"Mother!" Rosa yelped, running toward her just as she saw the attack land. The woman had tumbled away from the explosion screaming, before resting on the ground. The handbags had flown out of her hands, as well as her gun. Rosa, stood before her mother, whom was cringing in pain, but caught sight of her own handbag a few feet away. She dashed for it first before running back to her mother and crouching to her level. She was sitting holding her leg, which appeared to have a rather severe burn on it. Rosa yelled at her, "What were you thinking?!"
"Rose, Rose, Rose," she repeated, inhaling sharply to get over her pain, "I couldn't let those children be harmed," she said rather quickly, before whispering 'ow' over and over. Rosa looked over at the man whose back was turned, more of those flames around him. His back was turned again. That was his biggest mistake. Rosa immediately opened up her bag to find the single box weapon sitting inside it. Dropping the bag, she brought the box up to eye level in one hand and clenched her other hand into a fist, glaring at the Vongola Ring on her finger. Her concentration was broken by a hand put on her forearm by her mother, whom was shaking her head.
"Don't do it, Rose," she whispered, "You can't do that again, remember what I told you when we moved here."
Rosa sighed. "Emergencies only," she growled, "And this is an emergency!" Her mother shook her head again.
"Rose, you have to get out of here," she told her, "Let the Vongola handle this. This is too much for you." Rosa glared back at her mother. She was not just going to take being called inadequate, not even from her own mother. With a huff, she stood up, leaving her mother on the ground. Bringing her fist up, a purple flame appeared, bubbling with energy. Rose collided the ring with the receptacle in the box and injected the flames into it. It opened instantly and out from it a great big cloud of purple flames exited and completely surrounded her and the area around her. Then, when the clouds disappeared, Rosa was there with a few changes in appearance, wearing boots instead of high-heels, having many black rings around her fingers and a leather belt wrapped tightly around her waist where many box weapons were attached, along with various tools such as a large spool of wire and a sheath for a large knife. Rosa grabbed what appeared to be a tiny sewing needle in a pouch at the side. She brought it up to her face, holding it up against her target like an artist with a brush or pencil. She only needed to use one and her victory was assured. She was the predator, and he was her prey. With a great big swipe of the hand, she sent the needle flying toward the back of her target.
"And suddenly, the Dark Menace appears tan!" Doing a side pirouette, Cornelius was able to dodge the needle targeted at him. Actually, he wasn't aware of it and simply did that action due to his flair of showmanship. What he was sensing was the activation of a flame which does not belong to the Rizzo, for now. That is why he had turned around to finally look at a familiar face. He did think familiar but no names were coming up as of now. His face all scrunched up a bit which indicated he was thinking who was the one in front of him. "You're a guardian right tan?" He pointed that obvious fact first before continuing with his contemplation. "Dolly... Parton... No, that's not it tan... Something with a flower tan." He crossed his arms in though which in returned the translucent balls he had crafted fall all over the ground to various directions causing explosions once again where one had actually went to the direction of the children.
"I remember now tan! Rose tan! That's your name right tan!"
In the exact moment, he blurted that sentence. The explosion engulfed some of the children who were once before humble audience to his innocent story-telling. He heard a few screams but simply took a look over his shoulder. "Ooops... Sorry tan!" Then, he returned his attention to the person he now remembered as the Vongola Cloud Guardian.
"Now tan! Give me your ring tan!"
Rosa had a hand raised in the air, fingers spread and ring displayed. She took glances at various directions of the room, before looking back at her target. Her eyes narrowed at him, judgingly so. She paused.
"A guardian? A flower? Huh," Rosa closed her fingers to examine her nails. "I am neither. You have the honor, of which you do not deserve, of being able to gaze upon a Princess." She raised her hand once again, palm facing her. "Yet, this particular ring of mine belongs to me and myself only. Now, what I ask is what you could possibly want with this ring of mine." Rosa looked directly at him, raising her other arm slightly as if to monologue.
For the first time in Cornelius' life or rather, the many first times in his life, he was to the point of sleeping. His eyes were rather fighting the temptation of closing. One would wonder if he was truly paying attention or is he even taking anything seriously. They didn't tell him that this Rose girl was astronomically boring in terms of speech. It reminded him one of those scolding sessions he has with The Matron (Annalise). If she wasn't a target, he would have left her there and do something fun instead of listening to her soliloquy.
"You appear to be strong, yet you are just so inadequate. Here you are, flames in hand, defacing somebody else's property and threatening children. Children. Why, I couldn't think of anything so low and pathetic. Perhaps I should be barking insults at an animal for its table manners if I were to accept such low standards. Honestly, you should feel ashamed of yourself." She rose both her hands into the air, as if she were holding the sky.
It was definitely a scolding. He was practically being told to act his age. Adding to that, when did he threaten the children? He just told them to stay so they can watch a wonderful show. In his personal opinion, he truly believed he was just showing them something fun. The notion of things exploding and people dying around him in his understanding are fun and entertaining. In any case, he released a rather large yawn indicating that he was rather bored.
"Do you want a show?" Rosa asked, "then perhaps I should give you the Grand Guignol!" Rosa brought her hands quickly, tossing them passed each other as if she were a conductor. At that moment, purple flames raced down previously invisible strings in all directions in front of her and into the air. In the air in every direction they were, droves and droves of dolls that surrounded the unaware man like spectators at a coliseum. Rosa had already opened them while he was playing his guessing game and had took her time to monologue to put them all into position. They were armed with shields and lances, all taking on the same appearance of cute European girls, but nonetheless armed with threatening weaponry, all pointed at a central point, the prisoner in the center of the stage, ready for his public execution. His crime: annoying the Princess. At once, they all charged.
The only time he perked up was when she mentioned about a guacamole. Cornelius hates anything green, so that definitely woke him up along with her saying about a show. And as if on cue, dolls surrounded him. He was wondering if they were going to play house or something. He should have invited Kurai over. But, their purpose was revealed soon enough when they charged against him. Well, that's how he likes it.
"Very good tan!" He announced in a lively tone as his fists were instantly coated in dark-red flames which flickered in sparks and random intensities. Cornelius began to move in a rather graceful yet tinge with precision as he jumped away letting the dolls be deprived of their target temporarily. After a few seconds, he delivered a pummeling puch from above to one of the dolls which instantly rippled its form before exploding. He continued the same thing to the others in varying degrees of punches and kicks whilst his hands and feet were covered in his own special flames. It was like he was dancing as his movements resembled that of an acrobat, but what was very noticeable above all, was his smile.
He was enjoying it, the thrill of plunging himself into the fray, even if they were actually, just dolls.
Soon enough, the horde of dolls were but pieces on the marble floor or what used to be a pristine floor. Cornelius settled himself before crafting two translucent orbs on one of his hands. They were much smaller than the ones he had used earlier. "Rose tan." He started as he faced the one who calls herself a Princess. Well, he has no problems with that. He goes by the alias of prince when he does his story-telling back at his place."Can I have one of your dolls, tan? I'll give it to Rara tan!" He then presented the two orbs to Rosa. "In exchange, I'll give these to you, okay tan?"
Somehow, he seemed to forget that he was supposed to get the ring, not the dolls.
At that moment, a large volley of small cloud arrows was sent in his direction. "I don't need your charity!" she called before making another gesture as if she were pulling back a bow. The great big firing line of archers in front of you fired their arrows once again. At that instant, she ran to the right away from the firing line. With another gesture, another volley was fired to cover herself. "Tell me which dolls take your interest!" Rosa smashed her fist into three boxes to summon three sword and shield wielding dolls. She controlled them with her right hand while her left hand controlled the archers. She jerked her left hand and sent cloud flames through the strings to cause the firing line of about ten archers to disperse in different directions around their target while her right hand reached into a pouch to grab a fistful of needles. First, she sent another volley of arrows her target, then she threw the needles with her right hand, which caused her knights to stand in front of her in a defensive position. She just needed one hit, just one would do.
"Stinky tan!" He said while sticking out his tongue at her. The two smaller orbs he held were released to the air as it effectively destroyed the incoming volley of arrows. That was unintentional, however. That was not the end though as another volley was launched towards him. But this time, she seemed willing enough to negotiate as she told him to tell her which doll he likes. "I can really pick one tan???" He managed to voice out in excitement before creating another series of small orbs to throw into the air. It seemed to work earlier blocking the arrows, so he did it again. But this time the moment they exploded, he launched himself at the archers with his hands covered again with those unstable deep red flames of his. He smashed them to bits like he had done before. Yet, they seemed to be endless as another series of arrows aimed at him.
His eyes narrowed distinctively as he took noticed something glistening so dreamily. That's his description of it. They were actually needles as he jumped into the air and then did a little spin while continuously releasing a series of explosive orbs. The moment they touched the ground, a frenzy of explosion rattled the gymnasium once more. Rosa's dolls were either caught in the explosion tearing them apart or thrown away. The resulting shock wave compiling with one another was enough to deflect and even destroy both arrows and needles. The damages with him kept on piling up and he had been told to keep it minimal.
Anyways, he seemed pleased with himself as things appeared to quiet down. Cornelius landed on the remaining intact floor seamlessly. A big smile on his face but instantly turned into a frown. It was because all of the dolls were broken or damaged. He can't give that to Rara. "Hey Rose tan! Bring out new ones tan! I broke them by accident tan!" His words might come up as insulting but, he was actually earnest in that request. He truly wanted to have a doll to give to Rara."Please tan? I'll give you this one tan!" He happily stated as he removed the giant cat stuffed toy from his back which served as an odd cape and then showed it to Rosa.
Apparently, he was not really taking the Vongola Cloud Guardian as a threat. But, that was to be expected as he never thought anyone of a threat.
Rosa frowned slightly. None of her attacks were making any hits, at all. Overwhelming him had no effect and neither was taking him by surprise and to top it all off, he was continually trying to mock her, at least that's what Rosa thought of it. It was really starting to annoy her. She only needed that one hit to assure herself a victory. Luckily, Rosa was still on the offensive and and the stage was set. Rosa could have easily went for the sure-kill right then, but she refused to until everything was perfect. Every move she would make from this point on would be for assurance.
"I don't need such a piece of crap," Rosa spat. The three dolls around her pointed their swords in a possible striking stance. Rosa opened more boxes around her waist to create three more identical dolls. Rosa then thrusted her palms forward, which sent all six dolls forward to attack. At that moment, she ran again, this time toward the shifting crowds of people at a somewhat frightening speed. People split to allow her to make room, but Rosa was constantly shifting directions. She was attempting to lose herself within the crowd, yet even without looking at them, somehow, Rosa could control her dolls. They move in unpredictable directions, spinning around the man and striking at random intervals with what appeared to be delicate movements, as opposed to the rather rudimentary movements of the other dolls.
Rosa's mother was still sitting on the ground clinging onto her leg, yet she was not watching the fight. Her shoulder-length hair was covering her face. She appeared to be focused on squeezing her leg, as if she were massaging it.
It was not much hard for Cornelius to follow the erratic or even the stable movements of people around him. This was probably due to his so-called eagle eyes which allows him to see everything within his line of sight with such crisp detail. He tilted his head to an angle with a pout on his lips. It seemed that this flower girl was not a nice person at all. She just called his giant feline stuffed toy a piece of crap. That was not nice at all. "So mean tan!" He then patted his toy's head in an affectionate manner while evading a strike from a doll. "Don't you listen to her Peru-Peru tan." There was another attack which he jumped away by doing a back-flip. His arms wrapped around the cat toy much like how he did with Kuro. "You're perfectly handsome tan!" This time he stepped on the head of a doll while his foot was coated with his flames which effectively destroyed it.
Landing back on the ground perfectly, he placed the cat now known as Peru-Peru by his side and then cracked some of his knuckles. "You hurt Peru-Peru's feelings tan. I'll hurt you all too tan!" After declaring that, he plunged himself towards the remaining dolls which engaged him to a fight. The idea of giving one of them to Kurai completely out of his head, for the time being. Both of his hands and feet covered once again with his unstable flames as he began to destroy the dolls before him.
Emerging from the crowd, Rosa crept quietly forward, no longer controlling the dolls. Instead, she had a fistful of wires in her hands, connected to the rings on the opposing hands. She couldn't help but grin. When was the last time she killed somebody like this? She used to be so much shorter. Well, this time, it would be easier. Rosa pounced at the taller man from behind and tossed the wires around his neck, before pulling as hard as she could, grunting while doing so. Her grip was unusually strong. She shouted "Just die already!"
Perhaps, he should nor have removed Peru-Peru on his back. It was for the better anyway, since he did not want this mean flower girl to jump on his feline toy. She was just too mean. His hands still coated with that dark red flames grabbed on to the wires strangling him. The pain induced by the attack did not bother him that much. But, he would have to admit that talking and breathing were rather difficulty to do at this moment. In any case, the wires snapped around his neck as he induced it to break apart by making its very molecules explode. After that, he grabbed the girl's arms and threw her away like a rag doll towards the panicking crowd which was not a hard thing for him to do."No piggy back rides for you tan!"
Rosa made no reaction toward getting thrown away, even as she slid on the ground, as if it didn't really matter to her. Rosa sat up quickly and examined the floor around her enemy. All the broken box weapons had burned away and all that remained were the wires, which lay motionless on the ground. Her options were running thin. Rosa attempted to reach for the knife at her side when she realized something wrong. Her right arm was missing. It lay next to her, lifelessly. There was no blood, not even a single drop of read was present anywhere. She merely frowned. It seemed that it was finally time to get serious.
"Wow tan!" That was the initial reaction Cornelius had as he saw the dismembered or rather the right term would be detached arm. "No blood, tan." He crossed his arms over his chest and had a thoughtful look on his face. That should not be possible at all. since everyone had some of liquid inside them no matter what kind color it will be. There should be blood plus, it does makes thing more colorful. His eyebrows met at the center as he was truly thinking how could this be possible.
Rosa grabbed the knife with her other hand. The blade shined brightly in the light. She stood, looking at the ground, knife to her side as if she were some sort of ragdoll. With a sudden jerk of her head, Rosa looked up at her opponent, although her appearance seemed much different. Her eyes were glowing a bright red, as if she were suddenly possessed by a demon.
Cornelius' trail of thoughts was interrupted when the Vongola Cloud Guardian spoke. He lifted his head to look at the girl and noticed that she now sports those laser-like eyes. It was like those lights in a dance party. That was rather impossible unless she was like the Matron (Annalise) with the robotic implants and all. If that was so, was he fighting with a robot all along? That was just.... so COOL!
"I've decided," she called, "that you're not only going to die, but you're going to die a fool, at the hands of a true 'Princess'." At that instant Rosa charged forward, head-first, toward her enemy with her knife raised as if she were a model of a monster or ghost in an old movie being pulled along by wires.
"Princess tan? You're a princess tan?" Somehow, Cornelius found that completely impossible. She doesn't look like a princess at all. It was more like those evil sorceress or royal maids like that stuff, definitely not a princess. Anyway, he charged as well to meet the now identified robot flower girl. It was actually a doll but, he was a blunt edge inside that head of his. He delivered an upward kick which should detach the other arm carrying the knife. After all, Cornelius' personal strength was not an illusion or the result of his flames. He was inherently inhumane in strength which also relates to combatant skills in terms of hand-to-hand. Then in one swift motion, his fist glistened with his flames again.as in one connected motion, he destroyed the wires wrapped around it.
At first, he believed it to be some kind of accessory. But, it was clear to him at only this point that it wasn't. "You’re not a princess tan." He stated as he delivered a straight punch to robotic flower girl before him who was wrapped with his quasar flames. The result of that would be similar to that of other dolls, destroyed. "You’re a robot tan!" He said with a bright smile as he believed that he was absolutely correct on that identification.
"A doll," Rosa's voice corrected, although it came from elsewhere, her mother. She appeared to be standing now, regardless of the condition of her leg. "A beautiful doll, born from my creation. Honestly, she thought she could compare to a real 'Princess'" She grinned as she wiped the hair away from her face, revealing narrow blue eyes that could have only belonged to one person. "Yet I'm getting real tired of you, breaking all my toys. Have you no sense of appreciation?"
At that moment, the woman whom looked like Rosa's mother became encompassed in violet flames until she was obscured. Then, many threads covered in Cloud flames fell away from her, revealing the true woman underneath. "I'll teach you how to appreciate true greatness," Rosa called dramatically, unsheathing her knife and presenting it facing up as if it were a sword, "Let us make incision to prove who's blood is reddest!"
As usual, Rosa was being overly dramatic.