(The Fruits of Training)

*January 15th, 1907*

*Iv Plains*

The evening sun shined upon the training field as Dorothy slowly chuckled to herself.

"To think Rose isn't even getting serious…" Dorothy uttered to herself, breathing heavily due to the uppercut she had taken.

Soon after Dorothy ran toward Rose, with the intent of hitting her.

"Fist of the Dragon!" Dorothy cried out in sheer motivation, her right arm illuminating a red glow.

The glow formed into a small dragon and it produced a mighty roar before it came rushing toward Rose; however, this was quickly noticed by her.

"Come on. I know you can do better.." Rose uttered in a mocking voice, quickly pushing Betsy aside to turn her full attention to Dorothy.

Once she focused on Dorothy, she grinned widely before getting into position.

"..THAN THAT!" Rose cried out, finishing her sentence as she delivered a powerful punch that managed to destroy the attack with ease, shocking Dorothy.

"H-Holy crap!" Dorothy uttered in a surprised voice, her expression matching her surprised tone.

Following this, Rose gently lifted Dorothy's chin, forcing her to look at her.

"What's wrong? I know this isn't the same power you showed Dion, right? Perhaps you're not as strong as you think.." Rose spoke to Dorothy in a mocking voice, insulting her confidence before delivering a powerful blow to her stomach, causing her to scream in pain.

Dorothy screamed in pain before flying up in the air and collapsing on the ground, coughing right after.

Meanwhile, Betsy saw everything and she quickly ran toward Rose, her eyes flashing with anger.

"You're wrong! Dorothy is strong! Don't you dare say she's weak!" Betsy spoke to Rose, her expression being filled with anger while she charged directly at Rose.

The sparks on Betsy's shoes slowly began to illuminate, growing stronger by the second as she heard Blaze's voice, catching her attention.

"Listen up! We're going to bait Rose, alright? You fire when I tell you to and once you do that, aim at that mountain over there.." Blaze explained to Betsy from the shoes, causing Betsy to look over at the mountain.

"I-I see. I'll try it. Let's land that hit on Rose!" Betsy responded confidently, letting out a smirk as she lifted herself in the air, her full attention being on the mountain.

"Alright, I'm going to channel my power through you, so you better not mess up!" Blaze spoke to Betsy once more from the shoes before quickly getting to work.

Soon after, Betsy felt a surge of power rush through her as she prepared for her attack.

"NOW!" Blaze cried out to Betsy from the shoes, hoping that the plan would work as Betsy nodded.

Immediately after this, a small blue electric ball formed from the shoes, and Betsy aimed for the mountain.

Rose watched everything with a smirk before charging directly at Betsy with a smirk on her face.

"What is your plan, hm? It's not going to work!" Rose cried out to Betsy, chuckling to herself confidently; however!

"Fooled you!" Betsy cried out before quickly turning her body over, aiming the attack directly at her, surprising Rose.

"W-What!?" Rose uttered in shock, ready to defend herself from the attack.

Soon after, Betsy let out a cry before kicking the attack toward Rose, hoping that it would hit her.

"Take this! Electric Breaker!" Betsy cried out while sending the attack directly at her.

Unfortunately, right when the attack came into contact with Rose, it went through her, meaning that Rose used an afterimage, shocking Betsy!

"N-No way..s-she.." Betsy uttered in shock, her eyes widening as she felt someone behind her, it was Rose herself.

During the shock, Blaze expressed her feelings as well.

"D-Damn it! She's too fast.." Blaze uttered from the shoes in shock, waiting for whatever was next.

Rose chuckled in a cocky manner, crossing her arms while looking at Betsy.

"Did you honestly think I'd fall for such a trick? You planned on aiming for the mountain so I could let my guard down and right when I least expect it, you'll quickly aim it at me, right? Well, I guess that didn't work out, weakling." Rose asked Betsy, shaking her head while staring into the eyes of a determined girl.

"I-I'm not weak!" Betsy uttered while quickly attempting to throw a punch; however, Rose caught it with ease.

"So weak. I guess you're not worthy of my training. I bet you're not even worthy of being Dorothy's friend.." Rose responded in a cold voice before delivering a knee strike to her stomach, causing her to yelp in pain.

The attack made Betsy fall to the ground as the girl held her stomach in pain.

Once she struck Betsy with her knee, Rose signed to herself, hoping for some improvement from the girls

"Come on girls. I know both of you can do it, even if it means provoking.." Rose thought to herself while having an expression of concern; however, her thoughts were interrupted by a booming sound.

The sound in question came from Dorothy, her eyes flashing with determination and anger.

"Betsy is not weak and she's deserving of my friendship!" Dorothy cried in fury, flying directly toward Rose with great speed, ready to attack.

Rose saw the upcoming attack, and she was ready to counter it.

"Ah, finally getting serious, aren't we? Good! Let's see if you can land a blow on me." Rose spoke to Dorothy in a cocky voice while extending her hand in the air, preparing an attack.

A medium-sized pink energy ball formed from her hand, emitting a humming sound while Dorothy was rushing toward Rose.

"Elegant Supreme.." Rose uttered in a low voice before taking out her sword, catching Dorothy by surprise as her expression turned into a surprised one.

"W-What is she doing? A sword or energy attack? No matter what, I need to hit her and all is well." Dorothy thought to herself while preparing an attack for herself.

Eventually, Rose swung her sword in a swift motion, ready to unleash her attack.

"Elegant Supreme: Cross Slash!" Rose cried out in a serious voice, sending a heavy slash of energy attacks toward Dorothy.

The brightly purple-colored attack slashed through Dorothy as she had zero time to dodge them, all of this caused her to yelp; however, Dorothy wasn't going to give up.

"N-No! I'm not giving up!" Dorothy cried in a motivated voice, charging up while pushing her way through the attacks, surprising Rose.

"There we go. Keep pushing. I might have been holding back; however, I still expect the best from you and Betsy…" Rose thought to herself while watching Dorothy approaching her with great speed.

Dorothy's fists balled up once more as she was ready to attack Rose with all of her might.

"Take it back! Take back what you said about my friend." Dorothy ordered Rose, her eyes filled with determination as she finally got close to Rose.

Once she did that, Dorothy tried to punch Rose in the cheek; however, Rose quickly caught it with her arm.

"Remember, you must focus on your breathing. Keeping a calm and collected mind is key to mastering the sword.." Rose advised Dorothy before delivering two powerful punches to each side of her cheek, sending her flying to the ground.

Soon after, Dorothy crashed to the ground, her face being bruised due to the attacks; however, Dorothy still wasn't going to give up since she had gotten up, wobbling as she tried to keep her balance.

"She's fast. Even Omby Amby didn't give me this much trouble. No wonder Blaze was defeated easily.." Dorothy thought to herself before letting out a chuckle, smirking as she laughed loudly.

"I guess I gotta play dirty if I want to win." Dorothy spoke to herself before flying once more toward Rose.

Meanwhile, Betsy, who was knocked down by Rose slowly rose from the ground, eager to fight once more.

"I'm worthy of Dorothy's friendship. I'm gonna prove you wrong!

Betsy spoke out before using her footing to propel herself toward Rose.

Both girls were now in hot pursuit of Rose, ready to land a blow on her to pass the training session.

"Same old tricks, eh? That's not going to work here!" Rose cried out with a smirk while looking in both directions before settling on Dorothy.

Rose quickly dashed toward Dorothy, ready to attack her once more as she prepared a mighty energy attack.

"Stardust Punisher!" Rose cried out, her arm illuminating a purple glow as her attack slowly came into formation.

A star formed from Rose's fist, and she quickly used the attack to deliver a powerful punch to Dorothy; however, it was an afterimage!

"W-what?!" Rose uttered in surprise before looking over to see Dorothy and Betsy charging directly at her from each side.

"Fooled you! I also know such a move! And now.." Dorothy spoke to Rose, ready to deliver the single hit to her.

Sensing this, Rose smirked as she caught both Dorothy and Betsy's punches with each of her hands. Dorothy and Betsy let out surprised gasps as they struggled to break free from Rose's tight hold.

"Is that all? I'll admit, that was pretty smart.." Rose uttered in a mocking voice before crashing Dorothy and Betsy into each other and throwing them back to the ground.

This was followed by the girls groaning in pain, slowly getting up as they realized that Rose wasn't going to be an easy opponent to take down.

Meanwhile, Keiko and Flynn watched everything with great interest, eager to know what was going to happen next.

"Rose is not someone you should take lightly. It's clear that she's far above Dorothy and Betsy, and this is only a training session. She's great in combat and swordsmanship. .." Keiko thought to herself while she continued to watch the ongoing training session.

Back at the training field, Dorothy looked over to see the gifted sword on the floor, thinking about her worth before turning her attention to Betsy.

"Alright! Let's do this!" Dorothy uttered to her friend in a motivated voice while Betsy nodded with a smile, the blue electricity slowly charging up with her shoes.

"Got it! We'll show Rose who's boss!" Betsy responded, cracking her knuckles in the process.

Both Dorothy and Betsy were ready for the next round of their training session!