thought, 'This will be tricky, I need to talk to him as well.'
"Here." She placed down a bag of clothes in front of him, "J-Just some random clothes I bought for you…"
"Don't worry I've measured you so it will fit." Reborn tells him.
"Sure." Korin took the clothes and walked to the bathroom to change.
When they reached the sushi restaurant, they were greeted by all their friends, even Kurokawa Hana joined them in the festivities. Korin, now changed to a blue long sleeved shirt under a green button shirt and green jeans, immediately find his way to a small quieter spot of the restaurant and sat there.
He watched as the brunette was greeted by her bomber friend before finding all the guardians wearing their respective rings. Korin was handed his just after they left the house, the metal ring shines proudly on his right middle finger. His runic ring still on his left finger despite all that has happened.
'They sure are optimistic, for people that has just entered the dark underworld.' Korin mentally sighed, 'But then again, it has always been like this.'
He turned to the sushi counter, where the chef is busy cutting up the fish at expert pace. He walked over to the counter and sat in front of him. If anytime is better, it is now.
"Yamamoto Tsuyoshi." Korin called out to him quietly, not wanting to get any attention.
"Yeah?"
"We need to talk." He said, "That time, when I told you my name, why did you react the way you did?"
The man stopped chopping, his eyes overshadowed as he kept looking down on the fish on the chopping board. "Tsuyoshi-san, please answer the question."
He reached for his pocket, pulling out a piece of folded paper and placed it in front of the teen, "Read this and follow what it says." He said, before carry on with his chopping.
Korin picks up the paper, opening it to find a whole essay of useless phrases of hiragana. "A useless scribble of letters…?" He muttered, before looking down at the corner of the paper. Three letters of hiragana was circled out.
Korin widen his eyes at this. He knows this pattern, this riddle of words. He mentally erases the three hiragana letters and reads the message.
Meet me at the room behind the blue door in the back alley. I will
explain everything there.
He turned to the counter, Tsuyoshi already left. He got off his seat and went out of the restaurant, "Motoyama-san?" Tsuna asked worriedly, "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I just need some fresh air." He tells her, before leaving. He turned into the back alley behind the restaurant, found the blue door and entered. He was greeted by two people, one who he did not expect to see.
There in the supply room [Fish everywhere, kind of obvious], there were Yamamoto Tsuyoshi, as written by him, as well as Sawada Nana. Korin was startled to find the mother of his boss there when he wanted to ask the sushi chef something magic related. "Sawada-san?"
"Hey there, Korin-kun." Nana smiled.
"So you deciphered the message." Tsuyoshi smiled, "I knew you would. That just gives me the true solid theory…"
"What do you mean?" Korin asked, wary as he inches to his gun hidden under his shirt, "And why do you know that type of riddle?"
"Your mother, her name was Motoyama Karin, am I correct?" Tsuyoshi asked. Korin's eyes widen in shock, "How do you know?" He asked, his hands already on his gun's handle, ready to pull it out of its holster.
"That message was her little gimmick." Tsuyoshi said, "It's a little trick she used when she wants to give us any message in secret."
"Answer me." Korin growled as he pulls out and aimed the gun at him, "Why do you know that name?-!"
"Korin-kun," Nana spoke out, "There is something I wish to tell you. Your mother, Tsuyoshi and I were old friends."
"Old friends…? My mother and you two…?" Korin muttered.
"And we know all about you, the Knight, and the existence of magic."
To be continued…
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTT?-! Yeah, big
plot twist! There will be much to discuss in the
next chapter! Yeah! The reviews of the path
decision is still out, and both Light and Dark paths
are looking promising.
Oh, one more thing.
There is still one thing I want to address. It is
about my other fanfic, my Fairy Tail fanfic:
Demonslayer. I am currently having problems
on whether or not I should continue that fic
with little to no inspiration on it. I want ask what
do you think I should do.
And please, review this fanfic as much as you can!
That would help a lot. It serves as fuel to my mind
and heart that people are actually reading this.
With that, I thank you for reading this!