Posted for archival purposes

Tilting his head to the right side, Cornelius took a moment to look at the fractured pieces of the doll around him and then towards the other Rosa who was supposed to be the old lady who told him not to touch the children. This was bizarre. As if, the entire spectacle wasn't from the very beginning. In any case, he took a deep breath and just stopped his thinking process. It was not really good for his health as it was already hurting from all of these complicated stuffs. Anyway, he does agree to one statement the Cloud Guardian said. "Let's spill blood then tan!" A smile much like that of a child was plastered on his face as his hands and feet were coated with his flames once more. He then launched towards the Rosa who appeared from a veil of purple as the crowd parted like it did with Noah. But, this one was not filled with awe just plain fear. "I do want to see the color of your blood tan!"That would be very possible once his fists or feet connect with her form. It will be a rather bloody execution as she will suffer an internal hemorrhage. Nevertheless, he was before Rosa who held a knife in her hand. His hand raised in an angle about to deliver a straight punch to her face. Well, he was never known for his delicacy especially towards women.

Rosa always had dolls do her bidding, but in the end, she was always the puppeteer. Even the doll that had just fought Cornelius was controlled by her. Same went for that doll whom was opening all the box weapons, it was merely a box weapon that acted as an extension of her own fingers. Yet, controlling a body was different than fighting in a body. It took many long hours of practice to truly create another her, a perfect image of a perfect girl. Yet, like all dolls, it was merely an imitation of the true Princess and true beauty could never be captured by a copycat. In the same way, Rosa's true skill could not truly be replicated. After all, there was no easier puppet to control than one made of warm flesh and red blood. All impurities that were associated with such materials, Rosa had none of them. She was perfect. She knew it, she had to be. Rosa had to be perfect, after all, to defeat the enemy that towered over her. Rosa stared her opponent down, knife at the ready as he was lured into attack. Rosa tensed. Indeed, she needed to be perfect for this to work. Rosa stared up at the man's fist, eyes wide. She sneered. She was practically begging for that hit (although with her attitude, she always was).

Oblivious to what was truly waiting for him, he did not hold back from delivering the incoming punch towards Rosa's face. Her expression did not even bother him as a smile was also present on his. This was brought out by the exhilaration he feels being in a battle. It was something which had been inherent within him since he was just a babe even if it's more like he was just a child playing a game which is of life and death. But, aren't we all? In any case, Cornelius' fist was just a few inches away from Rosa's face and if it does connect. Well, he would be in a world of hurt. After all, they were not meant to do anything else other than taking the ring. Fortunately for him, his fist never made the connection. Perhaps one could liken the experience to time moving in slow motion.

After all, that would have been the only possible way to recreate the perfect movements that Rosa had to preform. Yet, in less than a second, Rosa had just narrowly dodged the fist, yet the way she spun around to her left and almost fall off balance made it appear as if she was hit. Yet, in the exact same amount of time, Rosa had spun around perfectly, knife tightly in her grasp as she quickly faced him and thrust the knife into him. Seeing it from the corner of his eyes, Cornelius without much delay blocked the knife with his coated hand. He then proceeded to deliver a knee to Rosa's arm to dislodge her of the weapon. Whether, it hits it target or delivered the desired effect. He was oblivious at the moment to what was happening around him.

Rosa, however, had let go of the knife as soon as he had caught it. Rosa then spun around Cornelius to get behind him with the end of a wire in her hand. With a jerk of the hand, all the wire that lay on the ground was lit with purple flames and began to levitate, surrounding Cornelius as if charmed by a snake charmer. Rosa took a step back and grabbed a fistful of needles from her belt and threw them at Cornelius's back all at once. They all hit, wires sticking from them. With quick yet perfect motions, Rosa spun around the disoriented Cornelius in all directions, pinning needles into him like he were a ball of yarn, wires attaching to them. Then, with a great big yank, the big wire trap closed in on Cornelius, completely encompassing him in wires and needles.

Completely unexpected, Cornelius' reaction was that of unadulterated surprise. He truly did not see that coming. Well, he was not typically thinking when he attacks. He is more of a gut feeling type of guy. Unluckily for him, it seems his manly intuition failed him. Because, he was now surrounded by a seemingly endless stream of wires with the accompaniment of needles. Truly, this was not a pleasant experience, but it was good learning material for future references on how much his skin or his flesh could handle being pierced by it.

Rosa stood a few feet away from him to open a box weapon. From it, a small doll came out, a doll that wasn't professionally made like the others, but consisted of golden straw that was similar to either of the two's hair in color. Rosa grinned as she examined it. Then, she released it into the air in front of her. It stuck in the air, like most of her dolls did, as if it were unaffected by gravity. Then, all the purple wires that hung from Cornelius suddenly reached out to attach to it, yet at the same time, they attached to Rosa, as if they were enchanted strands of silk. Purple flames ran along the wires between Rosa, the doll and Cornelius, yet while Rosa seemed unaffected, the pain they caused was clearly apparent to the latter.

Well, this definitely sucks big time. He could feel the foreign feeling of the flame crawling all over him. It was icky and completely uncomfortable. In addition, they were hurting him which was something he liked to do to others as opposed to having it done on himself. But as always, this was another episode that could be added to his learning episodes. After all, it is better to get involved in the event itself than to simply read or see it. "Now," Rosa said aloud, before giggling. She caught herself, "Now, you are under my command." Rosa jerked her right arm toward her chest. At the same time she did that, the purple flames intensified and ran toward Cornelius's equivalent arm which forced it in the same direction. In no way looked as if it had moved easily. "You, you will listen to my command," she jerked her arm backward, resulting in the same occurring to Cornelius. "That's right, everything I do, you do. Even a stupid child of a man like yourself can understand that. In fact, you should be thanking me!" Rosa bent forward to bring her head forward, which bent Cornelius' body forcefully as well, although not easily. "I took the burden of making decisions for you!"

So as far as he could observe, his body was being forcibly moved by these troublesome wires and purple flames. That is as far as his processing could get, but that was enough for him to conclude what was needed to be done. In reference for Rosa's words, he could care less about it. They were like noises of an annoying parakeet which doesn't make any sense to him. It was at best idiotic whether what that exactly count on Cornelius' dictionary would be left to the air. At the moment, he was considering breaking his promise. He had been strictly asked, actually ordered not to utilize any of his box weapons to minimize the damages and casualties. Knowing him, he tends to get a bit overexcited with his maneuvers which warranted him the task of never using his box weapons. That was a big bummer for him, but he conceded to it with few briefings with the Matron. It was at the interlude when his thoughts were disrupted by another sudden movement of his own limb. He might actually have to face the consequences of breaking the specifications of his orders.

This time around.Rosa straightened her back and rose her other arm into the air. "In fact, everything would be so much better if all the stupid common people like you just did as they were told." Rosa gestured violently, bringing her hands out in front of her, "All every human being in this filthy world needs to do is observe, admire and obey!" She violently pointed. "Obey my will, a Queen's will and everything would be perfect, because I- she pointed her fingers at her face, "am the only being with a brain among all of you insects, so easily convinced of your own superiority!" her arms shot back down and she turned away from Cornelius, whom was forced to do the same and continued to force her limbs around in order to cause pain, "None of you could know what true greatness is! That is why I am the only person truly worthy of life that has ever lived." It almost appeared she was addressing the crowd. She stomped violently with each word. "I've squashed so many of you cretins I've lost count and I am so sick of it! You all can just go kill yourselves!"

But one word from Rosa triggered something from Cornelius, his eyes of unique hues held a brief shock, then narrowed into cold anger. His face always present with a smile vanished into a thin line. There are still things in his life which he takes seriously at certain moments. As for now, Rosa had prodded on that as he gritted his teeth. "Shut up tan!!" He shouted with great irritation. The needless attached to his flesh began to peel as his entire being was covered by his own unstable bloody red flames. His inhumane strength combined with his flames grew monstrous as he wrapped his hands around a bundle of wires and yanked it towards him.The needles which before embedded on his skin began to fall as the explode by contact on the ground. It seemed they absorbed the flames he had been exuding however, it was in such vast quantities which only hastened its own instability, destroying it. "Come here you robot tan!" He still thought that Rosa was actually a robot. "Robots have no blood, so they're not alive tan! You're not alive tan!!" The surprising pull he did should outbalance Rosa and from that he was able to gain a momentum.

Rosa spun back around quickly, only to find her own movements were restricted slightly. She scowled. She thought; How the hell is he doing that? Rosa tried pulling back on the wires with her body, only to find that Cornelius' strength was much greater than her own. She grunted and shrieked as she tried to regain her control, but now it was her that was restrained. Rosa tried reaching for her knife, only to remember that it was dropped near Cornelius. Rosa flailed about screeching. This couldn't be happening! Wires which had rendered Cornelius earlier immobile and captured removed themselves from his person with such a loud snap, some exploded along the way and others reflected back to their owner with an erratic lash. Rosa fell over as her own bonds were released, paralyzed by the pain that followed. Her entire body froze in shock. What is this sensation?

As he was fully released, Cornelius moved with such frightening speed and intended to grab Rosa by the neck and then slam her to the nearby wall. But, he was not a master of precision and the acceleration he incurred caught him in a bit of a tumble as he plunged Rosa to the wall, he was unable to stop his body by propelling forward, particularly his face which neared Rosa, and the gap between soon became nonexistent as his lips landed on hers. His eyes widened in horror upon realizing this and quickly released the Rosa as he stepped back. "Cooties tan! I have cooties tan! No tan!!" He began to furiously wipe his lips as he seemed to returned to his normal cheerful, childish self, completely forgetting that he was engaged in a fight.

Rosa was barely aware of what was going on. She was filled with barely familiar sensations. Her body ached, her vision blurred and her head stung. Nonetheless, her impulsive instinct for battle was telling her to recover, to stand back up. Slowly, she did, spitting as she did so. Rosa faced the figure in front of her, dazed. She tried to make her words. "Y-you think you have the upper hand, y-" she stuttered, putting her hand up to her face, "I-I-I... I'm not, uh," it sounded as if she were forgetting her lines. Rosa brushed her hands through her hair. "I, I wont lose to such a-AH!!!" Rosa recoiled. There was blood on her fingertips. Rosa looked at them and touched her hair in disbelief. She kept recoiling ever time she touched a certain spot. She brought her hands in front of her face only to find even more blood had been wiped on them. Rosa's hair was caked with it. Her jaw was dropped. "N..." her breathing became shaky. Then she screamed, "NOOOOOO!!!!!" Rosa dropped to her knees, clutching her head regardless of the pain and screamed profusely. Her eyes were squeezed shut. She appeared to have the mannerism of a child.

Cornelius stopped from wiping his lips and looked at the robot Rosa. Yes, he still thinks that girl is a robot. But then again, she was bleeding... So... That means, she isn't anymore? He blinked his eyes a few times to make sure that it was truly blood he was seeing. It seemed to be pretty legit. ”Oi Rose tan."He approached the girl and then lowered himself to the ground just before her. ”You still alive tan?" Well, he wasn't supposed to kill her, right? That part of the mission discussion, he heard while playing a video game. That little bump on the head won't be enough to kill her right? Unless, she's like humpty dumpty who falls down and all. ”Red looks good on you tan! Rose are red tan!" That was as far as color comprehension that Cornelius could think of. Then, he took a look at her hands. It was then he remembered what he was supposed to take. ”Oh tan! the Ring tan!" That's right. He needed to have the ring. It was something he had to have and return with. ”Can I have it now tan?" He asked as politely as possible and have a bright smile completely unaware of the effects of what his actions did to the Cloud Guardian.

Rosa's screaming had died down to what sounded like a barely audible sob, although Rosa was hardly moving. The sob became a bit more audible, although it didn't quiet sound like a sob. It was turning more into a sort of chuckle. That quiet chuckle turned into a relieved giggle and then into a very audible one, as if she heard something funny. She took a deep breath and brought her hands over her face, which was covered by her hair. "My blood," she said hesitantly, "Is really red, isn't it? Rosa brought her hands up, showing her rings and the small amounts of blood wiped on her fingers. "Do you have any idea how long it took me to do my hair today?" She giggled. "I suppose it's all fucked up now," Another giggle. "And the scars. Oh yes, the scars will look pretty ugly. The scars I'm going to put on you!" Rosa wrapped her hands around Cornelius' neck and tackled him onto the ground, headbutting him as she did so. "MY perfect hair! MY perfect skin! MY perfect kill! AND YOU! YOU!" She shook at his neck as she yelled.

Well, that turned out better than anyone could expected that's what Cornelius would like to say. However, it was not so. He soon found himself on the floor with a visibly smaller girl on top of him. Her hands around his neck with all intent and purpose to probably strangle him to death. But, what actually hurt him was not that but the headbutt which hit him in the noggin, so to speak. He got a bit dazed there but not enough to break skin, still more than enough to create a noticeable bruise and bump as time passes on. Anyway, he regained his own senses as he wrapped his hands around hers. At the end of the day, he was physically stronger than her. [b]”Ca--lm down, al--ready tan!”[b] He managed to say as he finally removed the hands from his neck which allowed him to speak and in the process slipping off her ring, well, the ring that mattered which was a good thing. Since, that act was out of pure accident.The action did not stop there as they rolled around a bit before stopping where he was now on top of her. His hand holding her wrists together in place to stop it from all of that flailing around or making it go around his neck. [b]”I don't know what you mean by perfect tan! But, I think you're beautiful tan.”[b] This was said in the most honest of observation. [b]”So calm down now tan!”[b] With that said, Cornelius removed himself from her while doing a pair of backward cartwheels giving them enough distance. That was then, he felt something on his hand. Taking a look, it was the ring he was ordered to take. His eyes brighten like a child who received the sweetest treat. [b]”Ooooh!!! I finally got it tan! Yay me tan!”[b] He announced while doing some sort of giddy victory dance, totally ignoring the fact that Rosa was still there or rather still conscious. He then took a moment to look at the ring. [b]”What so special about this ring anyway tan?”[b] It was as a comment as he continued on. [b]”It seemed weak to me.”[b] He stated nonchalantly as he gave Rosa a side-glance. [b]”Right Rose tan?”[b]

"That's, that's not my name," Rosa wheezed, struggling to get back on her feet. Her breathing was in sharp audible gasps and her legs were shaky. She felt weak and not only physically so. Her opponent was just too overwhelmingly strong and Rosa herself was hurt. Worst of all, she was hurt in front of an entire room of people. Rosa had never felt so ashamed in her entire life and it made her wish the man would just go ahead and kill her. Only, she still had life in her. It wasn't too late. Even if she was going to be beaten within an inch of her life, she was not going to lose. Rosa rose her other fist, on it remained her other ring, her Storm Ring.

Blinking his eyes owlishly, Cornelius wondered if she got her name wrong. It was not that far-fetched really. He doesn't like reading blocks and blocks of text so... If Rose wasn't her name was it some other type of flower? This was making his head ache with all the thinking. This Cloud Guardian really does like making things complicated than it should be. "It's RoSA," she hissed, her accent becoming uncharacteristically thick. She pulled one of her open box weapons out of her belt and presented it in her hand. Her knife, which was laying on the ground a few yards away, suddenly erupted into a small fireball as it rushed back into the box. As soon as it entered, the box closed. Rosa brought her other hand up, the one with the Storm ring, as a brilliant red flame erupted from it. Rosa may have been the guardian of Cloud, yet she had two flames coursing through her body, the purple of nobility, Cloud, and the red of power, Storm. Though her Storm ring wasn't nearly as strong as the Vongola ring, the quality of the ring was not the only thing that determined the purity of the flame. Rosa's scarlet flame blazed brilliantly and intensely. It was the last of her remaining resolve, after all, and resolve was the only thing that was allowing her to move.

With a swift motion, Rosa smashed her fist into the box, more intensely than she should have and it opened, a great plume of flames being released from it, materializing into the form of a knife, only the blade was completely encompassed in bright red flames and was twice as long as it normally was. Rosa held it backwards in her hand unsteadily, bringing her arm across her body and making a battle pose.

Ohh... Rosa... So, that's the name? Well, he just got the last letter wrong. Sheesh! But, his attention was completely taken by her lighting presentation. Yes, that is what Cornelius is calling it. It was rather impressive as he whistled in appreciation while nodding his head in approval. Well, if she doesn't make it to the robot business, she can be a pyrotechnician. "Fight me!" she called, "I can't accept a conclusion until one of us is dead!". Regardless of whether her opponent was going to fight her or not, Rosa attacked, going for a jab from above, aiming for his neck. Rosa could barely think about what she was doing, her mind didn't permit her to think rationally. It was operating on overdrive on its own.

Very interesting, Cornelius' smile changed into that of calculative one. His eyes narrowed not in annoyance. It was due to a possibility of a good fight. Well, what they were having is something he considered more of a spar. [b]”Okay, I got time to play with you tan.”[b]. His smile was now that of a taunting smirk and his eyes danced it excitement. He met Rosa head-on by propelling himself forward with a mere push of his feet and then deflected the wrist holding her weapon from aiming to his neck. It was done with a tap of his hand which was followed by him with a right knee to the stomach of Rosa.

Rosa jumped back and bent over to avoid the full blow of the knee, it only grazing her and countered by swinging at his chest. Swinging her arm all the way to her right side, she flipped the knife in her hand so it faced forward and went for an upward jab at his shoulder. Yet, before she moved her arm, she attempted to wrap her right leg around her left one to lock him in place.

With a smile, Cornelius did a back-flip to avoid Rosa's intention of locking him in place and when that arm swing put into motion, he gripped her wrist and twisted it, placing the limb behind her. [b]”Entertain me more, Rosa tan.”[b] He whispered beside her ear before he released her with an elbow to the back. Rosa stumbled forward but quickly regained her stance, spinning back around and feinting an attack with her left fist before attacking from the other side with her knife, following up the attack with a kick to his shin.

In an instant, Cornelius grabbed the ankle of the foot meant to kick him while bending his body backwards with an amazing angle. After doing so, he pulled Rosa by that hold and then used that to slam her down to the ground. He then straightened himself while stretching his arms a bit. He looked over his shoulders with those eyes of his filled with sadistic enjoyment. Rosa's head buzzed as her body complained. This feeling called pain wasn't as pleasant when it was consistent and sharp like this. The body was decaying, it was running out of energy. Rosa wasn't used to expending this much energy and her strength was all but gone. She hardly had any strength left to stand, yet her mind, devoid of all remaining reason, told her to stand and suck it up. She rose her knife. He had to die. Rosa needed to kill him once and for all. She wouldn't be humiliated by him anymore.

The blonde hair and the sadistic grin. Rosa wouldn't lose to him again. Rosa screamed as she struck. [b]”How boring tan...”[b] Cornelius noted as he allowed Rosa to come at him and when she stepped over to his proclaimed private space. His hand reached out by grabbing her wrist once more. This time, he added a pressure which was so closed to breaking that fragile bones of hers. It was for her to release the knife and when the sound of it clattered to the ground. His other hand struck like that of a cobra and clasped that neck of hers in a vice grip. [b]”And here I thought I was going to get something exciting out of you tan.”[b] His voice has a coldness in contrast with his earlier chidlsih and warm tone. He lifted Rosa off the ground which was not a hard thing for him to do. His grip tightened restricting the passage of air entering her system. [b]”So, why don't you just disappear Rosa tan.”[b]

After saying that, his hand further closed the passageway of her air. In his eyes, he could see the struggle Rosa was having with her oxygen being cut off by his hand. It was clear he has no intentions of releasing her neck because his intention really was to kill the girl. However, a voice echoed inside his head. It regained him some of sense and the recollection that he was not supposed to kill. With that said, he released Rosa to the ground. [b]”I almost forgot tan. What a bummer tan. Weaklings should just run away tan.”[b] He noted as he looked at Rosa. [b]”Don't challenge someone you are no match against tan. You'll live a longer life tan.”[b]With that said, he returned to his bright smile. [b]”And that is how the Evil Menance is defeated tan!”[b] It was clear that at this very moment Rosa was way out of her league.