The Final Night: Race against Time
Mukuro watched over the situation by 'head hopping' once fully recovered from his battle with Viper. He really doesn't see why the guy? woman? has to change his/her name. Its pointless but for now, he wants need-to-knows.
First into Gokudera, the bomber who is the closest to Tsuna, he looked into Vongola updates. Apparently something new occurred while he got imprisoned a week later.
A week since his incarceration, there's another criminal. Only, she isn't a mafia...at the beginning. She was more a burglar out of necessity, being an orphan and a master of her lightning powers, yet very, very physically frail if a few hits from Hibari defeated her. Gokudera had been her theft victim too, his money and food taken...and is defeated by Hibari the next night. Prior to Namimori, Tokyo had been her haunt but moved away when security increased. While she's powerful, she's hesitant in killing teenagers and kids but no qualms with adults...but upon joining Vongola out of debt, she would be willing to kill for Tsuna but fully aware Tsuna wouldn't want her to. But look at Tsuna the wrong way, she would maim for life if only to fulfill her 'no killing' promise.
The new addition is a self-made orphan after running away from her horrible relatives with whom she 'has no human rights', and self-taught herself after two years in daycare as well as giving herself a name, and fully-aware of her powers at a young age while gaining ideas by reading manga. She opened up to Tsuna because of harmony and empathy which led to CEDEF investigating her, and learning her background that not even her horrible relations know. She is in fact, from an Old Money Family her mother married into, learned her real name(but prefers her Japanese one), and wealthy enough to pay Japan's debt for ten times before going broke. She's willing to do anything for Tsuna and his interests, and because they were similar, would look after Chrome during the day before sending her home at night. Mukuro felt Chrome would be in good hands.
He just hoped that she would NOT corrupt his vessel after getting wind why the girl squealed that day, and why the boys freaked out when he said he would possess Tsuna...she took it 'another way'...
But he chuckled.
The idea isn't so bad...he's bi after all and he's pretty cute...there's so many ways to possess after all.
He watched the two girls do shopping, with Mai having Chrome control a truck and the driver for their use. Having read so many manga and watched anime, she was also teaching Chrome as well some tricks...and bought her manga for ideas. Horror and Fantasy genres.
And she was bought a portable battery-powered DVD and an anime collection...
He had to quickly interfere and say only the genres allowed.
While he is OK with it, he wasn't sure if his friends would!
xxx
Kokuyo Land, sundown...
Chrome is dead. DEAD TIRED.
They shopped in Ikebukuro for more anime and manga and her portable DVD with a boxful of batteries, then at shopping malls to buy cook and diningware, and when they had more time...furniture for the boys' rooms. She was at least, glad that Chikusa and Ken cleaned up their rooms.
And since their kitchen(elsewhere in Kokuyo Land) is not yet done with fully-equipping, dinner is again, take-outs of reheated bentos and canned drinks.
Mukuro had gotten an earful from Mai on their crazy ideas for what they think is 'meals'.
Chrome decided to rest, unable to even read a manga book, tired from carrying a lot of things...but around 8...her phone rang. 'Eh?'
Chrome-chan, we got summons to the school. All guardians must be present.
-Mai
And she wasn't even fully rested yet. Darn.
Back at Namimori however, while Mai went out, a Cervello snuck into her house, and used her cell phone lying on the living room couch to deliver the message to Chrome as they didn't know where she lives.
None of them knew the gang lives in Kokuyo, not in Namimori.
xxx
Hours later with Mai unaware her phone was used...
'Seriously?!' Mai blinked as she was just fresh from marinating herself in the hot bathtub to relax her muscles when a Cervello practically trespassed into her bathroom. 'OK, now what, can't you just yell from outside the windows?!'
'There is a compulsory summons for still-living guardians.' said the Cervello. 'Please come at the usual time.' and she left.
'...you gotta be kidding me.' Mai groaned. 'Looks like Tsuna-sama's worries came to reality when he suspects something would be up...
She would come with hyperspeed. Screw coming early!
xxx
10:55...
'The only one not here yet is Mai-chan.' said Ryohei. 'She's extremely late!'
'Here she is now.' said Tsuna, pointing upwards. His fellow guardians looked up to see a streak or green heading their way at high speed and she arrived, wearing a blue dress, a white jacket and matching flats.
'You're late!' Gokudera scolded.
'I was in the bathtub when I got the call!' Mai went bighead on Gokudera who balked and her fellow guardians sweatdropped.
This however, caused Chrome to blink.
Didn't Mai just tell her that they got summons earlier...? Mukuro in her head answered her that it wasn't Mai who mailed her that message...it was the Cervello.
'Well, we can now begin the Sky Battle.' said the Cervello. 'Firstly, we will collect the guardians' rings.'
'Huh? After we fought like mad to get this ring we have to give it back?' Ryohei asked her, baffled.
'If you are the true guardian, there's nothing to worry about.' said twin 1. 'In the end, they go to their true owner anyway.'
So reluctantly, all rings are returned.
'I lost it.' said Hibari in a totally uncaring manner, just when he just gave it back to the Cervello after his fight since he doesn't care about it.
'We already have it in custody.' twin 2 deadpanned. After confirming all presences of the rings, they continued explaining.
'The rules of the Sky Battle are similar to that of the other guardians. However, the battlefield will be the entire school.'
'That's huge!' Yamamoto remarked incredulously.
'In order to watch such a wide battlefield, we have installed large screens at the observation box as well as other various locations. Also, the guardians will be watching the battle with a camera-equipped wristband.'
'I see, its like a little TV.' Ryohei marveled as they put it on. Mai watched before looking at her own wristband.
However, she noticed the shield-shaped indention on the watch...and this scenario is quite familiar in her many manga and anime...and she saw a small hole and she noted that if she wore her watch, that same tiny hole would be where one of her veins would be on her wrist.
She wore the watch, but hardened her skin enough.
To her chagrin, she could not warn anyone else lest Tsuna gets disqualified and they would lose Vongola to Xanxus. When the Cervello and the others weren't looking, she mouthed to Reborn and Basil, 'poison needle, watch, be quiet' in English.
Reborn looked grim and Basil looked utterly vexed.
xxx
School Rooftop...
Mai was in a direction wherein she was sure her back is against the camera, controlled her skin hardness so the needle can dent her skin, but unable to inject, but she still 'gasped in pain' the same time Levi did. She watched as the poison trickled down her arm which is really hardened unlike her wrist, and she superheated the surface to make it evaporate while concealing from the cameras.
'Hey! How come you're not affected?!' Levi demanded
'Actually, I am.' Mai lied while rubbing her wrist. 'I have the ability to numb my pain for fifteen minutes by manipulating my own bio-electric signals so the pain receptors in my body are stopped...just what the fuck are those whores thinking?! Ooh if I talk to the ninth, you think we be allowed to kill these bitches?'
'I wish we are!' Levi snarled angrily '-but they're high-ranking officers!'
'That means Vindice-level guarantee...fuck this!' Mai swore unhappily while rubbing her arm, putting on a good enough act...but when Levi collapsed...so did she.
'Heh, apparently not immune from paralysis?' Levi snarked with a forced grin despite his own state.
'Oh, shut up!'
And so, she rolled her eyes while waiting...she just hoped Tsuna would win. But when Xanxus started shooting...AT THEM...the ring fell off the pole they were on...Mai 'forced' herself to get up, and took the ring, inserting it into her watch.
'Phew! Saved by your boss before my fifteen minutes ran out!' Mai whistled as the antidote also trickled down her wrist, which she also evaporated just like the poison. 'And hup!' she knocked Levi out with a stunner while saving him too. 'Sorry but I got business! Toodles!' and she flew off.
xxx
'Mai-sama and Hibari-sama are free!' Basil exclaimed in delight from the observation box as Mai flew off to the Storm Arena.
'Of course.' he smirked. 'Mai is our most competent Guardian and Hibari despises being bound and restrained by anything.' he said as Hibari also had to deal with Belphegor who came to kill him and take his ring, and Hibari wouldn't have that of course...fighting ensued.
Reborn figured all that anime made her very, VERY genre-savvy. She was the only one to realize the truth behind the watches, but is vexed with the fact that she has to keep quiet or risk disqualification if the cat is out of the bag. It also enabled her time to prepare herself and is actually the only one spared from the poison before it was even administered.
She may be able to fool anyone with her acting earlier but he isn't. He wouldn't be one of the world's best if he can't even determine real from fake acting!
xxx
Down at the sports field...Hibari just finished his battle with Belphegor by the time Mai arrived to get to him and Belphegor who lay, defeated on the ground.
'Hibari! Go get Yamamoto-kun and senpai! I'll go get Gokudera-kun and Chrome-chan!' she said, floating above the defeated Storm Varia, taking his ring and flying off.
'...tche.' Hibari snorted, but did so anyway. No student of his school will die on his watch!
xxx
The Gym...
Mai saved Chrome first as out of all of them, she was the most physically worse off being malnourished and lacking in some organs so the poison affects her the worst out of them. But...Mammon was free and having her hostage.
'Give me your rings or she dies.' said Mammon coolly as Chrome is being tied with a rope and hanging over spikes.
'I wonder who is faster...you or me?' Mai smirked as behind Mammon, is a spark and without warning, he was shot, destroying his illusions and Chrome fell limply on the floor.
'Guhaa!' Mammon cried in pain and it was followed by an electric shock. 'Mugyaaa!' and he fell unconscious.
'They say lightning can travel faster than sound...and they're not kidding~!' Mai smirked as she took Mammon's ring and released Chrome, and having her wear her ring. '20 minutes passed by...ten left to go.' she carried Chrome with her to go to Gokudera who is really bad off. He was found in his fighting area, dying. Since his legs are still out of commission, he couldn't be the first to get the Storm Ring with Belphegor ending up getting it when Xanxus started shooting.
'Mai...' Gokudera gasped out as Mai used the Storm Ring to release him.
'Both of you will be giddy for a while...' said Mai as she created lightning platforms to put them on.
'Whoa?!'
'Relax, I can control it you know.' Mai snorted. 'You guys aren't even touching the platform! To create magnetism and electromagnetic waves, you need electricity first! Right now I'm repelling opposite magnetic waves so you float, and using the waves so we can float and fly! I'm taking you to the observation box so Shamal can look at you two!' and she did just that.
'Mai-sama, Gokudera-sama, Chrome-sama!' Basil exclaimed as at the spectator's box, there's a bonus: the Cavallone and Squalo.
'Dokuro!' Ken called out to the unconscious substitute.
'She'll be a bit weak...she just got the antidote.' Mai deadpanned as they stayed out of the box. 'I'll leave them here. I'll go check on the others.' and she flew off. Hibari is a bit woozy from blood loss, Yamamoto and Ryohei are OK as well.
'Right now, she's our most reliable person.' said Reborn in utmost praise. 'And the smartest. Her years in the streets combined with her otaku smarts from too much anime made her formidable.' he snorted. 'I should ask her what I should make Tsuna watch in his spare time.'
xxx
'You guys seem OK.' Mai chirped as three of them are together when she found them.
'We made it in time, yeah.' Yamamoto grinned. 'So where are we going?'
'The the audience stands where its safer for now...I took Gokudera-kun and Chrome-chan there.'
'I see...so we're all OK, that's cool!' Ryohei cheered.
'But are we really OK?' Yamamoto asked her worriedly.
'Well...here's one thing I didn't say when this fight started...' she said sheepishly. 'The whole school is surrounded by hostile energies beyond fifty or sixty that didn't belong to the Cervello...but someone came and started bulldozing all of them...just now. This person is incredibly strong and fast...whoever this is, they're like a whirlwind!'
'That means after this, they intend to kill us all if it wasn't for this mysterious person?!' Yamamoto yelped in alarm.
'Yep...but if this person did not come...I will kill THEM.' Mai spoke darkly. 'And I have no reason to fear the Vindice because THEY started it and we can say we defended ourselves from the Varia. Tit for tat if it came to that!' she growled with a dark expression to match.
'Even though Tsuna didn't like killing?' Yamamoto pointed out.
'Its evil necessity. I'll do what I must for us.' Mai told him stiffly. 'What you guys won't do...I'll do. I'm a criminal after all. I'm used to doing dirty things.' she smirked. Her words surprised Ryohei.
'Huh? Criminal? What're you talking about?!' he asked cluelessly. Mai didn't look the type!
'Didn't you reform?!' Yamamoto balked in disbelief. At this Ryohei had no choice but to believe when his kohai said that.
'Reformation takes years, not weeks.' Mai snorted. 'That's why they built juvie centers didn't they?'
'I was going to kick you there until you decided to stop after you got investigated.' said Hibari. 'And you no longer have a reason to remain a Serial Burglar.' he grunted. 'Anyway, use some of that to fix the school.' he demanded.
'Make the Cervello pay for it! I'm not paying for the mess they made, no way!' Mai snarked.
'Mai-chan please say it isn't true!' Ryohei wailed. 'That you guys are just kidding?!' he sputtered out, unable to believe his fellow guardians' claims.
'I used to be a burglar who terrorized Tokyo and this town, senpai. But back then I didn't know I was heiress to big money so I stole to live since I was in elementary.' Mai told him to his disbelief. 'Hibari and Tsuna-sama stopped me back at spring and asked to investigate my background in hopes there's a way so I'd stop thieving...and there is. I no longer steal now but my ruthlessness as a criminal remains. That's why if I was given the opportunity...I'll kill the Varia myself before I die from whatever weapons they have.'
Ryohei just looked pale while Hibari and Yamamoto were silent.
xxx
The one who came is an old face: Lancia.
He swept up the Varia assassins as a way to say 'Thank you' to Tsuna...and it was Yamamoto who told Mai and Ryohei the story behind that.
Tsuna also won his fight against Xanxus, and the Varia are all detained, with awaiting judgment from the ninth and the CEDEF Boss...since both are in hospital.
'By the way Mai...I believe you have something to say to your fellow Guardians.' said Reborn as they were all on the way to the hospital in Dino's limo. 'About what you realized before the battle began.'
'What she realized...wasn't it the Varia goons all over the school?' Ryohei asked him.
'Not that although we didn't know that...'
'I didn't say anything earlier because if I was loud about it, disqualification is a possibility because everyone would throw a fit about it because the Cervello kept it even from the Varia.' said Mai, utterly apologetic about it. 'I knew about the watches the minute we were given them.'
'EHHHH?!' the boys, Chrome, Dino and Romario yelped, while Hibari twitched many times.
'I saw the indentation on the watch that was a perfect fit for the shield-shaped symbol of our rings...and you guys saw a small circle on the opposite side of the watch with a small hole in it? You would know because its what pricked you in the same place...a part of our wrist where most of our veins are.' the others stiffened as who could forget THAT? 'From watching too much anime and its a familiar scenario...I knew what would be up. I was able to tell Reborn and Basil in english and they could lip read.'
'She was also the only one among you NOT poisoned at the beginning.' Reborn revealed to another disbelief. 'She was able to fake acting very well. She could fool the Cervello but not me. She faked the paralysis symptom of the poison while she revealed another of her identity, her ability to numb pain. So how did you do it, Mai?'
'I hardened the skin on my wrist. Soft enough for the needle to dig into but still unable to pierce my skin and inject poison...it safely trickled down my hardened arm where I evaporated it while not letting the cameras see. Same goes for the antidote too. I was never poisoned right at the start.'
'No fair!' Ryohei whined.
'I wish I have an ability like that...' Gokudera moped.
'If you guys trained in your flames and poisoning happens, only Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto-kun will be OK other than me. But in my case, nothing can inject but if I'm forced to swallow, I'm helpless too so the boys are the only ones totally safe.' said Mai wryly. 'The Rain Flames' Tranquility can neutralize poison, leaving only harmless liquid and the Storm Flames can disintegrate it and they'll just need a hospital to fix the damage or if available instantly, the nearest Sun user.' she said. 'And Hibari's propagation can boost his body's natural resistance and immunity if he wanted but he'd still need help. Not only that, he can also aid others in this regard by propagating their natural immunity...possibilities are endless.'
'Alright, all of you will undergo flame training starting tomorrow.' Reborn informed them. 'We will be very strict with you!'
'Hai!'
'Uhm...about me...' Chrome said shyly. 'I can already...because Mukuro-sama trained me last month.'
'You're still not exempt from callisthenics and physical training in my house during the day.' Mai deadpanned.