[IC] As One | Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

[AgniSpirit]

Abby was having more of a grand time in Trespiano than she thought she ever would. After a lovely breakfast and delicious coffee, she parted ways with Jak to explore the town some more, especially since her new friend seemed to be chatting with a handsome Spanish guy. It would be nice if she also met someone cute in this town. From what she remembered, Italian guys were supposed to be pretty romantic. Or was it French guys? Either way, Abby was in a much better mood by the time the festival started.

She had been perusing the stands when she heard the first lightning bolt strike. At first, she thought her minds were playing tricks on her but the second lightning bolt followed by the smell of smoke put her on high alert. Abby looked around as the festival goers all around her began to run in different directions. It was hard to pinpoint the exact location of the start of the fire, especially for someone as short as her. Holding her ground against the wave of panicked people, Abby took another good look around her when she saw the stall next to her devoid of merchants. Immediately she jumped on top of it, disregarding the jewelry getting smashed underneath her sneakers (they were obvious fakes anyway) and searched the area for the start of the fire. Down the main street was where Abby found the source and the flames were growing stronger by the minute. She didn't know what she could do to help but could not stop the compulsion to jump from stall to stall all the way to the flames.

Eventually, Abby jumped back on the ground when there were less people around to knock her over. Looking around, she still had no idea what she should do now that she was closer to the action. It was then that she saw someone out of the corner of her eye. A dark-haired boy and the Spanish boy she saw earlier were trying to pull off some debris that had trapped an older man. They seemed to be successful but the man wouldn't move. Or maybe he couldn't...

Without thinking, Abby rushed towards them and immediately grabbed the man's hands when she was close enough. "I got ya!!" She shouted as she began to pull the man out from under the pile of debris. The man was a lot heavier than she thought but she continued to pull him just as the flames were getting closer to them. Finally after what seemed to have been forever, she got the man's entire body out from the debris. Once he was free, Abby let go of him and fell right on her butt, exhausted from the ordeal. Man, she needed to work out more. She looked up at the two boys who had been holding the beam up and grinned at them.

"Nice job!" She exclaimed but her grin was gone a second later when she noticed that the man was unconscious. "Hey, we need to get him out of here!" She announced, jumping back to her feet as she tried to move one of the man's arms over her tiny shoulders.

---

Sonya watched in horror as the lively festival took a turn for the worse when the fires started. She watched the whole scene unfold from the very beginning but could not do anything but watch. Even with her standing in the Vongola family, she would be putting her job and position on the line if she went up against the CEDEF leader. So she bit her lip and continued to watch, keeping her eyes peeled for the candidates. So far, three candidates were successful in aiding an old man while three others were still heading towards the fire, including the candidate for the Undecimo position. They would have to find some way to extinguish the fire themselves or at least keep it contained until the fire department arrived. Judging from the crowds of people and her previous observations of the town, it would take the firefighters twenty minutes to get there. The fire itself would have consumed a few houses by then and be too out of control for the local fire department to handle.

Vector was crazy for initiating such a situation, all for the sake of testing the candidates. Boss would not be happy when he hears about this.

[TwilightDragon]

The boy picked himself off of the ground, brushing off the soot and ash that stuck to his clothing. Even though that Cyril was pissed at the moment, he knew that there were much more serious things on his plate. He turned to see the other boy try to help a man stuck under a metal beam. Worry began to well in him, and he rushed to the young man’s side, trying to lift the metal obstruction off of the man. Yet, Cyril was a smaller man. He wasn’t necessarily built for strength. His fingers continued to slip, and he was not able to keep his grip. I can’t-

Yet, a blond haired girl ran up to them, and she aided them in getting the old man out from under the metal bar. He watched as she slung one of his arms over her shoulder. Cyril rushed to her and did the same to his other arm. At least the old man was okay. Even though the smoke was continuously stinging his throat and eyes, he was pleased that he was able to help. ”Come on, hurry up!” he wheezed, glowering over at the two other teenagers. They had to hurry, or else the man might get poisoned from all of the smoke inhalation…

[Vongola_Hasayo]

Naoto told Tommy to get to safety. When he was gone Naoto sprinted of to find his parents and make sure they were okay. Among the way Naoto helped out other people. He made sure that they were able to get away themselves and if they weren't he found someone willing to assist. Finally he saw his father on the out being two children under his arms. Knowing Liberta he probably already got his wife out. "Dad, make sure they get out safe." Naoto said as he ran past his father to go see if anymore need help."Be careful Naoto!" He called. You'd think a parent would be more objective to their son charging into a flaming mess like this but Liberta was a man who could a chance for growth and he could tell this was a season of growth. Naoto was relieved to see that there were others landing a hand. In his rush he didn't realize that they were all people he saw earlier that day. Hearing someone calling for help Naoto dated for them.

The voice was faint so Naoto had to track it down. Looking around he finally saw an old man taking under debris from a stand. The pink haired boy took a step when he saw the man reach out and grab a guys isn't leg begging him for help. "Get off! Help yourself old man!" The delinquent kicked away the old man's hand. Before the guy could get a way he was struck hard in the head with a can. He looked over to see Naoto bouncing another on his knee, his eyes hidden by his hair. Naoto looked the can sending it whizzing by the guys head, hitting the post behind him with a loud clang. "Hey punk what's the big id-ugh!" As the boy started towards Naoto he stopped dead in his tracks when he felt a fist stroke him in the gut. "I won't let you turn your back on him. Now help be get that stuff of him!" The guy looked only to see anger in Naoto's eyes. The guy seemed to realize what he had just done and seemed to feel the same anger towards himself that Naoto did. "Rrr...dammit David, your an idiot!" Ignoring the pain in his stomach he turned around and rushed to help the man. Naoto called and smiled slightly helping the gut lift the debris off of the old man. He gave the old man to David who nodded and carried the man over his shoulder. Naoto tried to catch his breath a little only to be startled by a sudden flare up of the flames. The fire is getting out of control. It'll be bad if they spread to the nearby houses. Now that I think about it because of the festival the fire department won't be ready to help for a while. Gotta do something! Then Naoto noticed that stand that the old man was trapped under. "Mira~" He had an idea but he was gonna need some help. He remembered the others he saw helping out. Grabbing something from the stands he rushed of to find them.

It didn't take to long. He could see them still helping other people. "Hey! Hurry and get anyone else out of here then come lend me a hand!" Naoto called to them as he pulled the lid of the barrel he had brought along and flung its contents onto the fire. The drink wasn't much but enough of it would keep things from getting to much worse before the fire department arrived. "There's a stand with a bunch of these barrels over here!" Naoto informed as ran off to get more.He didn't think about it but he hopped they would all follow him.

[Dusset]

Benjamin was relieved when a young man and girl about his age came to help him. Cyril came over and helped the girl heft the man. "Go on. Get him out of here, we'll be fine." He said, speaking for both himself and Joli, whom he hadn't truly met. He turned to him in this case, though, and said, "We have to do something about the fire." As if an answer from God, another kid their age ran up and gestured to the barrels full of drink. Good call. "We have to douse the edges of the fire and move anything it might use to spread, like those banners." He told Naoto and Joli. "We don't have to put it out. Just contain it." He pulled out his pocket knife and started severing or moving banners, streamers and anything connected to the surrounding buildings, including fallen boards. He wished they had dirt. Just a wheel barrel of it. They could encircle the flames with it. Whatever drink that kid and hopefully Joli were pouring would have to be enough. "Check the barrels for alcohol! That would light up like a Christmas tree!" That would only make the situation worse.

[Solace]

Daisuke could not have felt more relieved when the little procedure of rolling around did its job to put out the fire burning his shoulder

The boy huffed and puffed as he clumsily picked himself up from off the ground, his legs unable to receive the electronic impulses that signaled for them to kick into motion. He trembled slightly as he found himself at the center of the entire incident all alone, surrounded by the scarlet destruction. He blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes as if to confirm that this was reality, and to his spine-rattling fearful contention, it was all happening before his eyes. "H-help!" he shouted.

But Daisuke was certain that his voice could not be heard over the other screams that filled the smoky air, and yet, he couldn't move. The muscles of his limbs had tightened up completely, and his body was locked on the spot. He was afraid, and all he could do was stand there and watch as the flames drew closer to him.

A "Hello?" from beyond the smog activated his body as Daisuke's head turned to where it came from, seeing a girl around his age emerge. "Is there anyone still here? Hello?"

Daisuke almost leaped towards the girl and threw his arms around her in a hug full of relief, nearly crying as he said, "You've come to save me! My dame in shining armor!"

---

The candidates weren't faring so well.

Vector shook his head in mild disappointment as he watched from a balcony, flipping his cell phone open as he decided to do what people used their phones for more than its intended use; send a text message. Again, he was forced to dig through his long list of contacts until he found Sonya, simply sending two words and throwing his phone back into his pocket - Your turn.

Vector never really trusted outsiders of the Vongola, much less, Sonya, even if Decimo gave her the task of tutoring the Sky candidate. To keep the Vongola at its strongest, he would do anything to transform these kids into worthy successors of a responsibility greater than anything in their little lives. Hopefully, Sonya was the same, but he knew that his loyalty to the Vongola was second to none. This was not even close to the extent of his devotion.

The Vongola Famiglia was already having trouble maintaining its stability, and ran a risk of suffering from a coup d'etat. To make matters worse, other families had begun to target them, and with Decimo being the way he was, he didn't want to stir up any more violence, which only worsened the condition of the ongoing internal conflict. If these children were to inherit the name and will of the Vongola, they would need to be at their strongest, and he would stop at nothing to make sure of that.

[RainDash]

Jak didn't know how to react when he hugged her. For one, she'd never seen this kid before, and for another, the fire was larger than she'd expected here. She had to remain calm to solve this. From experience she knew the firemen would take at least twenty minutes to show up, and the way the fire was spreading, it would reach the houses before long. "Okay." she covered her mouth and nose with her hand, trying to prevent the smoke from making her pass out. "That's a lot of fire."

Think. We have to get out of this. Where would the best way to get out of the heart of the blaze be located? she scanned the area then saw one tent that hadn't yet fallen over. The material was on fire, but it provided an open escape from the burning fire just beyond. Squinting to keep the smoke out of her eyes, she tried to see past the dark cloud of smoke, but couldn't. "Well, there's a way out that way, but we'll have to go through burning tent, but if we do it's likely we;ll get out of here quicker. So, come on. We've got to move before the fire gets worse and our exit collapses."

[TwilightDragon]

Reiner hadn’t shown up, and it was becoming later and later in the day. Fionn decided to just go to the festival to see what was going on. He had been smelling smoke and there were people screaming and crying out… but… It couldn’t be anything serious, right? Right? Well… he was wrong. When he arrived at the festival, he saw a large blaze tearing through the tents and stalls. What happened? he thought as he felt panic rise in his chest. There might be children trapped there… he had to help somehow. Even though he was typically overlooked… he had to do this for himself.

Rushing into the midst of the fire and smoke, Fionn struggled to navigate through the thick haze that hung around the place. He heard voices, but he couldn’t tell what they were saying or how far away they were. Useless. he told himself. You’re so useless, Fionn. You came all of the way to just stand around? You have to help! his amber eyes flicked to and fro the street. There has to be some… a harsh cracking sound interrupted his thoughts, and he cried out as he saw a pile of fabric and wood hit the floor not even two feet from where he was standing.

”Gah!” he cried out again as he saw the heap catch on fire. This is bad… who even started this sort of mess? Fionn coughed as the smoke stung his nose and throat. Pulling his shirt up to his nose and mouth, he narrowed his eyes as he turned toward the only path that was empty of burning debris. The heap had blocked his way out… now, he had to hope for an alternate route out of the fair.

Fionn staggered down the street, trying to make sure that he didn’t trip over any broken wooden beams or other things. ”Hello?” he called. ”Is there…” a bout of coughing interrupted him. ”… anyone here..?!”

[Gerad]

Although Joli was taken aback by the wild nature of the town's "child prodigy", he happened to enjoy his enthusiasm to find a solution to the situation. In fact, he had even proposed a plan to use nearby barrels full of liquid, in the best case scenario inflammable, to cote and douse the more chaotic areas, as well as possibly prevent further spreading. However, that was before the young man he helped removed the debris so that the other kids, who he recognized as members of his school, pulled the old man out. It felt briefly like a moment of silence, but was quickly dampened by the deepening black of the the beautiful sky with ash and smoke. He heard the young man, who looked at least a few years older than Joli, at least in physique if nothing else. He was the one that had initially helped.

Still, saving the odd person here or there wouldn't really prevent severe damage. In fact, even controlling the flames wouldn't prove to be much of an act of valor. If anything, they should probably get out of there before they died! But instead, he ran to the barrels and tried to drag one to just outside the flames. However, it was surprisingly heavy. So instead, he found a container full of large novelty cups, about 12 in total and filled them up, carrying that to the more severe areas. He managed, on the first run, to put out some the flames, and after quickly the repeating the process, he realized he was truly getting no where.

How about the others? Surely they must have had better luck than him. As he looked around, he actually realized he was alone! However, they must be doing something well, because many of the flammable items from around the area had been stripped and removed, adding to his efforts in preventing the fire from spreading. Now, he thought, time to help those other crazy guys find people to save! Running as quickly as possible, again into the center of the mass of heat and smoke, he was hoping truly that the other three kids were doing well, especially the brown haired male...he seemed, more level-headed than the others somehow; that could come in handy.

[Solace]

Daisuke clung to the girl as if he was going to die. Then again, given their current situation, there was a chance that he was going to die. He saw the girl place a hand against her mouth and nose to block out the toxic smoke, prompting him to do the same. He had already inhaled a lot of the virulence and he was dizzy, but he managed.

"Ahh, my second day in Italy and I'm going to die already!" The frightened Daisuke howled in a muffled bleat, tears forming at the corners of his eyes from the smoke. "Trespiano is not at peace!" he continued to whine until the girl mentioned something about there being a way out. He looked to where she was looking, his eyes gleaming with hope as he too saw the opportunity of safety, though tensing when they saw that it was also on fire.

Daisuke gulped. "God sham it," he said, stuck in place. He turned to look at the girl, hesitant. "Are you sure we should g- YAA!" He screamed as another stall collapsed from the flames just beside them, his heart jumping out of his chest. Unsure as to if courage or fear itself was motivating him, his cowardice disappeared as he grabbed the girl's wrist and ran towards their escape, squealing, "Nopenopenopenopenope-!"

[AgniSpirit]

Abby was relieved of some of the weight from the unconscious man she was carrying when one of the guys who held up the debris slung the man's other arm over his broad shoulders. He shouted something at her, but she could barely hear him over the roaring flames and destruction all around them. However, she understood the determined look on his face and simply nodded before she began to pull the older man to safety. Smoke was filling up Abby's lungs fast and after just a few yards, she was already feeling exhausted. She didn't want to give up but this was taking more of a toll on her than she realized.

---

Sonya was watching the inferno rage from on top of a rooftop a good distance away when she heard the ping of her cell phone. She dug it out from her pocket and saw one new message from Vector. Your turn.

The red head immediately put her phone away and began to sprint across the rooftops to the blaze. These kids responded to the dangerous situation much better than she had expected but their efforts were doing little to control the fire. She really couldn't blame them though; Vector was crazy to think that the candidates could stop something like this at their current levels. Now that she got the O.K. to intervene, it was time to take things into her own hands.

Sonya jumped from rooftop to rooftop, circling the edges of the fire until she got to her destination; a tall building with a large water tower right on top of it. Pulling a silver cylindrical object from her back pocket, Sonya pressed a hidden button that extended the object until it was a six-foot long rod. At the top of the rod erupted a huge morning star, the tips of its sharp points already glowing in Storm Flames. Lifting the huge weapon with ease, the red-head swung the morning star at the water tower's wall. It punctured the metal wall with ease and when she pulled the morning star away, water burst through the newly made hole, falling in waves on top of the fire below. In a matter of minutes, the source of the blaze was extinguished, leaving only tiny bits of the fire that the candidates were already taking care of. Sonya retracted her weapon and put it away before stepping off the tall building, landing on the burnt sidewalk 40 feet below with ease. She briskly walked through the remains of the vendors until she reached the clearing where a few of the candidates were. She looked over each face for a moment before finally resting her blue eyes on the pink-haired future Undecimo.

"Naoto Alato, although I was impressed with your bravery and willingness to help, your efforts to contain this fire was pitiful." Sonya announced before suddenly kicking over one of the barrels Naoto had aimed to dump over the flames. Red wine spilled onto the blackened cobblestone.

"As you can see, more than half of these barrels are filled with wine. We are in an Italian town celebrating a festival so there is going to be an influx of wine in the area. And yet you chose to the use the first thing you saw." Sonya then pointed to a nearby restaurant with its door opened. "If you thought things through instead of panicking, you would have seen that a lot of these shops were evacuated, leaving wide open doors for you and your potential guardians to enter. You could have used the water from sinks to fill up barrels. Or better yet, the fire extinguisher every restaurant is required to have. I can see now that I have to teach you to think clearly in dire situations and to keep a level-head." Sonya took another look over the area, seeing many of the potential candidates all over the place.

"And apparently how to properly lead a team as well." She sighed.

[Dusset]

Benjamin had finished clearing debris to contain the fire when the water tower burst open. He took the advantage to move one of the stalls that had been on fire out of the way so they didn't have go climb over ash and burnt wood. Some woman was talking to the pink haired kid and he overheard most of it. "I thought I told you to watch out for alcohols." He said as he closed the distance between them all. He was frustrated that Naoto hadn't heeded his warning and happy that someone else was already on him for it, even if he didn't show it. He walked past the two, though, in search of anyone else who might have been stuck under rubble. Now that most of the fire was out, it was the perfect time for moving things. He figured that no one else was stuck since he couldn't hear anyone and they'd gotten least one or two people out prior.

He selected a bench that hadn't been burnt up to sit down on. His chest was rising hard and his hair had a glisten of sweat. Running around, moving things and all while being exposed to smoke and fire probably wasn't very good for him. From what he could see that girl and guy had gotten the old man out, and he thought he saw Jak with someone who was freaking out. For being Italy for such a minimal time, he had never expected to have to fight a fire already. Well. Ever, really. But he was exhausted, and all he wanted to do was recuperate and maybe even take a nap.

[RainDash]

Jak was being dragged by the guy she'd just saved through the tent. This would have worked out well, except that the fire was suddenly out out by a large wave of water. Which meant that she was now drenched and working her way out of an equally drenched tent that they'd almost cleared. She managed to pick herself up and see where exactly they'd ended up. Looked like someone was yelling at some guy she knew as Naoto about not being a team leader.

She didn't even know he was fighting the blaze, but the woman had a few good points. However she was little busy trying to not let the guy not burn to death. "Well, that was something. Maybe if another fire breaks out, I haul the fire department here myself. Sorry about your second day in Trespiano, by the way." she laughed, "it's not usually on fire."

What was up with that woman though? She was talking to him like she knew him or was teaching or something. Maybe it was a relative of his? A really pushy relative maybe? "Hey, if you want we can go get some ice cream, to make up for nearly dying in a fire and all."

[Vongola_Hasayo]

Naoto dashed back and forth from the stand carrying a barrel or two small barrels each time. He was relieved to see that the others he'd told about the barrels were helping out. As little as it did to contain the blaze, at least it was something. On a trip back with two small barrels he heard someone calling out. There's still others here! Naoto rushed towards the voice. Dodging through the flames he finally saw a figure. Getting closer he could make out the blonde foreigner. "Oi! Are you alright?" The boy was coughing pretty badly so Naoto dropped one of the barrels so he could have an arm free to help. Earlier, Naoto had figured there was a barrel filled with alcohol among the pile he was taking from. He could smell it but the smoke made it hard to tell which specific barrel it was. In his rush he decided to grab and go, checking the barrels when he got to another bad part of the fire. "Here, hold onto me. I'll guide you." He told the boy as he put his arm over his shoulder.

Guiding the foreigner through the blaze to a clear spot Naoto set him down and took a look around. Their efforts were helping but now the blaze had taken back the fight and was starting to flare up again. Naoto gritted his teeth. "C'mon! Just a little longer...that's all we need for the fire department to get here!" Unfortunately the fire wasn't merciful and roared back at Naoto. He tried to think but the smoke and ash was starting to finally get to him too just like everybody else. Breathing a little faster he racked his brain for an idea but to no avail. Then, he suddenly got the same feeling he had earlier at the cafe that someone was watching him. Naoto looked up in time to see a figure smashing the water tower and extinguishing the fire with one swift act. He sighed with relief as he was drenched in the town saving waters. Flopping to a seated position, Naoto placed the barrel he had beside him. Naoto looked up as the woman stepped off the building. His eyes widened in panic but then turned to utter amazement that she survived the fall without a scratch. She's crazy...and kinda scary... As she approached and looked around at everyone who had gathered to the clearing Naoto started to speak up with a thankful smile. "Hey, that was a really awesome assi-" He was cut off when the woman started speaking. His eyes widened seeing the red wine spill onto the street. As much as he wanted to protest he had forgotten about checking it like he planned and was going to throw it on the fire moments before. Naoto brushed the wet hair out of his face ignoring the Spanish boy as he was already getting grilled. "Okay, that one was a stupid move but-" Again he was cut off by the woman but this time he started to get angry. Now she was just berating him and his head was starting to fill with voices. "Alright! I get it, I messed up! Sorry if I don't deal with a crisis situation on a regular basis!" He shouted jumping to his feet. "And what the hell do you mean teach me? Who the hell are you!?" When she mentioned leading a team, he was confused but moreover he didn't like the sound of it. "I wasn't leading anyone. I barely recognize two of these people let alone would I try to be anyone's leader!"

[TwilightDragon]

Cyril grunted as he pulled the man to safety. The blond haired girl helped as well, and once the man was safe, he looked back up at the burning flames. For once, he actually seemed concerned. It was strange because Cyril usually kept a stoic expression on his face. But now… he almost seemed frightened. Who could blame him, though? There was no way out… Damn it, am I going to die here? he questioned, but then he felt something… wet fall on him. Glancing up, he realized that the water tower had burst and its water was beginning to fall over the fire.

The fire was quenched before it could get any more serious. Cyril ran a hand through his moist hair, glancing to and fro the streets. Now that he could see clearly… he saw a bunch of people gathering. There was a woman that was being yelled at by some pink haired kid… Curious, he left the blond haired girl’s side and walked up to them, only catching some of their words.

”I’m sorry, but if you knew how to stop the fire in the first place,” Cyril told the red haired woman, his eyes narrowing as he crossed his arms. A scowl was beginning to crawl across his features, but he restrained himself. No, he would hold himself back. This woman wasn’t a danger. She had saved his life, and the rest of them as well. ”Why didn’t you? People were injured.” it was obvious that he wasn’t in the mood for excuses. Seriously, Trespiano seems to get more and more crazy people every year.

His gaze flicked back toward the others. There was that boy that had been with him before, when they were helping the old man. Cyril couldn’t recognize the others. Especially not the pink haired kid. Yet, he knew that he went to his school. He seemed around his age, and there was only one or two schools in Trespiano. The beach town was that small. ”And I’m repeating this one here’s question. Who the hell are you?”

[Solace]

This was perhaps the strangest day that Daisuke ever had. It was stranger than the day someone had climbed the flagpole with the American flag and replaced it with a pair of underwear to show off their patriotism for the country, but this situation beat it by a long shot. He wasn't even sure what was worse; how close he had come to dying, or the fact that he didn't win the goldfish back at the game.

The spontaneous fire had been put out by an equally spontaneous jet of water, which soaked Daisuke entirely as he lost his grip on the girl's wrist and fell onto his bottom. He coughed and wheezed from the water that entered his nose and mouth, slapping his right ear as he tilted his head to get water out of the other ear and doing the same for the opposite. Almost as if he forgot the danger of their now-past situation, he stood back to his feet and threw his arms up. "That was a fun game!" he cheered, laughing as he fixed his drenched hair back down. He trotted over to where the girl who came to his rescue was, and smiled widely when she told him something about him and Trespiano not usually being on fire.

"Oooh~" Daisuke's eyes grew wide in curiosity as his face beamed at the mention of ice cream. I... love... "ICE CREEEAAMM!" he raised his arms again and blurted out, jumping and cheering like he had won the lottery. "Take me with you, O' Great Dame!"

[Gerad]

Just as Joli had finally begun to catch up to the others who had helped save that old man from before, he was momentarily stopped by a line of flame that he watched creep up a trace of leaked wine and into one of the barrels. He was unexpectedly thrown backwards by the explosion that followed. Shaken up a bit, Joli tried to recover and catch his breath, but his chest felt heavy and his legs seemed immobile. Although the shock would pass, he felt a nipping terror in his stomach from the sheer thought of being left to burn to death. However, although wobbly, Joli was able to stand, only to be confused by a loud bang. Looking up, he saw a wall of water falling from the sky, like the picture from a city mural. It hit him particularly hard, as he had just barely managed to stand.

Strangely, Joli didn't feel the pain from the bang that he was expecting, but was actually pleasantly cooled and refreshed by the sudden splash. Once he snapped back to reality, he looked around and noticed that the fire had successfully be doused. But by who? Struggling still, but at least a little less, he got up and took another look around this time to ascertain his whereabouts. Settling upon a clearing, he could see that there were others there, who looked just as exhausted, and moist, as he did. Limping closer, who could just barely make out a voice, but he could see a perfectly dry adult talking to one of the kids he'd seen earlier. In addition, he realized that the other children were also the ones from earlier, at least those he recognized. There were one or two that he hadn't seen before but, he was almost certain the others went to his school.

Finally making his way over to the circle, he had made it just in time to hear: "[i][b]Who the hell are you?" It seemed that the pink-haired boy was being berated by the adult, who he could now tell was a female, because he definitely asked that in what appeared to be aggravation. For now it seemed best to stay quiet, but Joli could tell that things were probably about to get very interesting.

[AgniSpirit]

Abby was downright panicking the moment the flames began to lick at her arms. The heat was excruciatingly painful and she didn't know how much more she could hold on. Then suddenly, as if someone in heaven had heard her, water came raining down all around them and soaked her to the bone. She felt instant relief from the cold water but coughed a bit when some went up her nose. It wasn't until she was finished with her coughing fit did she notice a red-haired woman jump down and start yelling at a pink-haired boy she didn't notice before. Abby was wondering who the lady was when the weight around her shoulders suddenly became heavier.

"What the-?" She looked to her side to see the dark-haired teen who had been helping her walking up to the woman as well, leaving her to take care of the heavy unconscious man all on her own.

"Hey you jerk!" She called out before falling on her knees when the weight was too much for her. Abby hissed as the pain shot up from her knees and tears welled at her eyes. The fall would surely leave a mark later.

---

Sonya twitched as she did her best to hold herself back from punching not one but two whiny brats when they started to yell at her for stupid reasons, like who she was and why she didn't stop the fire in the first place. The first thing Decimo told her after she was given this mission was that she needed to work on her temper. And there was no way she was going to disappoint her boss. Taking a deep breath, she gave everyone a deadly glare, hoping it would shut them up long enough to give them her full explanation.

"I am Sonya Dmitriev, a mercenary for the strongest familiga in the mafia world, the Vongola family. I was sent here by the 10th Vongola Boss to train his heir, the future 11th Vongola Boss, a.k.a. you, Naoto Alato." She turned her gaze onto the pink-haired boy for a moment before turning back to everyone else, "I am also here to test and train the six Guardians who will be tasked to protect and serve the future Undecimo.

"Cyril Leggieri, you are the candidate for the Guardian of the Storm,

"Jakki Dafne, you are the candidate for the Guardian of Rain,

"Abigail de Luca and Fionn Breckenridge, the two of you are candidates for the Guardian of the Sun,

"Daisuke Honda, you are the candidate for the Guardian of Thunder,

"Benjamin Silva, you are the candidate for the Guardian of the Cloud,

"And finally, Joli S., you are the candidate for the Guardian of the Mist." As she listed off the names of each teenager in the area, Sonya made sure to make eye contact with each and everyone one of them to show just how serious this was. When she was finished, she turned her gaze onto Cyril and gave him a glare.

"The reason I didn't stop the fire earlier was because it was your first test. However, I was not the one who assigned it. Rather, it was from someone much higher up than I and much more dangerous than you can imagine. He is not happy with the results he has seen and I intend to fix that. Any questions?"

Abby's hand immediately shot up when she saw that the scary lady seemed to be done with her speech. "Can I get some help please?!" She screamed, her legs on fire from having to hold up the unconscious man all by her tiny lonesome. Sonya simply sighed and shook her head. What did she sign herself up for?

[TwilightDragon]

Well, this was surprising. Cyril's eyes widened when he discovered that this was the Mafia's fault. The word itself made him bristle. There was no way that he was going to go through with this. His fists clenched and he returned to glare at Sonya. "I've already been in the mafia. There's no way that I'm working for a bunch of scumbags like the Vongola." he spat at her, before whirling around and walking straight past a struggling Abby. I can't believe it. They're after me again. fear was beginning to well in his heart, but he held it back from deforming his features. He glowered over his shoulder and saw a blond brat (Fionn) help Abby with the man leaning on her shoulder. I might have to leave Trespiano. Maybe I can go to Rome, or even as far as France.

[RainDash]

Jak laughed at being tackle hugged again. "I'm not really a Dame… I just know a bit about fire…" she rubbed the back of her neck, a bit embarrassed by the attention she was getting from Daisuke. "I know about this great place that might still be open-"

She was cut off by Sonya saying that she was the Rain Guardian, whatever that meant. She stared at the group for a moment. "Are we playing some kind of Mafia game or something? Naoto doesn't exactly look like the 'Mafia Boss' type." she wandered over to join in the conversation. "For one, he's never gonna lead, he's good at soccer and nothing else, I saw him play once, and I don't know why you're not captain, man."

What was she sing over here anyway? This Sonya woman was clearly a little nuts. Mafia? In Trespiano? That was funny. There was no way they could have those big bases without someone noticing here, and there was no way they could beat people up for money. The police were, more often than not, bored by the lack of stuff to do here. Not to mention, they were all just kids. They couldn't possibly get involved in make concrete shoes and the like. It was scary.

[Solace]

Daisuke's brief moment of euphoria was brutally butchered as the very scary woman said something about him being the Guardian of Thunder. It sounded familiar... why? "Huh?" he beamed, his face wide in curiosity as he turned to the small group formed around the woman. He blinked a few times before realizing that the boy from before was among them, learning that... "Your name is Cyril! The egg dude from before!" he gasped. "You liar, you already had eggs! It's in your last name!"

Daisuke pointed to Cyril and grinned sinister-like before putting on an extremely serious expression, imitating the motion of placing a cigarette into his mouth and blowing out smoke as he deepened his voice as much as possible. "Do you feel lucky, punk?" he imitated Clint Eastwood from the American movies he had watched in America.

Both of Daisuke's hands reached down to his waist and mimicked the motion of pulling out two guns from his side, his fingers emulating the guns. "Bang, bang!" he mumbled as he 'shot' each of the other kids and trotted slowly towards the woman. "Pew, pew," he finished his impression after 'shooting' the woman lastly, laughing. "I think I played mafia before!"