Hey, Claire, your sword is finally here! A line of words in italics, without the words -flashback-, signify the name of an attack.
-----
Mischan looked down at the figure.

"So...you're the Carbonara Rain Guardian, Claire."

Claire glared at Mischan. She pushed her slightly messy fringe to the side of her face. Her now-long hair ran down her back in a single braid.

"Does that matter?"

"I've heard quite a bit about you, Carbonara's strongest Guardian. It appears that you've been investigating the boxes."

"So?"

Mischan smirked.

"When it comes to your allies, you can hardly stand by and watch, hmm?"

"Hardly. The thing that makes really angry is when the discipline in Tutipore has been defiled."

Claire drew from her pocket an elaborate blue box.

Mischan raised an eyebrow.

"Discipline? Whatever."

She sent some of her balls flying towards Claire. In an instant, she had opened her own box. Something blue flew out of it, pushing Mischan's balls back. It was a small bear, almost like a bear cub.

Claire smirked.

"I'll begin my attack."

She opened another box.

This time, it was a weapon. Not her tonfa of ten years ago, but a sword, alight with blue flame.

"Let's go."

"A sword? That brat over there tried to get me with her sword. It didn't work."

"That's because she didn't know how to use one."

"And you do?"

"That's a given, isn't it?"

Claire swung her sword.

Style of the Blue Swallow: Eighth offensive form-Pouring Rain.

She swung her sword in a wide arc, giving the unsuspecting Mischan a huge cut in the belly.

"Oof!"

Mischan staggered backwards. Claire looked at her dispassionately.

"Still alive? Oh well."

She lunged forwards, sword at the ready.

Mischan formed a shield of flame with her ring, shielding her right side, where Claire was attacking.

Just before Claire struck, she shifted her sword from her right hand to her left, and sliced diagonally, wounding Mischan on her unprotected left side.

Style of the Blue Swallow: Fifth offensive form-Early Summer Rain.

Mischan fell to the ground. Scowling, she summoned one of her balls and rose into the air.

Claire glanced at her.

"You can't escape."

"Oh yes, I can! See? I'm flying away, far away from you-ack!"

She had landed on a brown furry surface, alight with rain flames. The flames surrounded her, crackling fiercely, before releasing her. She fell to the ground, badly burnt, and smoking slightly.

Claire smirked.

"My bear absorbed your enormous flames, negating the damage it was dealt. At the same time, it grew in size. The more energy absorbed, the bigger it gets. When you landed on it, the damage negated is dealt to you. You cannot escape."

Mischan groaned, and coughed out blood.

"I see. One of the characteristics of the rain flame...tranquility."

Claire snapped her fingers.

"It's over."

The giant bear placed its paw on Mischan's face. Claire watched impassively as the remaining energy absorbed by the bear was passed to the writhing Mischan.

Finally, the bear had returned to its original size, and Claire shut it back into the box.

At this moment, Yiernoshi ran up, closely followed by Kah Yunn, who was dragging a gagged Jeanine.

Claire turned to look at them.

"You're late."

"You...you're...Claire!"

"What have you been up to, Yiernoshi Lai?"

"Eh..."

Claire pointed over her shoulder.

"Christine and Victoria are in the forest."

Yiernoshi took off. When she reached the scene, she gasped.

Victoria's head was bleeding, and her palms were blistered from gripping her sword too hard.

But her injuries were nothin compared to Christine's. Christine lay in a pool of her own blood. There was barely a square centimetre of skin that wasn't covered in blood. Her neck was purple, as though someone had tried to strangle her, and she was covered in burns.

Kah Yunn, who had followed closely behind, bent down to check on them.

"They're still alive. We just need to get them to the hideout."

Yiernoshi breathed a shaky sigh of relief.
-----
They entered the hideout through Exit 6.

Kah Yunn stopped, not willing to enter.

"There is just one problem. The Storm and Cloud Carbonara Rings would have shown up on our enemies' radar by now. I'll settle it, then re-enter the hideout through Exit 3."
-----
There was furious tapping on a keyboard.

"One of the A-purity rings disappeared about 3km away from the forest!"

Mitong stared at the screen in disbelief.

"What?!"

His assistant's eyes trailed to the only remaining red dot on the screen.

"The other is currently heading towards the shopping area...Oh! It disappeared too!"

Mitong groaned, and slammed his palms on the desk.

"What is going on?"

Suddenly, the screen beside him flickered to life.

"Hmm...you seem to be in a bad mood, Kimkim."

Mistan's face came into view.

"Long time no see."

"Hnn. it's finally begun."

Mistan sighed, and leaned back on the couch she was sitting on.

"It might end in trouble, but I think you will need to tell the members of the Black Tomatoes."

Mitong looked frantically at the screen.

"How are we going to explain it?"

"How, you say? It's simple. We'll just have to be honest. We'll say that we've received a present from the past."
-----
Kah Yunn leaned against a lampost. In her palm were the two Rings, wrapped in the Myst Chain.

She sighed in relief.

"Whew..."
-----
Yiernoshi sat on a stool in the hideout's medical room.

"Christine...she's not awake yet..."

Sam sighed, sitting on the windowsill.

"Boss..."

Christine was stirring. She opened her eye a crack.

"I'm really sorry, Boss...it's all my fault..."

"No...it-"

"I've been really scared ever since we came to this era...I threw a temper, took it out on Victoria, and let something like this..."

Sam nodded.

"Victoria said the same thing."

Christine blinked.

"So Victoria is..."

"Alive, and doing well."

"Thank goodness..."
-----
Mistan turned to her assistant.

"What did you just say?"

"The White Tomatoes Eighth Squad has secretly left for Tutipore, following the captains' briefing about the Carbonara Rings."

Mistan sighed.

"They'll probably be after the Carbonara Rings, then."

Her assistant looked at her.

"Should I inform Acting Commander of the Tutipore branch, and Captain of the White Tomatoes Second Squad, Mitong?"

"It would be better if we didn't. The captain of the White Tomatoes Eighth Squad isn't exactly the kind of person Kimkim gets along with.'
-----
In a dilipidated school building, footsteps echoed down the dusty passageway.

"Where...am I?"