The two swordsmen stared each other down--although Takeshi was grinning brightly the entire time.

In Takeshi's original world, Genkishi became a great practice partner when it came to sword fights; to make it short, the two became close friends.

But now...Genkishi didn't know who Takeshi was.

The four-sword wielder gazed indifferently at Takeshi as the teen spoke.

"Aren't you going to draw your sword out too?"

Genkishi scoffed.

"There will be no need for me to do so."

"Haha!  Is that so?" Takeshi gripped the hilt of his blade tighter. "...Then I'll make you draw your blade."

"Arrogant words of an inexperienced child."

The happy-go-lucky teen glanced over at the unconscious Lal before returning his gaze to Genkishi.

'...That one's an illusion...'

Takeshi acted oblivious as steadied his katana in front of his face, ignoring the real Genkishi that was standing on the side.

Splash!

The ravenet teen suddenly disappeared in a flash of blue; the real Genkishi on the side widened his eyes with surprise.

'Where--?'

The real Genkishi blinked before drawing one of his swords out in time to block a blow from Takeshi, who suddenly reappeared in front of him.

The ravenet grinned.

"I made you draw out your sword~!"

Genkishi tsked and pushed Takeshi away with his blade; the Millefiore swordsman regained his stoic expression.

"So, you have actions that back up your words, but that does not mean that you will win."

Takeshi laughed and shouldered his katana.

"Well, you never know until you try!" 'I actually have to lose in order for things to turn out as they did before...'

Genkishi gazed at Takeshi silently, swinging his sword to the side.

"Come, then.  Show me the strength of the left-hand man of the Vongola Decimo."

The teen grinned and positioned his sword behind him.

"Shigure Soen Ryuu...14th Offensive Form..."

Genkishi blinked in surprise when the water started to make waves away from Takeshi.

The ravenet narrowed his eyes and took one step forwards, lifting his katana above his head.

Suddenly, Takeshi jumped and swung his sword down onto Genkishi's

"...Canzone della Rondine!" (Song of the Swallow!)

SKREEECH!

Genkishi winced when his ears were assaulted by a loud, sharp screech of metal.

The Millefiore member narrowed his eyes as he was about to attack Takeshi.

But...he couldn't move.

Genkishi widened his eyes in shock as Takeshi grinned right in front of him.

"Canzone della Rondine is like Squalo-san's Attacco di Squalo.  It freezes an opponent's nerves, but, it uses sound instead of vibrations."

Genkishi narrowed his eyes once more before biting his tongue.

Using the pain, Genkishi shook off his frozen nerves and attacked Takeshi once more, who grinned and ducked underneath the swing.

"As expected of ya', haha!"

Genkishi growled lowly before regaining his stoic expression.

Three Genkishis suddenly appeared.

Takeshi swung his katana and switched it to his left hand before swinging it around again.

The teen straightened up and pressed his heels together; he placed a fisted hand against his back.

Takeshi grinned as he placed his katana vertically to the ground, sharp point pointing to the ceiling.

"Posizione Pronto Scherma Royal." (Royal Fencing Ready Stance.)

Back in the original world, Squalo taught Takeshi different sword styles that he had gained over his challenges.

Takeshi squared his shoulders as he continued to grin.

The ravenet teen lunged forwards and went into a series of jabs.

"Stile di Scherma, Primo Atteggiamento: Focoso Pioggia." (Fencing Style, 1st Stance: Dashing Rain.)

The Genkishis narrowed their gazes slightly as they quickly blocked each blow.

Takeshi quickened his pace and quickly took one of the Genkishis down.

The two Genkishis then sent condensed Mist flame slashes at the teen.

Takeshi changed his stance, bending his knees; his eyes glowed a light blue.

"內-野獸技術, 防禦姿態: 1 萬的燕子." (Inner-beast Technique, Defensive Form: 10,000 Swallows.)

Tiny blue lights shaped like birds darted from Takeshi's sword swing.

The attack nullified Genkishi's.

Takeshi then coated his sword with Rain flames and switched hands.

The second Genkishi got hit by one of the swallows and disappeared in a burst of Mist flames.

The real Genkishi narrowed his eyes.

"Enough.  I shall end this now."

Five more Genkishis appeared; Takeshi started to act like he was slowly getting defeated.

One of the Genkishis then kicked him in the gut and sent him flying into one of the large pipes, breaking one, causing more water to flow out.

The teen coughed; some blood dripped down his chin.

Takeshi smiled weakly as he started to lose conscious.

'Well, it's better than getting defeated by a wall, haha!'

The teen's eyes closed completely.  The last thing he saw was the fake Genkishis disappearing and the real one starting to approach him.

'I leave the rest to you, Mina!'

~~
<<(With Hayato)>>

The silveret teen tsked as he threw his ear piece to the ground and crushed it underneath his foot.

"Looks like the sword-freak got done in." Hayato lifted his gaze to Gamma, who was smirking at him. "I'll have to hurry and save his sorry a**."

Gamma chuckled; his box weapons, Colulu and Widget--golden-colored foxes--were at his side, growling softly at Hayato.

"That is if you can defeat me."

Hayato smirked flipping his Vongola Storm ring into the air before catching it as it came down.

"Don't be so full of yourself.  Turf-top could've kicked your a** if he wanted to."

Gamma scoffed as he twirled his pool stick.

"Says the friend of the unconscious said Sun Guardian."

Hayato huffed as he rolled the Vongola Storm ring between his fingers.

"Uri."

"Nya!"

The cat jumped onto Hayato's head and purred softly; the silveret smiled briefly and stroked the kitten's head.

"Let's go."

"Nya!"

Hayato slipped his Vongola Storm ring on and lit it.

He punched it into the boxes at his hip.

Smoke filled the area and Gamma narrowed his eyes in curiosity.

When the dust settled, Gamma blinked in surprise when he saw bone-like shields floating around Hayato.

Uri mewled from her spot on Hayato's head before hopping off, standing beside an unconscious Kangaryuu.

The silveret smirked.

"System C.A.I."

Gamma's smirk returned.

"Hoh~?  What does that do?"

Hayato tapped his index finger on his Fire Arrow; the silveret continued to smirk.

"You're about to find out..."

The silveret picked up one of the cartridges at his hip and put it into his Flame Arrow.

Hayato dashed to the side and fired at the same time.

Bang!

Gamma raised an eyebrow at the red beam that headed towards him; he waved his box weapons to the side so they could dodge the attack.

"Hah?  Just a normal shot?  How plain."

Gamma pushed flames into his Lightning Mare ring and created a shield to stop the Storm flames from hitting him.

But then Gamma's smug face slipped when he noticed that the Storm flames were slipping through his shield.

'What?'

Gamma quickly darted to the side to dodge the shot of Storm flames, but the attack singed his sleeve slightly.

'Impossible.  Even though Storm flames have the ability to deteriorate, it can't defeat the Lightning flame's ability to harden.'

Gamma narrowed his eyes as Hayato took aim once more; the blonde then noticed that the silveret's eyes were a lighter green with smaller circles within his pupils.

"Humidity: 3.4.  Distance: 16.32 ft.  Elevation: 17.12 ft.  Wind Pressure: .04%."

Gamma grunted as Hayato shot once more.

But the blonde tilted his head slightly and looked at the attack closely; Gamma blinked in shock before pulling away as he gained a small gash on the side of his head.

"Rain flames....I didn't think they could be compatible with Storm flames."

Hayato ejected the cartridge and pulled out a different one.

"You're right about that.  The Rain flames are not mixing with the Storm flames, they're simply surrounding it.  And with the Rain's ability to tranquilize, it can take down your Lightning shield."

Gamma huffed as he aimed a pool ball at Hayato.

"Hmph.  You've only gotten through my defense.  How shall you get through my attacks, brat?"

Hayato smirked and chuckled.

"Gamma...don't you know what the duty of the Storm Guardian is?  It is 'to be the endless barrage of attacks'." Hayato ran a hand through his hair and smirked. "Now...'how shall you get through my attacks', old man?"

Gamma scowled; Colulu and Widget reflected his emotions and growled.

"You little brat..."

Hayato put the new cartridge into the Flame Arrow.

The silveret ran to a different position; Gamma shot his pool balls at the Vongola Storm Guardian.

Hayato huffed and moved his bone-shields to protect him.

The silveret then parted the bone-shields and took aim.

Gamma prepared himself for another Storm shot, but he blinked his eyes in shock when yellow bullets came out, darting towards him in a blur.

The blonde tsked and made another Lightning barrier, but a light layer of Rain flames surrounded the glowing, yellow bullets; Gamma quickly moved to the side before the bullets hit him.

'Sun flames!?  First Storm, then Rain and now Sun flames?' "Oi, brat.....just how many flame elements do you have?"

Hayato smirked and raised his right hand in front of his face; it was then that Gamma noticed the black skull rings on the silveret's hand.

Hayato lit his Vongola Storm ring, and then his other skull rings.

Cloud, Sun, Rain, and Lightning flames lit up the four remaining rings.

Gamma blinked with shock.

'That many flames in one kid?  Impossible...'

Hayato smirked as he quickly switched the cartridges.

The silveret hopped onto one of the skull-shields and used it to get closer to Gamma, who was in the air.

Hayato quickly directly underneath Gamma and took aim once more.

The blonde quickly tensed and readied himself.

A purple beam shot out of the Flame Arrow.

Gamma frowned because of how straightforward the attack was.

'That's it?  A simple beam?'

Suddenly, the purple bean split into twos....and threes...then fours...

The beam simply continued to split.

Gamma widened his eyes when multiple beams started to come at him.

"Sh**!"

Blam!

Hayato lowered his Flame Arrow and waited for the dust to clear.

When it did, Gamma was missing; Hayato swiveled his head around, looking for the blonde.

'If I recall....Gamma's hiding behind one of these crates.  He's going to bring out that Update Box he got from Genkishi...'

Hayato saw a flash of green behind one of the creates and smirked.

'Uri.  You can hop into Kangaryuu's pouch now.  The end of this fight is near.'

'Nya.  Nya, nya!'

'Yeah, yeah.  I'll remember to give you some fish as a reward after all of this.'

Hayato then felt the presence of a certain blonde behind him.

The silveret quickly positioned a few shields behind him as they deflected Gamma's pool balls.

Hayato jumped onto another skull-shield as a black fox suddenly darted to his side to attack him.

Gamma panted slightly as he twirled his pool stick; the blonde smirked.

"This fight....is over."

Hayato huffed.

"Maybe."

GROOOWL!

There was a blur of red and yellow.

Large paws landed heavily onto a crate, creating a few dents.

A tail swished along the crate.

Hayato jumped down from his bone-shield and landed onto the crate beside his Sun flame-enhanced partner.

Uri growled as she gazed at their current opponent with her ruby-red eyes.

Gamma blinked in shock.

"What...happened to it?"

Hayato scowled.

"Oi, oi!  Uri isn't an 'it', d*** it!  Respect her and I'll respect your own box weapons!"

Uri's chest rumbled; she nuzzled her large head against Hayato's hand.

Gamma deadpanned the other.

"....What happened to her?"

Hayato smirked.

"Sun flames, ya' dumba**.  She hopped into Kangaryuu's pouch and grew with the Sun flames that were provided for her."

Gamma's eye twitched at 'dumba**' before they widened at explanation Hayato gave.

Hayato then acted like he was starting to get exhausted from 'using too much of his flames'.

The blonde then smirked.

"Huh...looks like we're both about to run out of energy, but..." Gamma's smirk dropped as he looked at Hayato with sharp eyes. "I want to know...what kind of boss you have."

Hayato blinked in surprise at the question before remembering the conversation that unfolded after that simple question.

The silveret smirked.

"Well....my boss....is like your's."

Gamma frowned.

"Like Byakur--?"

"No."

Hayato inclined his head slightly.

"I know that Giglio Nero Yuni is your boss along with Giglio Nero Aria."

Gamma froze and stared at Hayato with shock.

The blonde's face then darkened; Colulu and Widget barked and snarled at Hayato, and Uri growled lowly in return.

"How do you know that?"

Hayato gazed at the other silently before sighing.

"I can't tell you everything, but my boss was a close friend of your first boss, Aria-san." The silveret sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "And my boss...." Hayato chuckled. "He's a one-of-a-kind Sky you can't find everywhere."

Gamma raised an eyebrow before wincing; his wounds from earlier were starting to hurt.

Hayato noticed and glanced over at Uri, flickering his eyes over to Colulu and Widget.

'I'll leave those two to you.  Make sure to return to the box to act like you were defeated like they were.'

'Growl...'

Hayato glanced up at Gamma and smirked.

"Oi, old man!"

Gamma twitched.

"What, brat?"

'D***, this is gonna sound so much like sword-freak.' "Let's be friends when I get back to the past!"

....Silence....

Gamma gazed at Hayato, thunderstruck.

".....Wha--.....did you hit your head or something?"

Hayato scowled before sighing exasperatedly, messing with his silver locks briefly.

"Ah!  Whatever.  Let's just finish this."

Gamma immediately shook off his stupor and quickly charged his Lightning Mare ring for a final blow.

Hayato emptied the cartridge and place a normal Storm one.

The two stared each other down.

And then Hayato jumped up from his spot from the crate as Gamma defended with his pool stick charged.

Uri leaped and barred her teeth as she was about to class with Colulu and Widget.

BAM!

Green lightning filled the scene and it clashed with contrasting red.

Hayato weakened his attack slightly so it would be on par with Gamma's

The two were then thrown back by the recoil of their own attacks; they crashed into a couple of crates.

As Hayato slowly lost consciousness, he smirked slightly.

'Now all that's left is you, you d*** skylark.'

The silveret's vision was filled with black.

~~
<<(With Tsuna)>>

The brunet flew through the tunnels with Spanner being pulled along behind him; he was able to hear what had happened to his Guardians.

A holographic-Reborn appeared on his back; the hitman had also heard what had happened.

"Aren't you worried?  Your Storm and Rain will be in the enemy's clutches."

Tsuna continued to stare ahead before chuckling.

"Please.  My Storm alone could've defeated all of the Millefiore members that were in this base.  Trust me, this is all going according to my past."

Reborn smirked and tugged his fedora down.

"So be it."

<<(Near the Entrance of Shoichi's Millefiore Base)>>

"Infiltration is a success."

A certain purplenette smiled as she glanced at a tall man behind her.

His hair was styled rather...uniquely.  He chewed nervously on the piece of hay in his mouth.

"All thanks to you, Chrome-san."

"It is no problem, Tetsuya-san."

Tetsuya glanced around nervously.

"Is it truly alright to let Kyo-san to go ahead by himself like that?"

The backpack on Testuya's back opened up; a certain cow-child yawned lazily.

"Come on now.  Kyoya-nii's a Vongola Guardian." Lambo smirked as he looked over at Chrome, who smiled back. "And Vongola Guardians always return home safe and sound."