A Royal Capture

Chapter Seven


Day 100.

"Urn," Spark muttered, walking up to the Storm guardian, his long, black coat billowing out behind him like a cape as he approached. "The battlefield is being prepared as we speak, and Byakuran is already there. Please go fetch Irie Shouichi. I want him to watch as I crush his arrogant lover."

"Yes, sir," Urn answered with a nod, reaching up ro brush a hand over his shaved head before heading away. Carrying his musket on his shoulder, he moved a free hand down, lighting a ring before letting out both of his box weapons - two goats. As the two glanced up at him, red eyes filled with confusion, he smiled and whispered, "Hey guys. Just thought I'd let you out for a little herding, you know? Not you two... but there's someone I need you to help me lead."

They didn't understand, and they proved so by randomly butting each other's heads, as they did often. With an eyeroll and a chuckle, Urn snickered, "You're silly, my Devil Goats, Capra Tempesta."

Soon reaching Irie's room, Urn opened the door to see Shouichi staring endlessly at the moniter he'd been granted, even though Byakuran had been taken from his room already. "... Oi, Shouichi," muttered Urn. "Stand up."

The older male's head snapped to attention, his blue eyes teary and his hands shaking as he slowly got to his feet. The Storm guardian approached him slowly, goats moving to Shouichi's sides as he said, "Lord Andrew Spark has ordered me to fetch you. He wants you to be there when he defeats that arrogant lover of yours. No one challenges Spark and gets away with it, you know. Byakuran is seriously in for it. We're going to completely and utterly crush him. The Spiaggia... as always... will be victorious."

Shouichi gave a faint smile at this, moving to stand beside Urn, ignoring the angry bleats the goats gave him. "I know Byakuran better than I know your little Andrew Spark - I'll admit to that. But that means nothing to me. You're the ones who are going to be destroyed here, because Byakuran - my Byakuran... is stronger than any of you. He could take this entire operation down with a simple flick of a finger."

It was a bluff. In truth, Shouichi would be glad to just run the hell away from all of this. But he had to stand up for his lover.

"He could not," Urn answered, eyes blaring with anger as he stared at the red-haired male. "You're all arrogant fools. We're going to completely destroy you, and you're just too prideful to admit it! Your base belongs to us, empty, ripe for the picking! Your grunts, all dead! You've been conquered already, and you're just barely hanging on, and yet you challenge us further? You're jsut a bunch of bloody idiots!"

"Then let's watch the fight! We'll prove it to y-" Shouichi cut himself off with a yelp of surprise and pain as one of the two Storm-class goats headbutted his side, tripping him up so that he fell over.

"My goats can tell when you're getting too cocky," growled Urn. "Just keep that in mind, Irie Shouichi," he hissed. "Now come." He walked away, his goats trailing after him. The mechanic pulled up to his feet, wobbling a little, a hand on his hip, before he started after them both, still trying to be firm despite the pains. As they started through the hall towards another room, Shouichi looked around, observing the Spiaggia base. It was a strange place, both in structure and inhabitants. The grunts all had a similar look to them, all wearing simply black clothes. It was like they were some sort of assassin enthusiasts.

Weird.

As Shouichi was taken into the battlefield, he almost immediately fainted out of the sheer power of Byakuran's fangirl-magnetism in that moment. The older male was shirtless purely because his wings were too large for him to be fitting into any shirt. His white hair had grown out a bit to become an attractive shag hairstyle, the tips of his longest strands reaching his shoulderblades. His amethyst eyes turned towards the mechanic and he gave a smile and a small wave. Even if he wasn't as toned as he used to be muscle-wise, he certainly had the strength he used to in resolve. As Shouichi forced his eyes to stray off that bare chest and to Byakuran's clothed hips, he noticed the White Dragon box weapon, back home again on Byakuran's belt.

With a bright smile, he ran out to hug his lover, only to be dragged back and pushed down into a chair. "You stay here!" Urn snapped. "You can't get close to that stupid man unless he wins." Sitting beside Shouichi, the other male grunted, resting his musket against his thigh and glancing to the other male in the room: Andrew Spark.

Spark was dressed a lot more for formal battle, with his long coat and black, probably fireproof jeans. His own belt was lined with box weapons, one of them being the one the Varia had gifted him previously - Salamandra fulmine. Emotional attachment was nonexistent now, of course. The tyrant child had very many box weapons - what did one trifling little salamander matter?

"Byakuran, former king of the Millefiore," Andrew said, reaching down, his hand resting on the Black Dragon weapon. "I hearby declare this as a battle to determine who will ultimately rule this world. If you win, I will let you and your friends all walk free. If I win, I will kill each of you, one by one, and harness your power alone to take over the Vongola branch in Japan. We will not only conquer Decimo, but we will take over the Cavallone famiglia, the Bovino famiglia, any other famiglias the Vongola are allied to - they will all be taken by the Spiaggia. Every grunt, every guardian, every leader. Every last one will fall, by my hand."

"You're a cute little brat," Byakuran answered, flapping his wings lightly, before stroking one of them. "But this alone should be proof that I'm fully capable of defeating you. These pretty white wings of mine, you know~?"

A faint, almost nonexistent smirk crossed Andrew's lips. "That pride of yours is a tragic flaw. Do you not see what's lying before you?" A gust of wind crossed Byakuran's path, and his eyes widened, before he squinted a little. Was it so? There was a light distortion in the space around Spark; it was a little warped, shivering as if disgusted with what it was hiding.

Illusion-concealed wings?

"Hoohoohoo~ I've got you covered, my Lord Spark...," came a voice from somewhere in the room. "I've got you all~ covered." A soft, eerie laughter of multiple people echoed through the room, and Byakuran gasped as he was suddenly grabbed from behind.

Shouichi stood. "Byakuran!" he cried, before Urn moved forward, pressing the nose of his musket to the mechanic's chest. "Sit down!"

As the illusion was lifted, it was revealed that many people were standing around the room, all unnoticed until then.

"Meet my Guardians, Byakuran," Spark said, stepping forward. "The one holding you there is Eve, my Lightning. Pretty good at restraining the enemy, you know?" The girl grinned, taking a hold on both of Byakuran's wings.

"Haha! Not so powerful now, huh Byakuran?" she cackled, her black bangs covering the glee in her eyes.

"Over in that corner is Non, my Rain."

"Hey," the other male greeted with a small giggle, holding a stuffed teddy bear to his chest, a Rain class sea lion at his side, barking. "Oh, I've been standing here so long my legs hurt! I'm so ready to play!"

"The one by your lover is Urn, my Storm."

Urn clicked his tongue and glanced at Byakuran with a wink, the piercings in his eyebrows glinting as he did so.

"The one who made this surprise party possible, Kei. My mist guardian," Andrew said, gesturnig to the blond-haired male and rolling his eyes as Kei giggled and waved flirtily at Byakuran. "Unfortunately, my Cloud Juniper is out on business, and my Sun guardian Soro has fallen to temptations, so those two could not attend. But it's no matter. I can take you down with five, easily."

Byakuran gave a harsh glare. "You said you were going to take me on one-on-one! You coward!" he shouted.

"Unlike you, I don't make critical judgement errors. I know how powerful you are," Spark replied, flapping his now-revealed wings, not quite as large as Byakuran's, but seemingly just as strong. "This is simple ensurance. I want to be certain that this battle won't end the way your battle with Sawada Tsunayoshi ended. If I do start to falter... I will have four guardians to finish the job."

"Coward! Coward!" Byakuran snarled again, flapping his wings hard enough to free them from Eve's grasp, before he punched flames into his Box Weapon. "White Dragon!"

The beast came forth with an impressive roar, its white flames evident as it rushed towards Spark. The other male's eyes sharpened and he held out his hands immediately, before suddenly clapping them together across the box weapon's head.

"Black Applause," he said in a low tone.

The box weapon disintegrated, and Byakuran's eyes widened. "White Applause... That's my attack!" he gasped. "But how..."

"I may be too young to match you in power completely, but it's easy to mimic your attacks. Just like the all-knowing Byakuran of the past, I've been trained well. The exception is that I don't use parallel worlds to cheat my way into power. I simply absorb all the knowledge thrown at me, like an endless sea... made entirely out of sand. I am Andrew Spark. Lord of the Spiaggia famiglia, or rather... King of the Sand Family."

With a snarl of rage, Byakuran flew up, then dove at Andrew, amethyst eyes bright with anger as he did so. He reached forward, arms outstretched and ring lighting up with bright orange Sky flames. The other male reached out as well, taking on a defensive stance, fingers interlocking with the former Millefiore's. His face was deadpan, so void of emotion that it angered Byakuran further. How dare this joyless pig challenge the Varia? He had no idea what love was! He had no right to destroy it, just because he didn't understand!

He was... he was just like the other humans who'd driven Byakuran to dominate the world before! Just like them!

Andrew's stance deepened as he pushed back against Byakuran's dive, glaring right into his eyes. This man had taken everything away from him, and yet he thought it was unjust for Spark to retaliate. That... was annoying. Lighting his ring, Andrew frowned when he saw his flames to be a smaller force than Byakuran's. Why was that? He was fighting to right a wrong, where Byakuran was just fighting to save a bunch of drunkards! How could his resolve possibly be stronger?

As he was pushed back a foot, Andrew gasped, then weilded his concentration once more, forcing Byakuran back as well. He then suddenly slid down, releasing Byakuran's hands to let him dive straight into the ground. The albino growled, thrashing a little before moving back up to stand, amethyst eyes filled with frustration. Then, suddenly, he flew to a corner of a room, and tightened his focus until a white orb had enclosed him.

"A cocoon? Byakuran... but you lost that power!" Shouichi tried to shout, when one of Urn's goats butted his side, shutting him up.

"You think that's wise? You're vulnerable like that...," Andrew hissed, gaze hardening. Placing an A-rank ring on every one of his fingers, he began to summon his resolve, soon having a powerful Sky flame at his command. "Your knowledge is mine to take advantage of. I know everything you've witnessed, and I can take any attack and improve upon it... The Bucking Bronco's whip, the Flame of Fury, your attacks... even this. The X Burner that young Vongola X thought was so unique. However, I can do it without his little gloves. I can withstand that powerful flame pressure with my bare hands. Suddenly letting soft sky flames mixed with one wave of lightning from his left hand, Andrew opened his other palm toward the cocoon.

Meanwhile, inside, Byakuran tried desperately to contact his other selves, but nothing could be heard. They all already were kings of their worlds, even if incapable of rebuilding them. They had both everything and nothing to do - were any of them even alive? With a frown, Byakuran concentrated harder. "Please..."

Why are you reaching out to us? Why do you think we'll help you after you abandoned us?

Finally, one came through.

"I know you don't like this future!" Byakuran spoke quickly. "I know you think its worthless, but I'm much better off than you! Which is why you need to help me! Help me find a way to defeat this brat!"

If you hadn't gotten involved with the Varia in the first place, you never would've had to deal with him. We haven't encountered this brat ourselves because Kikyo never got the chance to make an alliance with him. We don't know how to defeat him.

"There has to be something you can tell me! Please! Just the tiniest of information will help me!" the albino shouted.

Fine! Only because the loss of one of us is a huge loss for our entire web of information. But if we help you, you have to promise to be more abiding to our wishes.

"I promise! I promise!"

What you must do... is use his power against him, and flee.

"Use his power? But h-"

Suddenly, the entire cocoon burst into a flaming ball of energy, peices of it falling limply to the ground. Byakuran slapped his wings protectively around his body, but the hard Sky flames sent him back into the wall fast enough to fracture a couple bones, particularly his shoulderblade. With a whimper, Byakuran tightened the protective wings around his body, burying his face deeply in them and quivering as the blast kept coming. And when it finally ended, his body was embedded into the wall so deeply he couldn't move with ease. Soon enough, however, he fell limply and spread his wings so that he didn't collapse on the ground, flapping them weakly, like a singed butterfly.

Use his power against him? How is that even possible? He absorbs every attack... he already knows all of mine... He can defeat the white dragon, he can use Tsunayoshi's X Burner...

I'm screwed!

An opponent like this... what can I do?

"Byakuran!" Shouichi shouted. "Don't give up! Remember what you're fighting for! And I don't mean friends or family - none of that, I mean me! I'm what you're fighting for! So don't you dare lose!"

Byakuran gave the other male a surprised glance, then turned back to Spark, who seemed to be readying another X Burner.

Whatever you can do... I can do better. Was that how it was? Because was a copy ever truly better than the original? Perhaps the best way to this way... would be to feign weakness.

Slipping out of the way of the developing X Burner, Byakuran flew behind Andrew and once more opened his White Dragon, secretly punching in only half his flames, before doing it again behind his back, being careful to hide the second dragon with his wings. "Now!" he shouted to the first, and it dove for Andrew, who immediately used 'Black Applause' again. Moving his wing and arm up, Byakuran let the second dragon slip beneath his underarm and lunge out, biting Andrew's shoulder. Flying away then, Byakuran quickly dodged a couple blasts of hard flame sent his way, and ran a bit along the edge of the wall, thinking of his next move as Andrew got rid of the dragon duplicate. He flew down towards Urn, wings billowing out like a parachute as he made for a landing on the other male's face. But as a musket was aimed at him and two Storm-class goats readied their horns, he faked out, moving right and grabbing Shouichi by the arm, yanking the sun-flamed male up and into his arms. "You're right. You're all I'm fighting for... not them...," he whispered against Shouichi's ear. "So why don't we get out of here, and come back for them later?"

Shouichi wrapped his arms around the other male's neck and buried his face in his shoulder. "God, I just want it to be over...," he whispered quietly.

Seeing his lover in such a state, Byakuran nodded, clutching Shouichi close and making for the door. The angry shouts of the Spiaggia, the bangs and sparks of flame attacks, the sound of the Black Dragon roaring as it charged towards them, and of course, the horrible pain it all warranted - through it all, Byakuran could only hear the echo of Shouichi's voice in his ear. He put all his energy into forcing that door open, and trying to move down the halls. He only vaguely noticed his wings, slowly ripped apart by vicious box weapons, the blood that splattered the floor, that his lover was clinging to him so desperately. All he wanted to do was escape with the one he cared for above all else.

"Shouichi!" he shouted as he headed towards the door. "Hang on tight!"

"We aren't going to make it!" the mechanic protested. "Let me down, I'll run on my own! I don't want to slow you down!"

"You could never slow me down, Shou-chan! Holding you in my arms again is all that I'm really running off of!" Byakuran replied, before crashing head-first into the door, roughly getting it open, and nearly slipping on to the ground in his attempt. He tried to fly, only to finally notice the number done to his wings by the others, and giving one last look behind him, he set Shouichi down and grabbed his hand. "Come on, then!" The two raced off as fast as they could, disappearing into the forest and not looking back.

Even so, Byakuran knew this wouldn't be the last time the sand challenged the sea.


"Strengthen our defenses," Andrew growled. "They should not have been able to simply break through the front entrance - is our mechanic completely daft?" Turning to his guardians, he snapped, "All of you! You all need to go out there, and recruit new Spiaggia! We need a replacement Sun, we need far more grunts, we need to stop killing each other! And you all need to train up! You sorry bunch of weaklings, letting that man escape!" He walked up to Urn, and hit him roughly across the face. "You had a musket and two box weapons! And yet he got past you without even trying!"

Urn frowned deeply, then glanced back at Andrew. "Hey. Stop acting like you're better than all of us. Kikyo scraped you out of an orphanage, just like he did us. You're no better than us - you're trash. Thrown away by your own parents - just like we were."

Andrew growled, then let out his Black Dragon box weapon. "Say that again, Urn. Say it. I'll kill you," he growled.

The Storm shook his head, then stalked away. "I've said all I want to already." The other guardians gave Spark a wistful glance and started away, all unusually silent. At this, Andrew frowned and followed, his fists clenched so hard his nails pierced his skin.


"Three escapes," Kikyo reported, head bowed. "Byakuran, Shouichi, and Squalo all escaped our hold, sir. Squalo's was due to treachery - Zakuro developed emotion and turned against us. I'd like to advise you against having Fran be introduced at all. You can tell Bluebell to go ahead with the breakup plan, after all."

"I want his illusions... but I have Kei and Torikabuto," muttered Spark in thought, before giving a slow nod. "All right. Tell her... tell her to leave him be for a while, let him wonder, and then go through with it. I don't want any more Varia escaping by any other crazy means. I want my guardians punished for letting Byakuran and Shouichi escape, and I want more guards. Kikyo, can I trust you to recruit new members?"

"Well, sir, that's getting increasingly difficult with our identity as hidden as it is. The main Vongola still think we RFW are living joyful lives on our own. They do not yet have any idea we exist, let alone what we've done with the Varia. But they won't be ignorant much longer. Any time now they will notice the Varia's absence is genuine, not just them being lazy."

"We have their strongest guardians in a pitiful state. We oughta harness that power now that they've been broken. Imagine the ransom money we could get...," Andrew muttered. "For two wonderful guardians."

"Money, sir?"

"Once we have money, we can contact Verde. Buy some of his wonderful weapons, what were the newest ones?"

"He's been producing more box weapons, and is, by rumor, trying to create a spherical version of the box weapon capable of withstanding more power. But, as I mentioned, that is only rumor. I also hear more Hell rings are being developed."

Andrew paused, thinking, before glancing at Kikyo. "Tighten our defenses, and do as I mentioned with the other Varia. Punish Xanxus in retaliation to Squalo's escape, maybe throw him down with those other three guardians. Understood?"

Kikyo nodded. "Yes, sir. I'll get right on that."


A few days later...

"Hm? Squalo...?" called the voice, ringing through the empty halls. "God, what's happened here? ... Xanxus?" He was met with more silence, and he blanched when he saw the skeletons of a few grunts, seemingly worn down by flames. "Kyoya? Anyone? Aw damn..." Walking further along, the blond took out his cell phone. "Hey, Tsuna! It's Dino. You would not believe what's happened here."

-End Chapter


*faints* Ahhh... I did it...

Two days early for this post! Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! :)

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