Nox: Ahhh! Sorry for not updating for so long! I had a minor writer's block (so i started working into the plot) as well as school work T^T Thanks to richikinz for kicking me back into schedule -.-;

Oh, and there's a lot of time skipping in this chapter, and the timeline isn't constant. So take a look at the time before continuing!

Anyways, I won't keep you here (you guys deserve it after waiting so long) so just shout out that disclaimer for me! *Holds up giant cue card*

Everyone: KHR, Y U NO BELONGS TO NOX?

Nox: *giggles* Thanks!

"Normal Speech"

"NPC Speech/Phone/Video call"

Thoughts

"Italian"

-.-.-.-.-Flames-.-.-.-.-

-Cielo Palace, Siege Stronghold, Cielo-Cielo, approx. 11:05PM-

A puff of blue smoke signalled the arrival of a white haired man at the castle gates. At present, the doors were wide open and defenceless-so he simply strolled in to the magnificent building, intent on finding what he was looking for.

Roughly twenty different hallways later, the albino found himself at a large oak door with an elegant phoenix symbol carved onto it. Knowing he had found his target, he pushed the door open without hesitation. He was met with a large, airy office with a glossy wooden table in the center (filled to the edges with paperwork). Sitting at the desk was a black haired girl, signing sheet after sheet of paper with inhuman speed.

"Katrina-chan~!" The man said, announcing his presence to the other occupant of the room.

Said girl looked up quickly, startled. Upon first glance at her guest, her eyes narrowed.

"Byakuran, what do you want?" The tone used was full of icy menace, further encouraging the fact that Byakuran was indeed not a welcomed guest.

The fox like smirk on his did not fade in the least; in fact, it may have grown impossibly larger.

"Maa Maa, Katrina-chan~!" he laughed, holding his hands up in the air, "I just came to grab a couple of portal-pads~ the Lunar gate ran out~!"

Katrina didn't want to believe him, but her hyper intuition said he wasn't trying to cause trouble. Still suspicious, she created a pile of portal pads and gave them to the violet-eyed man.

"I'll trust you this time...Byakuran...but if i see one toe out of line, i won't hesitate to kick you out."

Her reply was almost as good as none. The man simply continued grinning and whipped out his own Portal-Pad from who knows where.

"You can't Port inside the Castle. I trust you can show yourself out?"

"But of course." he made the gesture for tipping his hat, and strolled out, leaving a slightly confused and very suspicious Vongola eleventh in his wake.

All went better than expected...now to send these back~

-.-.-.-.-Flames-.-.-.-.-

-Luna Gate, Terra-Luna 11:15-

Byakuran was met with an even more rowdy crowd than before, and so in an attempt to save his ears from premature death, he quickly passed the Portal-Pads to Angel with a grin. Before she could thank him though, he was already gone.

-.-.-.-.-Flames-.-.-.-.-

-Cielo Palace, Siege Stronghold, Cielo-Cielo, approx. 11:18PM-

Byakuran all but ran through the gates of the castle, smirking all the while. By keeping two Portal-Pads for himself, he managed to get directly back into the castle's grounds. He was now holding a translucent orange boss contract that the Vongola eleventh gave him warily.

As he was about to port to his new Base, the albino felt a gaze directed at him. Warily turning around, he saw the very familiar outline of a very familiar brunette. Honey met violet in a clash of hostility, neither relenting to their old enemy. Despite being allies, neither boss trusted the other and would constantly watch their backs for any sign of betrayal.

A full minute later, the honey eyes tore away from the deadlock. It wasn't defeat...no...That was acceptance. Trust.

The Millefiore boss nodded almost imperceptibly, then quickly vanished with a declaration of "Piggoia, Millifiore base"

-.-.-.-.-Flames-.-.-.-.-

-Cielo Palace, Siege Stronghold, Cielo-Cielo, approx. 11:20PM-

Katrina heard her door slam open yet again (How many times can a door be slammed in such a manner before it beaks? She wonders). Just as she was about to growl at Byakuran for interrupting her work, she realized that the man at the door was nowhere near albino. In fact, this man was…

"DAD!" she gasped, sprinting into her father's arms. If Tsunayoshi wasn't as prepared, he would probably have fallen over from the impact.

"H-hey, little lioness," he laughed, "Missed me?"

"Still stuttering dad?" she chuckled at the melodramatic wounded expression on Tsuna's face, "Of course I did."

The brunet huffed, and gave one more squeeze before letting go of his daughter. It had been a long time since they met in flesh, almost three years went by with only emails and hologram calls.

"Anyways, I do have a secondary reason to be here, and being nearly tackled to death wasn't in my to-do list."

His daughter shot an indignant look, but motions for him to continue.

"As I'm sure you are very well aware, being a boss in this game requires a boss permit. So I do need to sign up for one."

"Ah, I see." The ravenette said, opening one of her numerous drawers to pull out a small, transparent, tablet.

"This is the Boss contract, it states the rules and regulations as well as the duties you have for your Familiga. I'm sure you already know them all by heart, so you can just skim over it and sign at the bottom."

Tsuna took the tablet, and pressed a small dying will flame onto it. As soon as the flame touched the contract, it flashed an orange glow which transferred onto the brunette's body. A split second later, the glow started to concentrate in the palm of his hand. As the glow slowly morphed and faded, the newly named boss felt a weight drop in his hand and quickly enclosed it in his fist. Bringing it to eye level, he reopened his hand to see a small golden key.

"That key is a Boss Duelgate, a very rare one at that. It acts as the key to your chosen base as well as the regular use. Usually, the glow makes the markings on your wings would grow bigger as well, but since you haven't summoned them yet they'll appear along with your wings." Katrina explained, then addressed the still apparent glow around her father

"The orange glow indicates you have the right qualities for a boss, and the contract has accepted you. If it glows green, the contract would still accept you but places certain restrictions just in case. If it glows red, the contract outright rejects you and kicks you out of the castle, overriding the anti-portal program."

Tsuna turned the key over in his hands, and then nodded.

"Hmm, I saw Byakuran a couple of minutes ago (Katrina winced) holding an orange contract…surprising is it not? Perhaps there's more to him under the arrogant face he likes everyone to see. I suppose we'll just have to wait until he puts the trust I gave to use."

He then turned around with a gentle smile and waved.

"I'll see you later my little lioness, Reborn is getting impatient and I'd rather not be nearly dead before I can even wake up."

-.-.-.-.-Flames-.-.-.-.-

-Millefiore Base (Merone, above ground level), Cielo-Piggoia, approx. 11:50 PM-

Not even five minutes after Byakuran claimed his base in Piggoia did men and women start streaming into the main hall to sign in for applications. An estimated 300 people were currently within the halls; roughly half of them have already been accepted and were now idly chatting about wings, weapons, or whatnot. Considering all of the people were members of the true Millefiore mafia, this was just regular occurrence and the forms filled were just formalities and filters in case of spies. All in all, it was as if a medium sized group in Merone base had migrated to populate the Dreamscape Base.

The base itself was quite a feat of architecture; rising twenty floors of pristine white and blue along with two smaller wings of ten floors off to either side, it looked both beautiful and intimidating. The inside, however, was somewhat more colorful. In the main building, the interior was painted an office-like white with marble floors and fancy entrances marking the rich nature of mafia. The two side wings were another story entirely; with paintings hung on warm crème walls and soft red carpet leading to simple doors (some with name tags), they were made to be almost like a large apartment complex-which they were. The apartment complexes housed the Millefiore members as small areas of retreat after a busy day (or night), like a home away from home.

The albino in the shadows watched the proceedings with a small smirk, and then seemingly melted away in the dark. This makes Millifiore the instant largest Familiga on the charts. Being on top of the pecking order is a good feeling~

-.-.-.-.-Flames-.-.-.-.-

-Wolf & Dog Key shop, Piggoia-Cielo. Approx.12:00 AM-

"Welcome to the Wolf & Dog Key shop, my name is Dog. What may I do for you today sir?" The slightly electronic voice of the shopkeeper greeted a cloaked figure at the door.

"Hello, Inu-kun~ I would like to place an order for one hundred and fifty of the most common key you have in stock."

"Order placed. Processing… The common Battleground Duelgate currently in stock. Price: 20 Phoenix Coins each. Total price comes to…3000PC"

The man took a bag out of his pocket and gave it to Dog, who counted it diligently.

"Thank you. Please wait a moment while Wolf collects your keys…"

Several seconds later, another man stepped into the room carrying a large bag with the W&D logo adorning it.

"Thank you for the purchase sir. Come again!"

The cloaked man gave them a wry grin before grabbing the bag and disappearing into the streets.

-.-.-.-.-Flames-.-.-.-.-

-Unknown Location, 12:30 AM-

In the shadows of the high rise buildings, a circle of eight people stand silent. The one at the head, cloaked in dark orange, seemed to be the leader. In a deep voice that seemed to be somewhere in between male and female, the leader spoke.

"Welcome to the guard, comrades. I believe you already know your purpose to be here?"

He was answered by a series of nods.

"Very well," He pulled out seven small, translucent tablets with letters engraved onto them and a small line at the bottom.

"These are the contracts, please read over them and press your flame signatures at the bottom."

Each of the cloaked figures took a tablet and scanned the text;

Contract

By signing this contract, personnel states that they agree to the following:

I, _ hereby declare to pledge loyalty to the guard, to stay in the shadows and keep peace among civilians and mafia alike within the duration of my Dream. I will not be wavered to the side of any war, and prevent death at all costs.

Signed _

Slowly, each of the figures pressed a small glowing flame onto the tablet, lighting up the circle with the colors of the rainbow. The tablets then flashed in synch, creating a vibrant orb that flew around the circle like a comet with a rainbow trail. It slowly went faster and faster until the group was enclosed in a cocoon of colors that was bright to the point where it was as if you were looking at another sun. A few precarious seconds later, the cocoon shattered into millions of shards that faded away; leaving the figures with a faint mist of their flame color rolling off of their bodies in waves. The few that had wings also gained wing span as well as elegant golden markings on their topmost primary feathers.

The Leader then nodded to each of the others, who each left the circle in their own way, until only the orange and the yellow were left.

"You are wondering about something from the contract." The orange said. It wasn't a question, but a statement.

"You are perceptive as always, idiot. I'm wondering about the death factor; this is but a continuous dream isn't it?" The yellow's voice was clearly masculine, deep and smooth like velvet with dark shades just barely below the surface.

"It is indeed a dream, but dreams are a creation of the brain. Controlling the actions of the brain is one thing, but overcoming the extreme shock of being killed while in control is another entirely. Only those with the strongest mental capabilities are able to survive."

The yellow simply tilted the rim of his fedora on a show of comprehension before flaring his shadowy wings and taking off into the skies, leaving the orange to muse on the proceedings of the past few minutes.

-.-.-.-.-Flames-.-.-.-.-

-Byakuran's office, Millefiore Base, Cielo-Piggoia approx. 12:15 AM-

The albino was currently lounging in his office chair while chomping marshmallows without a care in the world. A huge holographic screen was in front of him, displaying a small girl with green hair.

"Byakuran-san, Konichiwa! I wasn't expecting a call from you today… is there any trouble?"

"Yuni-chan~!" he grinned, "No, there isn't any trouble~ However, I would like it if you considered this deal…"

-.-.-.-.-Flames-.-.-.-.-

Nox: GAHHHHHHHH! *popping bubble wrap like no tomorrow*

Moony: I think she's ragin. *sweatdrop*

Nix: Yeah, she is. My poor studio is being burnt down D:

People: Who are you?

Nix: Oh, the other self Nox like to talk to inside her head. She gets all her artistic ideas from me you know. *sigh* and the studio's all ashes now…It'll be a while before she can get a proper idea from me.

Moony: And you're saying this like it's normal?

Nix: It isn't? *Tilts head innocently*

Moony: *shakes head* whatever…

Nox: *Panting heavily, holding demolished bubble wrap* …Oops…

Nix: shall I head back now?

Nox: Yeah… Anyways, thanks for reading, and please review! *Waves cheerfully*

Moony: Some days, I'm really worried for her…