Cloud Guardian's Fury
Several gang members near the stairwell flew backward like they'd been hit by an explosion, slamming into the opposite wall before crumpling to the floor.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Crisp footsteps echoed through the corridor, slow and deliberate, growing closer.
The remaining gang members' brief moment of relief evaporated. They instinctively raised their weapons, aiming at the stairwell entrance.
Step.
A slender leg in black leather shoes emerged from the stairway. Then the rest of the figure followed.
A young man in a dark suit, holding a pair of tonfas. His black hair was longer than typical for men, his eyes narrow and sharp, his expression cold and severe.
Hibari Kyoya—the Cloud Guardian of the Vongola Family.
"Shoot him!"
The moment Hibari appeared, someone shouted. Others fired reflexively.
But they'd emptied their magazines in the previous firefight. No matter how many times they pulled their triggers, the only response was the hollow click-click-click of empty chambers.
"The weak always gather in groups." Hibari's voice was flat, almost bored. "They think numbers will let them defeat the strong. But reality is... you can only bully those weaker than yourselves. And you disgust me."
He tapped his foot against the floor and blurred forward.
The tonfas moved like extensions of his body—striking, hooking, deflecting, sweeping. Classic techniques combined with precise footwork, executed with perfect economy of motion. He moved through the crowd like he was taking a casual stroll, and with each strike, multiple bodies went flying.
Despite being in the middle of a packed corridor, surrounded on all sides, he didn't seem cornered at all. It was more like a flock of sheep had wandered into a tiger's den.
But the gangsters standing at the far end of the corridor remained surprisingly calm. Some even looked relieved.
The intel they'd received had mentioned that two full battalions of elite U.S. Marines had been wiped out without firing a single shot. Compared to that terrifying, inexplicable feat, Hibari's performance was impressive—but comprehensible.
Madame Gao even offered a professional assessment: "Clear objectives. Decisive action. His strikes are simple and efficient—no wasted movement. He's a master."
"A master?"
Bullseye snorted and raised his pistol.
The gunshot was lost in the sounds of combat. The bullet cut through the air silently, aimed at Hibari's head.
But just before impact, Hibari tilted his head slightly, dodging by millimeters.
"Your arrogance is—"
Before Bullseye could finish his taunt, there were two metallic tang-tang sounds as the bullet ricocheted off a fire suppression pipe in the corner, reversing direction.
The move was absurd, completely unexpected. Even someone as battle-hardened as Hibari Kyoya couldn't have predicted it.
He detected it and reacted in the fastest time humanly possible, but people can't outrun bullets—not without anticipating the trajectory beforehand.
But Hibari wasn't an ordinary human.
Where a normal person would have had their head blown open, Hibari managed to avoid the kill shot. The bullet struck his left shoulder instead, spraying blood.
After two ricochets, the bullet had lost most of its kinetic energy. The pain was severe, but the shoulder bone remained intact.
If he pushed through the pain, he could still fight.
Hibari glanced at the wound with complete indifference, then swept his gaze toward the end of the corridor—toward the man with the smirking, unhinged expression.
"He's wounded! Take him down!"
Bullseye's successful hit boosted the gangsters' morale considerably.
Those at close range grabbed weapons and rushed forward. Those further back had already reloaded and were taking aim. Bullseye raised his pistol again.
Hibari Kyoya stood alone in the middle of the corridor.
It looked like a dead end.
Even the crime bosses at the corridor's end thought so.
"Shame about this one." Vladimir shook his head. "Too arrogant. Otherwise, with his skill, I don't know if my brother and I together could take him."
"Personality is part of strength," the leader of the Hellfire Motorcycle Club said around his cigar. "If he's this arrogant, it just means he's weak."
"May he learn humility in the next life." The Irish gang leader, a Catholic, crossed himself.
Then—
Bang bang bang bang bang...
Gunfire erupted. A tornado of metal bullets swept toward the man in the center.
And that man's expression hadn't changed once. Still cold. Still severe.
"Open."
The ring on his hand ignited with purple flames. He inserted it into a small box like a key, and two black shapes burst forth, expanding rapidly.
BOOM!
Two massive impacts shook the corridor violently. The ceiling cracked and chunks of it came crashing down.
Fortunately, only the section where Hibari stood collapsed. A few unlucky gang members nearby got caught in the debris, but most were unharmed.
"Did he get crushed before the bullets hit him?" Wesley couldn't help but comment. "That's ironic."
But Kingpin and the others stared at the smoke-filled center of the corridor, their expressions grim.
Their firepower had been ferocious, yes—but they hadn't used rockets or grenades. There was no way conventional gunfire should have brought down the floor that quickly.
More importantly, the impact sounds had occurred before the bullets struck, not after. The timing was wrong.
Madame Gao, Nobu, and Bullseye all narrowed their eyes.
Their enhanced vision allowed them to see what had emerged just as the bullet storm swept through—something that had burst from Hibari's position.
Different thoughts flashed through different minds as the smoke cleared, revealing what had broken through the corridor floor.
A black metal sphere covered in sharp spines.
"What the hell is that?"
The question arose in everyone's mind simultaneously.
Then the metal sphere shrank rapidly and leaped onto Hibari Kyoya's right shoulder.
Only then did everyone realize it was some kind of... creature. A mechanical hedgehog, maybe?
And there wasn't just one. There were two.
The first one had simply grown so massive that it blocked the view of the second.
"Are you ready to be bitten to death?"
Looking at the stunned crowd, Hibari's expression remained unchanged. He shifted his tonfas into an offensive stance.
"Ah, youth." Madame Gao leaned on her cane, her elderly frame trembling slightly. "I was once as young and spirited as you. It didn't end well for me."
"Are those your last words?"
"..."
The assembled crime lords were speechless.
They'd seen arrogant people before. But this level of arrogance was something else entirely.
"All at once!"
Kingpin raised his right hand. Gang members on both sides raised their weapons again.
But before they could fire, the Cloud Hedgehogs transformed into black blurs and burst into the crowd, expanding once more into massive spiked metal spheres.
New Character Notes:
Hibari Kyoya - From Katekyo Hitman Reborn! (Reborn!). Cloud Guardian of the Vongola Family. Known for his extreme combat prowess, antisocial personality, and hatred of crowds. Fights with tonfas (duckweed crutches) and uses Cloud Flame Box Weapons.