Title:When Lightning Strikes Twice
Author:PowerHouseoftheCell
Summary:When Lambo Bovino threw that grenade, this was definitely not what he expected. Time Travel. No Pairings.
Disclaimer:I do not own in any way, shape, or form, KHR.
Author's Note: I have no idea how this got so long. Literally, no idea.
Also, early update? What is this sorcery?
AND HOW IS IT SO GODDAMN LONG. SERIOUSLY.
OoO
Lampo's lazy smile returned after a second of staring. It wouldn't do to be rude, after all.
"Welcome to my library," he drawled. "I suppose I will have to allow you to alleviate your boredom here, even if you are a prisoner."
"My, my, how generous. I thank you from the bottom of my heart," Lambo returned in the same uncaring tone. Lampo inwardly snickered. It had been a long time since he had met a person to battle wits with. However, this was a prime opportunity to gather information that even G wouldn't let go. It wasn't the time to verbally spar.
"I accept your thanks, and, as manners dictate, must insist you accept mine in return for saving me. Though it was completely unnecessary. I, of course, had the situation under control." That was a blatant lie. Lampo preferred to avoid pain, and the beating had been far from pleasant.
"I accept, but it's unnecessary. I was taught to help others without expecting anything in return."
"Older brother?"
"Six, and an older sister," Lambo said quietly.
"Ah." Lampo, sensing he would get nothing else from the conversation, returned to his book. Lambo moved from his position by the chairs and began to roam the shelves.
OoO
Giotto finished the final signature with a relieved flourish. For once, his paperwork was finished! He glared up at the towering stack on his left. Where did all of it come from? They were in the mafia, not a buisness!
He frowned (read: pouted) before visibly calming himself. All that mattered now was that there wasn't any more. He slowly stood up and stretched, wincing as cracks and pops sounded across his body. Now in a much more cheerful mood, he exited his office, nodding at his guard.
As he made his way through the halls, he was greeted by his servants with respectful bows. He smiled and hummed under his breath, his mood made even lighter.
He approached the door to the east gardens, where he often took walks. Almost immediately, he felt the burdens of being a don lift a bit as he stepped into the warm sunlight. Giotto started towards a stone pathway on his left. Fragrant flowers lined and almost spilled into it, and trees offered a cool shade. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, immersing himself in nature.
Here, there were no chaotic Guardians, no rival famiglias, no endless paperwork, and more importantly, no distractions. Here, he could just focus on himself and his needs instead of worrying about others'. Perhaps it was a bit selfish, but every human is.
OoO
Alaude was currently at his intelligence quarters, observing a relatively new trainee interrogate the Zanna criminals they had picked up from the street corner. The trainee was not wholly incompetent, but Lampo had said they might be planning an attack. They needed the information faster, and the trainee was not as experienced as he.
He pushed himself out from the corner, startling the criminals and earning the slightest flinch from the interrogator. Alaude made a mental note to send someone to drill that out of him.
"You are dismissed. I will be taking over this interrogation," he stated. The trainee quickly moved the corner Alaude had been in. At least he hadn't been stupid enough to open the door and risk the escape of the trembling men in front of him.
"W-we'll tell you anything! Don't hurt us!" The criminals cried, whimpering when Alaude leveled his uninterested glare on them.
"What is your rank in the Zanna famiglia?"
"We're below his s-second-in-commands!" Interesting. Maybe he could get some worthwhile information out of these fools.
"Why did you attack the weakling?"
The men wore confused faces before one tentatively spoke up. "The Lightning Guardian?" Alaude wanted to roll his eyes.
"Yes. Now, why?"
"Boss ordered it." Alaude glared at them. He was dealing with idiotic criminals. They began shaking again.
"Stop your irritating quivering and tell me why your boss ordered it," he snarled, starting to lose his patience.
The trembling just grew worse. "H-he w-wanted us to p-prove how s-strong the Z-Zanna are!" one cried out.
"What else is your boss planning?"
"S-something big! I-I overheard Calvino t-talking about it!"
Alaude, losing his patience, grabbed his shoulder in a bruising grip, snarling, "What else did you hear?"
The smell of urine filled the air as the men stared into Alaude's wild, blood-lust-filled eyes, and you could almost hear him scrambling for the memory. "T-they were p-p-planning an a-attack! O-on the 16th!" He cried, relieved.
Alaude's snarl grew even more pronounced and he pushed the man away from him, knocking away the chair he'd been seated on in the process. He growled and stalked out of the room.
Today was the 16th.
He stormed out of the building, inwardly cursing when he realized he was half an hour away from the mansion, even on horseback. Alaude grimaced as he saddled his horse, mentally searching for shortcuts.
He snapped the reins and pushed the horse faster, faster, through the streets. Suddenly, he saw a large crowd blocking a street. As he got closer, he noticed they were armed.
How did they know I was coming?
His horse stopped and refused to go any further, scared by the crowd. He dismounted and pulled out a pair of Cloud-enhanced handcuffs. The crowd advanced, smirking.
"Criminals, for the act of crowding and blocking my path, I will arrest you all."
OoO
The guards of the Vongola gate, Gerardo, Lothario, and Marcellino, were standing at attention, scanning the landscape for intruders, when it happened. Gerardo and Marcellino crumpled in a graceless heap, red blossoming from their throats. Lothario, who had been in the shadows on the left, scrambled towards a large suspended gong and grabbed the mallet. He hit it with as much force as he could muster, a loud crash! emanating from it, before he too succumbed to the same fate.
OoO
The sound of the gong echoed through the entire grounds. Guards immediately grabbed their weapons and ran towards to the gate. Servants dropped whatever they were doing and went to the underground safe house.
G, Asari, and Knuckle were startled out of their training.
"Is that…the alarm?" G asked, more towards himself than the others.
"We need to help defend the mansion to the ultimate!" Knuckle shouted. The three of them abandoned the practice weapons and grabbed their deadly armaments.
"Spread out to the east and south! Kill only if necessary! If you find Primo, tell him to go north!" G barked out, already moving farther west. He inwardly cursed when he remembered that their Lampo was in no position to fight and Daemon and Alaude were away doing God knows what.
OoO
Giotto was startled out of his peaceful reverie by the alarm. He grimaced and reached into his pocket, pulling out his gloves. He carefully slipped them on, already feeling invigorated. He ran out of the garden and slipped into the mansion, heading north, where the gate was. His Hyper Intuition told him that was where the trouble was.
It was strange, having the halls so empty and quiet. It was good though; he knew the servants were safe and there were no obstructions to slow him down. He ran faster and faster, abandoning his cloak and coat along the way.
Giotto finally reached the main door and pushed the great wooden door open. Panting slightly, he gazed at the silent courtyard. He knew the guards were scattered throughout the yard, hidden and waiting to support him. It comforted him.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the Vongola Primo. Let's see what all the fuss is about, shall we?"
OoO
Lampo jumped when he heard the crash, startled. He immediately jumped up, cursing, and ran out the library door.
Lambo watched with an interested gaze. That must've been an alarm of sorts. He unfolded himself from the cushy chair and casually peaked out the door. The previously bustling hall was absolutely silent and seemingly abandoned. Lambo raised a brow and grinned. No one was to say he couldn't take advantage of a situation. If there was no one here, there was no one to stop him from escaping. It was perfect.
But first he needed his stuff. When they held uncertain prisoners, they usually put their stuff into a room next to the armories. The armories should be below grounds. Hopefully in the same location as the one in the future. Lambo wandered down to the first floor, taking care to enter any of the 'forbidden' places. As he neared a passageway to the kitchen, he found a ceiling-to-floor length tapestry. Suspicious, considering the rest only take up half of a wall. He lifted up the corner, nodding when he saw a staircase. He quickly went down, smiling when he saw a room filled with deadly sharp weapons. He scanned the room for his stuff.
Jackpot.
His distinctive leather coat, along with his necklaces, boots, and horns, sat in a neat pile in a corner. He pulled off the shoes they had given him and pulled on the rubber boots. His necklaces were quickly settled around his neck. Lambo smiled down at his coat and unfolded it, quickly pushing his arms through the sleeves. The comforting feel of leather made him relax just the tiniest bit more relaxed.
He paused once he got to the horns, a memory entering his mind.
"If there's a chance to stop it, I'm going to take it, Reborn! Don't expect me to just sit down and watch it happen, no matter how much I might lose. My life is only seventy years more, at most. If I stop him, I secure a hundred, maybe a thousand more years for countless others!"
Lambo shuddered at the memory. He-he would've helped them. He would pressure everyone else around him to help them too. But he wasn't him. He wasn't selfless, or heroic, or loyal to everyone he met until they proved him wrong.
But damn him if he hadn't tried. This was his chance, wasn't it? To be-to be like him.
Lambo tossed one horn in the air and caught it the other hand. It wouldn't hurt, he supposed, to help them. Their Lightning Guardian was still weak, and they were being ambushed. But he knew there would be major ripples after this.
Damn the consequences.
It wouldn't hurt to keep the extent of his abilities hidden, though. He was sure that they knew he had flames after cutting out the window, though he wasn't sure if they knew if his flames were Lightning or not. In this case, he would err on the side of caution. Lambo grabbed a set of throwing knives from a shelf on his left, absently wondering if the knives from the thugs were in here.
He jogged towards down several of the halls until he reached the main entryway. He took a second to admire the décor. His boots sank into the lush rugs, and the chandelier above him glimmered prettily in the candlelight. Elaborately carved tables supported flickering candles and small figurines.
He was stalling, wasn't he?
Being nervous was perfectly ridiculous.
It's not like they would punish him for helping.
Before he had another chance to hesitate, his legs strode forward and his arms carefully opened up the doors.
Well, that decided it.
OoO
"The Underworld is just buzzing about you, did you know that? A vigilante mafia group, of all things! Ridiculous. A being so stupid as to think they could survive in the Underworld with that ridiculous protect the people attitude can't be that strong," mocked the boss in front of Giotto. In face of such ridicule, he felt…tired. And irritated. Honestly, the mafia needed to find new ways to gage strength other than invasions.
The boss-Giotto didn't even know his name and that was kind of a hint of how strong the Zanna really were-continued his long ledger of insults, all of which said the same thing in different ways. You're weak, you don't deserve to be in the mafia, etc., etc.
Why was this his life?
"Listen. You shouldn't do this. If you do, you will be forced to step down because you were too weak. If you don't, you can delay and save yourself," Giotto said tiredly, rubbing a hand across his face. Now that he was coming down from the initial adrenaline rush, he realized this wasn't even a huge threat. The only thing they really had to worry about was the numbers. Most of the members in front of him were cannon fodder, but Giotto could only block attacks in so many directions.
"I'll call your bluff, Vongola Primo! You won't escape my wrath and I-" The boss was cut off by the front door banging open, revealing the composed (and slightly panting) form of Lampo.
"Lampo, what are you doing up? You're still weak from your fight!" Giotto scolded the 26-year-old. The tips of the greenette's ears tinged pink before he rolled his eye.
"Giotto, those petty injuries couldn't keep the amazing me down for more than an hour. I'm fine."
"Don't tell me you're fine, idiot! You were in a hospital bed just three days ago!"
"I didn't need that much time!" As the two continued arguing, the Zanna boss was starting to turn a violent shade of red.
"You-you! Don't ignore me!" he spluttered. The two continued to argue.
The Zanna boss then collected himself and smirked at Lampo. "Aren't you the weakling I sent my men to beat up?"
This got Giotto's attention. "That's right. You are the reason he was in the hospital in the first place." He suddenly seemed much more imposing. A flame ignited on his forehead, and suddenly the Zanna were much less assured of victory.
Giotto strode towards the man and grabbed him by the collar. He got a firsthand look at the burning gaze of the angry don.
"Sir."
"Sir."
A grim looking Vongola guard emerged from behind a tree. "We have just found Gerardo, Lothario, and Marcellino's bodies by the shed. Cause of death is a slit throat for all three." Giotto's eyes widened and filled with grief before narrowing and filling with angry vengeance.
His grip on the opposing man's collar tightened, and he lifted him higher. "I was going to let you have a second chance. I was going to let you rebuild. But you've crossed a line."
The Zanna don shook with fear and panic, sure that his death was coming.
All of a sudden, the door swung open. All eyes went to the newcomer and narrowed into a confused glare.
"What did I miss?" asked Lambo.
OoO
Omake 1:
Lambo and Lampo stared at each other from across the library. A battle of wills, of strength of mind was being fought. Lampo blinked once and looked away. Staring down at his book, he concluded that Lambo was indeed a worthy opponent.
OoO
Omake 2:
Giotto stood up from his chair, grinning jovially at the lack of paperwork. Finally, he was free! The door banged open, and G appeared. With a stack of paper taller than he was. Giotto stared for a good ten seconds before collapsing and weeping
OoO
Lothario swung at the gong with all his strength before glaring at the assassin staring quizzically behind him.
"Now all of China knows you're here."
OoO
End Note:
Hehe. Calvino (led the thugs) means 'little bald one.'