Yesssss! I am finally back! :)
-----
Fixit poked her head into the hospital room.

"A word if I may?"

"Yes?"

"Good news! Miss Marian and Miss Carmen are back from their information gathering!"
-----
Yiernoshi sat in the sitting room, with Sam, Kah Yunn, Marian, Carmen, and a girl of about twenty with two bouncy ponytails.

Marian still looked the same as ever. Her hair was slightly longer, and she had a thin scar running down her cheek, but she still possessed the naive and innocent aura around her person. The same aura that Christine found annoying, and almost everyone else found cute.

(A/N: Though I highly doubt this is true.)

Carmen, on the other hand, had changed quite a bit. She had opted to switch her glasses of ten years ago for contacts, and her short bob had grown to shoulder-length.

Sam looked around the ring formation they were sitting in.

"Who wants to go first?"

The unknown girl with the two pigtails cleared her throat.

"I will."

Yiernoshi looked at her.

"Who are you?"

She beamed.

"I'm Anne, Claire's subordinate~! Pleased to meet you!"

Kah Yunn sighed.

"Get on with it."

Anne nodded.

"The signal you guys received was from us. Looloo-Claire's pet-was supposed to send the signal when she saw Jeanine. Unfortunately, while flying over the warehouse, the battery failed, thus the signal died."

Sam nodded.

Marian frowned.

"I've heard that you're part of a foundation. What is it?"

"Basically, it's an underground foundation that researches and investigates the boxes."

"Ah."

Yiernoshi blinked.

"What about the boxes?"

"For more info on that, please ask Claire directly. She is intenting to stay for a while."

Marian looked around.

"I'll go next. Carmen and I have been gathering information on the Irritato Tomato stationed in Tutipore."

Carmen nodded.

"There are 17 squads, but among them, there are only six captains of Rank A and above."

(A/N: Rank A= Highest rank. Ever. I think the rank depends on the purity of the ring. So Rank A people a probably holding Purity A rings. Which are only surpassed by the Carbonara Rings, with a purity of above A.)

"Furthermore, out of the six, only two are stationed in Tutipore."

Kah Yunn nodded thoughtfully.

"Mitong."

"And that Captain Rayu person," Yiernoshi added.

Marian grinned.

"But we have good news as well. We've located the entrance to the enemy's hideout!"

Shocked faces stared at her.

"Like us, they're underground. It's the Tutipore train station underground shopping mall. It was built nine years ago, and abandoned two years ago."

Kah Yunn nodded.

"This information is of great significance. With this, we can carry out an attack."

"Eh? But everone's still...injured..."

Sam didn't smile.

"Indeed. In our current condition, we have no chance of success. On the other hand, the enemy must be scrambling to locate and destroy us. In other words, it's a competition to see who can recover first and launch an attack. And the key to victory lies in..."

"...How strong you all can become in a short period of time."
-----
13 days later...
Yiernoshi got into the lift after breakfast.

Kah Yunn mentioned something about a new training programme today, didn't she? I wonder what it is.

The lift dinged, and Yiernoshi stepped out into the training room.

"Boss!"

Yiernoshi blinked. Christine, Victoria, and Jeanine were in the training room, waiting for her.

"Eh? You're healed already?"

"Hn. All four are present, then."

Yiernoshi turned to look at Kah Yunn.

"We will be starting a new training programme today. It is called the 'Individual Assault Training Programme'."

"Individual...training?"

Sam nodded.

"Just like during the ring battles, you will each get your own tutor. For examplem the one I am training is..."

Yiernoshi looked expectantly at her.

"...Victoria."

"I will be in charge of Christine."

Christine turned to look at her trainer.

And then wished she could throw up.

"Not Marian...again..."

She then proceeded to smack her face with her palm.

Marian grinned, oblivious to Christine's misery.

"We're gonna have a lot of fun training, aren't we?"

"Shaddap."

"And I'll take Jeanine."

Jeanine stared at Carmen.

"Again?"

"Since Marian, the Thunder-type, is filling in for Rachel, the Storm-type, I have to train you. Even though my flame attribute is different from yours."

"Oh."

Sam turned to Yiernoshi, and shot her in the forehead.

"Oi, Yiernoshi!"

"...Yiernoshi?"

Yiernoshi got up slowly.

"Hey, where's her lollipop?"

Sam smiled.

In the 10 days of training she did with Kah Yunn while you people were still recovering, she changed her weapon. The future Yiernoshi did not fight with a lollipop. She fought with the gloves that the present Yiernoshi now wears, made from the round bit of the lollipop. The lolly stick became a backup staff weapon."

And indeed, through the orange flames blazing on her hands, was the distinctive swirly pattern on the back of her hands. The swirly pattern one finds on the stereotype lollipop.

(Unless your idea of a stereotype lollipop was the Chupa-Chupp [did I spell it correctly?] kind.)

Jeanine stared.

"Woa."

Yiernoshi jumped in front of Kah Yunn.

"Shall we begin?"

"I'm not training you anymore. You haven't improved as much as I had wanted you to."

"But really, this is all I have!"

"No. You true strength is far greater than this."

A blue streak flew threw the air. Yiernoshi dodged.

There was a bang. When the smoke cleared, Yiernoshi was pushing back a angry bear cub in midair.

Slim booted feet walked towards her.

"If you don't pay attention, you will die."

Yiernoshi's eyes widened.

"It's you!"

"I'm going to pry open all of your abilities."

Standing below her was her new tutor.

Claire.