Clear to cloudy

Target 38: End of day one

Marco's taken Albert completely by surprise with his new transformation and has gotten up close with likely the scariest sight he's ever seen of Marco's, so far gentle and kind, face, now warped to look angry beyond any reasonable measure. He bashes Albert in the stomach with all his might straight in the stomach and he's sent flying across the arena with much more force than when Kotsu's hit someone with his improved strength.

"H-he's so strong!" Kotsu yells surprised by the show of intense strength.

Murphy nods. "that's because it removes the physical limiters on your body, but Marco is much stronger normally than you are so his limiters are much higher up. Think of it as multiplying your strength by a number. Naturally if Marco's strength is bigger than yours he's going to also be stronger in dying will mode."

"G-got it,"

Albert tumbles a little before retracting his gauntlet and stopping himself with it. "I'll admit… you took me by surprise aga-" He starts but is interrupted as Marco is already almost caught up to him with his improved leg strength Albert manages to hold up his gauntlet using it as a shield again, but something strange happens. Marco's storm flame on his forehead almost latches onto Albert's gauntlet and the older man feels his strength start getting weakened. Marco gives the gauntlet a strong punch, and even with the rain flames lowering the impact of the attack Albert slowly gets pushed back. Marco pulls back his fist only to slam it forward again sending Albert sliding back again and Marco keeps up his string of deadly punches. "What is with this man!?" Albert yells as he keeps blocking, now having to use his gauntlet without much rain flame to avoid whatever it was that just happened with Marco's flame. However it's still happening just as effectively and Albert knows that if he attempts to block without the rain flame block his gauntlet will be smashed to pieces.

"That boy's strength is remarkable…" Ywan says from the sideline. "However brute force and a tenacious attitude will not defeat Albert… not by a long shot," He adds with a smirk and his guardians snicker a little.

On Zaccaria's side, Zaccaria seems upset at what's happening for some reason even though his team is not involved in the fight in any way. "This won't end good for Kotsukiba's guardian…" He comments looking to Ricci. "Your father is too smart to let himself be beaten like that right?"

Ricci grits his teeth. "Yeah… but I'd've loved to watch that jerk of an old man get pummeled a bit… but I guess I might have to do that myself when it comes to that…" He says and Zaccaria looks back to the fight.

"So long as you follow the rules you can do whatever you want,"

Meanwhile in the arena Albert keeps attempting to create distance between him and his opponent, but Marco's incredibly persistent and he seems to keep leeching Albert's flame with his own. "What's with you? You believe you can defeat me with these simplistic strikes alone. My gauntlet can take way more power than you can dish out!" He yells however right as he does Marco's flame flares up a bit in a quick burst and he manages to hit through the gauntlet and send Albert tumbling back. However Albert uses this opportunity to get further away and he activates his laser cannon blasting it at Marco who simply sprints straight through it without much hinderance. However as Marco gets in close again Albert starts going on the offense with his gauntlet, dodging Marco's strikes as well as throwing calculated strikes at him right back without having to use his rain flame which Marco can destroy. However in spite of Albert's best efforts and the fact that he manages to stand his ground he still gets absolutely pummeled by Marco's flurry of punches while Marco seems barely affected by the gauntlet striking at him. Albert gives Marco one final strike with all his might, but even though Marco slides backwards a little he looks completely indifferent in spite of Albert giving it everything he had. Marco runs up with the cold dead stare and after the long one-on-one fistfight they just had Albert is completely exhausted and can't even raise the gauntlet to block the strike pretty much accepting his defeat… however just in that moment Marco's flame disappears causing the young man to revert back to normal. Albert's eyes sparkle with devilish delight as he gives the gauntlet one final full-body swing by spinning and smashes Marco back making him land right next to Cotton as they're both knocked out.

He then begins laughing again. "How fitting! The child and her protector! Both lying defeated in the same spot! How delightful!" He yells as the bubble disappears.

"The winner is Ywan's rain guardian Albert!" Albert's gauntlet detaches from his arm and folds together neatly.

Ywan looks to Primo with quite a displeased face. "How dare you defile the sacredness of the ring conflict with such poor excuses for guardians!?" He yells gritting his teeth. "If they were to somehow have I would have accepted it as fact, but as it stands you assigned two people who aren't more than the sum of their parts. Simply two people who barely qualify in the first place! Disgraceful!" He yells pulling out his knife again.

"I made my decision Ywan… and it is final. And no matter what you two believe…" he says dragging Zaccaria into it as well as he pats Kotsu on the head. "I believe in my candidate. He will bring about change… more than I ever could…"

"I have heard enough! This is disgraceful to my honor as a member of the Vongola family!" He yells raising his knife standing right over both Cotton and Marco. "To hell with these poor excuses for guardians!" He yells about to strike down at them.

"N-no! STOP!" Kotsu yells holding out his hand as Ywan strikes down at them with his sky flame-imbued knife. Both Reborn, Primo, as well as both of Primo's bodyguards look like they're all ready to stop him when suddenly Ywan's arm is stopped dead in its tracks. He looks up being met with a face showing absolutely no mercy. Jute.

"Unhand me!" He yells and Jute says nothing as his hair begins sparking with red storm flame erupting completely and all his braids release themselves revealing just how long it actually is. It moves around taking the form of a giant dragon. "I said unhand me! Do you not know who I am!?" He yells.

Jute remains stoic staring Ywan down. "If you attempt to harm my little sister again… I won't be this kind… You may like to think that you're important… but that only goes within the Vongola family… I am here on the behalf of the Rosa Rossa family… and I WILL kill you if you try something like that… again… This is your first and last warning…" he says letting go of Ywan picking up both Cotton and Marco carrying them back towards Kotsu looking very kind even with the giant dragon of hair looming over him.

Ren is almost in awe at how amazing Cotton's older brother is. That is the kind of big brother he NEEDS to be for Kotsu from now on…

However Ywan is not having it. "Y-you… how dare you…? You'll kill me? You cannot kill me! I am LEAGUES above you! I have been battling for my family since before you were in the womb! And I will NOT stand here and let a youngster put himself above me!" He yells stabbing at the air with his knife making it shoot a rather large ball of sky flames at Jute.

"Look out!" Kotsu yells however Jute simply spins on his heel stomping his foot on the ground seeming to take a deep breath. "RESPIRO DEL DRACO!" (Italian: dragon's breath) He yells and the giant dragon above him then blasts an immensely large stream of fire from its mouth, still made of storm flames and it swallows up Ywan's sky flame. Ywan takes a step backwards in fear seeing his death approaching with the fire, however a large bubble appears around him and his guardians, however even still the fire almost burns through it. But it disappears and Ywan grits his teeth now seeing that this man is no pushover. He's quite fairly a prodigy.

However Jute doesn't even seem to have spent much energy on the attack. "You two did very well… Especially you Cotton…" he says giving his little sister a light peck on the forehead and her pained expression becomes a little more happy.

"Jute Rossa!" the Cervello say. "We will not allow our candidates to die within the ring conflict. If you wish to kill Ywan you will have to wait until after the ring conflict,"

Jute just smiles back. "I don't. As I said… I gave him a warning," he says walking away with Cotton and Marco. "I will see you later… these two need some rest…" He says walking away with the two of them.

Ywan grits his teeth. "What a bothersome brat…"

However the Cervello interrupt him once more. "With this the first day of the ring conflict is officially over! The score has ended with all three participants at a single point each! You will be escorted back to your residents to avoid complications!" the two of them declare and another similar one appears next to each of the three groups and Zaccaria chuckles.

"Me or my guardians would never do a thing as stupid as trying to complicate things… like Ywan and his short temper would," he says with a smirk towards Ywan who simply grits his teeth.

"All I'm doing is preserving my honor as a member of this family," He says looking to Kotsu. For the first time deciding to bring up the time they met at the bench. "So it was you who was Primo's candidate? The game you spoke of… was this? And the two opponents you mentioned were me and Zaccaria. Is that right?" he asks and Kotsu slowly nods.

"I-I really had NO idea when I talked to you that you were one of them! I swear! But…" He says giving him a weak smile. "I'd still like to thank you… for getting me back on track…" He says and Ywan starts laughing.

"Indeed. You are most welcome Kotsukiba! However…" His tone gets much more dark. "You will never be able to defeat neither me nor Zaccaria…" He says and Zaccaria nods on the other side of the arena.

"Gotta agree there. I'll beat you both down and claim the spot as boss!" He yells showing his sadistic smile. With that he spins on his heel and Ywan does the same. Just when they're about to leave Kotsu takes a deep breath, as Reborn and everyone else also turns to leave. All but Ren who stands behind Kotsu.

"Lil' bro…?"

"I WILL WIN! I want to win! Not for me! Not for reborn! Or primo! But for my friends! I'll answer ALL their feelings and beat you both!" Kotsu yells having gathered all his courage. Ywan finds his attempt at being intimidating quite laughable, however Zaccaria smiles looking oddly happy at that statement, making sure Kotsu doesn't see it as he leaves.

Geraldino who'd sat back for the entirety of the event finally decides to speak as he looks after Zaccaria. "I'll be right back…" He says heading towards Zaccaria's location. The Cervello is about to ask him not to as it might start conflict. "Don't worry. I don't have a sword or a ring. I'm not dumb enough to start a fight like this," he says heading out.

Kotsu and the others go home with Ren being very quiet and he looks a little down. "R-Ren… are you alright?"

"Yeah… just… still pretty angry with myself… that I've been such a horrible source of advice and support… I only made things worse for you at every step…" He says and Kotsu is about to assure him of the opposite however Ren feels probably the most comforting hand on his shoulder he's ever felt, from Primo.

"You've nothing to be ashamed for. You did what you thought was right with the situation you saw. You only had your little brother's safety in mind and that accounts for something," He starts and looks down seeing him still with a frown on his face. "But what you do next is the most important part. It's what defines who we are. We're not the person we were yesterday. We've learned and improved and now we're an even better version of ourselves," He says and Ren looks up at him, seeing that he looks to be remembering events he himself have gone through. "Besides… When I chose you… I had about six other choices. Each physically stronger than you. Each wiser than you. Each with more experience in all fields than you… but they lacked things that you had, which is the reason I chose you,"

Ren looks absolutely confused. "W-what do I have that can possibly help me in a fight that all the others lack!? Isn't my position all about being strong!?"

"They lacked a smile. They lacked a passion. They lacked all the love and care you show everyone around you. It's what makes you more fit to hold this position than Boris on Zaccaria's team… and Riccardo on Ywan's team. You're so kind and gentle… I'm sorry for dragging your little brother into this… I know it's not the life you wished for him…" He adds in the end and Ren almost feels himself getting inspired and happy at the words. As long as he remains passionate… and with a happy outlook… everything will work out…

"It's alright Primo-san… To be… perfectly honest with you… I've been kinda worried…" he says looking back at Kotsu who's walking behind them to let them talk. "Before you chose him… he didn't have any plan at all… So I thought he might end up becoming a garbageman or janitor…" Kotsu almost falls as he learns of this.

"Wow… thanks Ren… nice to see you had faith in me…"

Ren chuckles looking at his little brother. "Well it WAS a real possibility. And I'd've done anything in my power to prevent it I can assure you!" He says pumping his fist being back to his old self.

"S-so… um… Primo… who're YOUR guardians… they gotta be really impressive people right…?" Kotsu decides to ask and Primo chuckles lightly.

"I can assure you they're all quite so. With that said I would like to introduce you to half of them at least," He says pointing to his two bodyguards. "This is my storm guardian. Gokudera-kun," He says and the gruff man with the grey hair nods approvingly with quite a cold demeanor. "And this is my rain guardian Yamamoto," He says and the black-haired man with the scar and sword gives a friendly wave and Kotsu is honestly stunned that the two of them have such different ways of just silently saying hello.

"But… don't you have six like me? This is just two of them…"

"The third you've already met," he says pointing to Hibari. "This is my cloud guardian. Hibari Kyoya… or as you know him… Kyoya-sensei," He says and Hibari grits his teeth at the title.

"Shut it herbivore,"

"Fair enough," Both Ren and Kotsu are quite shocked to learn that one of the people they've known for a few years was involved in this whole mafia thing since the beginning.

"B-but why's he here then!? Isn't he supposed to be in Italy… with you?" Kotsu asks and Hibari grits his teeth.

"I refuse to leave Namimori middle school unprotected," He says exiting the conversation to deal with Gokudera who seems to be quite displeased with how he spoke to Primo.

Primo leans closer to the two boys. "He's been like that since we were still in middle school. Back then he was in the disciplinary committee,"

"so… you met all your guardians at school too…?"

"Well I met one of them at home when he wanted to kill me. Another I first met in MY ring conflict…" he explains and Kotsu can't help but see the similarities between the both of them. He met Cotton at home when she tried killing him and NOW he met Marco at the ring conflict.

They all step onto the subway to go back to the resort, however right before the Cervello who escorted them holds out the box and tray. "If you would be so kind as to choose your guardians for tomorrow…"

Kotsu reaches for two boxes without much hesitation and put them on the tray and they both open with the one for Zaccaria being a cloud flame and the one for Ywan being a mist flame. This naturally leads him to wonder who these two guardians are as he doesn't yet know Rinoka is one of them. The Cervello bow and disappears. "Um… Primo… who're my cloud and mist guardians?" He asks and Primo just smiles.

"Do not worry there will be no more people you don't already know," He simply says which makes Kotsu both scared and happy. Happy because he knows there won't be any new scary people arriving but also that it means they might not be as strong as he had hoped for.

-NII-

Zaccaria and his team exit the mall from the east exit while Ywan's team use the other exit. As soon as they exit Zaccaria stops and looks to the side seeing Geraldino leaning against the wall. "Looking for a fight?" he says smirking and Geraldino pushes off the wall.

"I don't have my weapons or ring like you do… you DO carry it with you right? I ain't buying that you use THAT ring to fight with," he says gesturing to Zaccaria's vongola sky ring.

"You'd be right. I do have my cosmic ring… but from what I heard… yours is kept safely tucked away in the Vongola vault."

"It is… but I just hope you realize… you're not fooling me with that appearance… nor that attitude,"

Zaccaria chuckles a little. "Well I'm not TRYING to fool YOU… I'm just doing what I'm told… for the greater good,"

"And you know that if the Cervello find out that you're using the ring conflict for your own goals… they'll be quite mad," he says and all Zaccaria's guardians note that their eyes are an eerily smiliar light piercing color, only that Zaccaria's are orange while Geraldino's are blue.

"I'm a cosmic flame Geraldino. Just like you… if they find out… what're they REALLY going to do? Locking me up is a waste… but I'll have you know… they will NOT find out…" He says as they walk off. He gives a quick little wave to Geraldino behind him. "I'm doing my part Geraldino! You'll do yours as well!" He yells and Geraldino laughs.

"I HAVE no role Zaccaria!"

"We'll see soon enough…" Zaccaria says under his breath leading his guardians to wonder exactly he means by that.