Clear to cloudy
Target 48: Tsugemora's moment
After the visit to the amusement park the gang head home for the day grabbing a nice big dinner and get some rest, before Tsugemora's big match. Kotsu is laying on his bed basically doing nothing but wait until curfew is over so they can head out for the final battle. He's incredibly nervous for a multitude of reasons. Zaccaria is currently at three victories. His rain guardian Kagetora… his storm guardian Ricci and his mist guardian Barley all won. Ywan is at a single win with his rain guardian Albert luckily, but from the way Reborn spoke of his remaining two they're both incredibly powerful. They met Riccardo at the train station and it seemed that he was easily outclassing them all at the time… the same goes for Zaccaria's remaining guardians… NM-5 was able to easily overpower Kotsu during their confrontation and from the way Boris was described to him during his training he's among the most powerful members of the Vongola family… not many people get a mafia name after all… and especially not one like Boris 'the demolisher'. But that's not what worries him the most… what worries him is Tsugemora… standing against such powerful people makes him seem weak, but Kotsu knows he's not. He has a never-ending desire to sacrifice himself for victory. And against ANY of the four possible opponents Kotsu can't help but feel that he will get hurt really badly… and since he can't feel pain he'll keep on fighting until he can no longer move… and Kotsu doesn't want that.
The person in question bursts in the room. "Nii-san!" He yells jumping at Kotsu without hesitance in where he was. "It's time! I will make you proud!" He yells dragging Kotsu along.
"I-I got it Tsugemora. I got it," He says pulling away a little roughly leading Tsugemora to look a little bepuzzled at him.
"I-Is everything alright Nii-san?"
"I'm just… worried about you…" He says as they join the rest of the group. It's the final day so all of his guardians are joining the usual group.
Tsugemora just grins confidently. "Don't worry Nii-san! I will win!" He says before running to the group clearly excited about his match.
"That's not what I…" Kotsu trails off realizing he's not listen anymore.
-NII-
The crew exit the station, quickly making their way to the mall coming in from where Zaccaria usually exits. They notice something quite… unsettling about the surrounding area. There're several large craters, the pavement is cracked and it looks like quite a big battle took place here. Kotsu's about to ask, but judging from all the adults' faces he sees he won't get an answer which might be even more unsettling. They enter the mall and the giant hole Reishiro made is still under repair. From what Kotsu saw earlier that day the mall is 'under complete renovation' during the day while they fix it up.
Inside everyone's waiting as always. "Why am I not surprised…? Kotsukiba is the last to arrive…" Ywan says grunting silently.
"W-well we have to catch a train you know…" Kotsu says, attempting a comeback but it clearly doesn't work as indicated by Reborn's palm slapping him in the back of the head.
"Shut up Klutsu," He just says as the Cervello hold up their hands.
"Welcome all of you. Today is the third and potentially final day of the ring conflict! Today we will be holding the following matches. First is Kotsukiba's thunder guardian meeting Ywan's cloud guardian. Secondly Zaccaria's cloud guardian will face Ywan's sun guardian and finally Kotsukiba's rain guardian will face Zaccaria's sun guardian," they declare.
Boris on Zaccaria's team grunts a little annoyed. "So I get to go last huh? Tedious… talk about saving the best for last…"
Ywan smirks almost knowingly at Kotsukiba's group. "I have a feeling the final match will be underwhelming," He says causing Kotsu to gulp. Does he know about his situation…?
"Let's get started!" Tsugemora yells rushing onto the field with his wire gun already out and ready.
Ywan's cloud guardian, Galileo steps forward as well winding back his arm a little. He's the only one of Ywan's guardians who doesn't have a beard, instead simply being a much older man with grey hair with a few black strands remaining. However he's wearing some odd clothing. His shirt has a giant crocodile skull on the shoulder, which connects to the spinal bone, which goes over his shoulder where the last piece of the spine is, which is in the shape of a spike. "So we shall… It's a shame… Tsugemora. Such a promising young man… Tsugemora 'the zombie'… it's almost disgraceful to think you were assigned to the wrong group…"
Tsugemora grits his teeth a bit pointing his gun at him. "Take that back! I was put on the EXACT team I want to be on! And no other! Nii-san was NOTHING like I thought he'd be! But he's the most awesome person in the world and I'll do anything I can to make him become boss!" He yells and the bubble appears around the two of them.
"Let the seventh match… BEGIN!" They yell and Galileo smirks holding out his hand making his flame appear from his vongola ring.
"I suppose it's time for a lesson then… a lesson in both manners… and flame control. As far as I can see… you have none," He says casually as the crocodile skeleton over his shoulder suddenly expands adding more spinal pieces and he grabs a handle inside the skull making the eyes light up with cloud flame and grabs hold of the tail bone. Tsugemora gulps as suddenly Galileo tosses the tail bone towards him making it extend using his cloud flame. Tsugemora attempts to grab it, but right as he does it retracts just a tiny bit and Galileo swings it to the side as it extends past him, knocking Tsugemora to the side, however as he's unable to feel pain he manages to stand his ground and he shoots the wiregun at the older man. He retracts the spine simply knocking the hook aside with the skull on his hand. However as it now lays flat Tsugemora swings the gun, making the wire whip up and around Galileo, the older man noting how similar it was to his own attack just now. However the hook latches onto the wire after wrapping itself around Galileo, however right before Tsugemora can pull and firmly secure it, Galileo jump out of the hoop instead shooting the tail bone into it using his cloud flame making it stuck however he simply pulls on it yanking Tsugemora towards him. He doesn't let go of the wiregun allowing Galileo to get in close, pointing the skull right at his face before it blasts cloud flames right at him sending the young bodyguard flying back with the wire retracting after Galileo gets it out of his bone weapon.
"I surely hope you weren't thinking I would go easy on you because your father is a friend of mine. Or because you've trained under my partner Riccardo when you were younger," He says and Tsugemora simply stands, having a few bad burns and the top of his shirt is ripped to pieces.
"No way… I wasn't expecting something like that…" he says picking up his gun again and flicking a little switch before shooting it again and the tip of the gun shoots out with it, at the very tip. Galileo simply holds up the skull to block as he did before when suddenly the tip fires two smaller hooks out to each side around him and they quickly reattach on the other side and as before Galileo tries jumping out of it but it gets stuck on his foot and Tsugemora flicks a switch sending electricity through the wire and Galileo gets a constant shock, however seeing as he's trained he only shows pain for a few seconds before blasting the tail towards Tsugemora again, however Tsugemora just moves to the side wrapping the wire around the end of the bone. Galileo swings the tail at him again sending him flying into the side of the bubble before retracting it slightly and stabbing it at him once more cutting right at his stomach. He keeps going at him with the bone seeing as otherwise he'll pass out from too much electricity running through him. Tsugemora manages to barely dodge most of the attacks but ends up getting some nasty scratches and wounds, though they don't bother him. Galileo grits his teeth seeing how Tsugemora doesn't seem to let go of the gun. He retracts his bone fully making the wire slip off the bone and he suddenly stabs himself in the foot with it ending it right into the ground.
"W-what're you doing!?" Galileo grits his teeth pointing the skull at Tsugemora firing a few blasts off forcing the young boy to dodge.
"Blood conducts electricity… and now it's going into the ground…" He says and Tsugemora realizes the electricity from his gun is just flowing into Galileo's foot and then into the ground doing no damage. He quickly sees he'll need a new strategy. He makes the wire retract and turns off the electricity. Galileo retracts the bone from his foot and the ground. "I'll admit that took me by surprise Tsugemora… but you're not strong enough to beat someone like me…" He says but Tsugemora doesn't look discouraged at all.
"I WILL win Galileo! For Nii-san!" He yells steadfastly holding his gun towards Galileo at all times while the two walk around in a stalemate circle.
Rinoka looks mortified at all the blood surrounding the young boy, as Tsugemora spits some to the side. "H-h-he's g-getting really hurt… C-c-can't you do anything Kotsu-san?" She asks and Kotsu looks really frustrated, knowing that he can't.
"I-I wish I could… b-but he has to get knocked out just like everyone else… I hate this…" He says and Ren puts a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Hey… it's Tsugemora we're talking about… he'll try his best to win… and he's doing it for you… so believe in him…"
"But… he's hurting himself!" Kotsu cries out angrily and Ren turns to the fight.
"Yeah… I really wish it didn't have to be like this… but…" He lets on a little sheepish smile. "It's not much… but I take comfort in knowing that he's not in pain…"
Cotton shakes her tiny fist at Tsugemora. "You'd better not lose Tsugemortal or Cotton-heika will destroy you!"
Tsugemora lets on a smirk as Galileo charges forward again. He shoots the bone forward and Tsugemora counters with his wiregun shooting it to the side before charging forward himself. "You got it Cotton! I won't lose!" He yells, tucking the gun away at his hip much to Galileo's surprise, as he takes out his normal fiber wire swinging it at Galileo quickly before the older man has time to react it wraps around his neck. Tsugemora jumps up and over Galileo's shoulder pulling him straight to the ground using the momentum of his body. However right as he sees Galileo land he notes the crocodile skull pointed straight at him and he's blasted back by a quick burst of cloud flame.
Galileo stands up as Tsugemora recovers. "Enough of this… I'll admit that you've taken more damage than you should be able to withstand… but no matter how good a thunder guardian you can be… I'm still stronger…" He says shooting the tail at Tsugemora again and Tsugemora grabs hold of it getting some nasty rips on his hands, however as he does so he suddenly sees the skull flying straight at him, 'biting' him over the stomach and it pins him against the bubble. "You honestly thought the tail was the only part I could fire off?" He says slowly approaching the boy making the bones revert as he gets closer, while still holding Tsugemora in place.
"D-DAMMIT!" Tsugemora yells trying his hardest to remove the skull, but it seems it's been reinforced.
"Now… I know you Tsugemora… it'll take much more than ordinary bruises to get you to pass out… and I kind of don't want to do that as you ARE the son of someone I care about…"
Kotsu grits his teeth on the sideline. Both because he doesn't want to see Tsugemora get beaten up so badly. But also because if Tsugemora doesn't win they'll lose the ring conflict… "S-stop! C-can't you just… LET him surrender!?" He yells at the Cervello, who simply shake their head.
"No can do Kotsukiba… such are the rules…"
Galileo pulls Tsugemora back smashing him into the ground. "I-It's okay Nii-san… I-I'll tire him out this way…" He just says still confident he'll win. Galileo swings him into the air, swinging the tail into his side and he crashes into the bubble getting pinned by the skull again. "I-I'll never give in! This means the world to Nii-san! You can't break me Galileo!" He yells and Galileo grits his teeth.
"It doesn't matter how much he cares! I'm here to win as well! And I have you beaten!" He yells pulling Tsugemora close again, and smashes him point-blank into the ground at his feet. "Just give in! I don't want to do this to you!" He yells but Tsugemora just lets him.
"Nii-san! I'll win… I… I swear it!" He yells now bleeding from his forehead. Galileo tosses him along the ground and Tsugemora tries standing but finds that it's a lot more troublesome than it usually is.
"I-Is there nothing we can do!?" Kotsu yells at the large group of people he's with all looking almost pained seeing Tsugemora get beaten up so badly.
He notes how hard Reborn is gripping his sleeve standing and trying to hold back his anger. "No… there's nothing… these are the rules… besides… if he doesn't win you'll lose…" Kotsu clenches his fist before suddenly jumping up and punches Reborn right in the face, however the hitman barely flinches.
"How can you say that at this point!? How heartless can you be!? I don't give a crap about winning at this point! My friend's getting hurt beyond any reasonable measure and you're concerned about winning!?" He yells angrily. Reborn looks down at him seeing the tears rolling down his face.
Galileo swings Tsugemora into the bubble again before shooting the tail at him. "Lay down! DO IT!"
"NEVER!" Tsugemora yells back seeing the tail come straight for him.
However suddenly something stops the tail in its path. "This is over… even if it means I lose…" Kotsu says in his hyper dying will mode having blocked the attack with his fork. Everyone, even the two other boss candidates, are a bit caught off guard. He broke through the bubble so easily… Galileo let's go of Tsugemora retracting the skull and tail. Tsugemora tries landing on his feet, but fails due to having lost all feeling in them mostly. Kotsu catches him.
"B-but Nii-san… now I'll get disqualified… j-just like Rinoka…"
"That's okay… I'd rather lose than see you getting beaten up so badly…"
"B-but I can still fight…" However Kotsu just shakes his head.
"No it's over… you can rest now… don't worry about losing…" He simply says and Tsugemora starts crying.
"I-I'm so useless… I couldn't do anything against Geraldino when you were in danger and now I failed you again Nii-san! I'm the worst bodyguard ever!" Kotsu stands up and looks to the Cervello.
"This is my loss… but I just want to say…" He says as Ren comes to pick Tsugemora up to heal him with his aura. Kotsu points his giant fork at them. "You people are despicable…" He looks to Galileo expecting to tell him off as well but Galileo is just smiling happily at him.
"Thank you… I don't know how much more of that I could take… hurting someone who can't even defend themselves…" Kotsu just walks past him without another word and even with how strong he is, Galileo can't help but feel quite outmatched just from his walk and look.
"With this Kotsukiba Niruo has lost due to interfering… We will move on to the next fight…" they simply says and Kotsu grits his teeth hearing how little they care. He grips his fork hard, but before he can move he feels Reborn's hand on his shoulder.
"Don't… they pride themselves on absolute impartialness. But the bigger question is… what will you do now…?" He asks as Kotsu's flame disappears.
"I'll watch the final match… and then I'll go home… and… work on school…" He says smiling, seemingly happy to have saved his friend at the cost of his future.
"the next match will be Zaccaria's cloud guardian versus Ywan's sun guardian," The Cervello state however Riccardo doesn't move forward looking towards Kotsu and his group as Ywan is heading over.
Kotsu looks up at the brooding man, and sees not anger or pity, but mostly sorrow. "I'm sorry Kotsukiba… if there had been another way to end that fight I would have ordered Galileo to do just that… you may be my enemy but as far is I have seen… you are all worthy of being members of the Vongola family…" He says bowing apologetically.
"T-thank you… t-that's… very kind of you…"
"But don't think this means we'll seek victory any less. I'm simply apologizing for not looking into the rules thoroughly enough…" He heads back to his own group.
"Now if you would…" The Cervello say gesturing for Riccardo to step forward.
"It's alright… I think I will wait until Tsugemora is safely to his feet," He says crossing his arms stubbornly.
Meanwhile MN-5 has already gotten into position and is running maintenance check on his body. "Weapons… 90% locked… 10 percent power… boosters… 20 percent…" He says sounding surprisingly confused for a machine. "Restraints… 0 out of 50 available…" he looks back at Zaccaria. "Reason: unknown?"
On Zaccaria's team Boris grits his teeth. "I can't believe those bastards… lettin' Galileo beat on that kid like that…" He says having a kind view on children. Ricci shrugs a bit.
"That's the harsh reality of everything I guess… those Cervello guys really have no shame… but that's one of their strongpoints," Kagetora does a little handsign in front of his face.
"Thus is the way of combat… ruthless and uncaring. There is no mercy in battle," he says with Faust rubbing the back of his head looking at the two Cervello.
"I mean yeah… but they still could've called it off since the winner was clear…"
"The winner seemed clear with Antonio's match as well, but that Reishiro guy won quite easily using Vendetta…" Zaccaria says and looks to Kotsu's team where Reborn and Ren are healing the young boy up using their sun flames. "Looks like we're about ready… RICCARDO! What do you say we get this started!? You're wasting our time!" He yells angrily and Riccardo grunts a bit before stepping forward.
"Fine then! Seems he's going to be fine with Reborn there…" He says stepping into the arena and the bubble appears again. "Before we begin I have a question… NM-5 is an autonomous machine with no pilot or controller… how do I defeat him? If I were to knock him out you cannot check if he's alive or not as he has no pulse.
"We've already thought of that… NM-5 runs on a power core inside his body. Remove it and he will be unable to move, but destroy it and it will be the same as killing him, even if we have spares," They say and NM-5 opens up his chest just to show him where it is.
"Sounds fair… breaking a body of steel doesn't sound too tough," Riccardo says jumping a bit to loosen up before taking a fighting stance.