Disclaimer: I do not own Hitman Reborn.

A/N: First, I would like to thank and give credit to Rekishichizu for 'beta'ing my story. Thank for improving my story. If not, we will read a story with grammatical error and confusing sentence structures. So, don't forget to thank her in your review for her work. To sunstar13, I can't really answer your question since it will be a spoiler. You just have to wait. Sorry. Anyway, I'm glad you like the last chapter. Personally, I don't think Tsuna's Guardians were out of character much. They're just a bit overprotective. Anyway, review always makes me happy. So, don't forget to review.

Chapter 20: Decimo Family's Base

"~Welcome to the Decimo Famiglia's Base~"

If anyone saw this signboard, they'd definitely think that they would be welcomed with open arms. But don't jump into that conclusion too fast. Read everything to the end, especially the fine print.

"P.S. Enter at your own risk. Any injuries, maiming or deaths past this point – which you are surely going to get – will not be held accountable towards any member of the Decimo Famiglia. You have been warned."

And let's don't forget the decorations on the entrance leading to the west wing: If you think human skulls and skeletons are made for warm and welcoming entryways, you are dead wrong. If anything, it looked more like the entrance to some haunted house or hellish torture chamber.

And that's exactly what Primo's family thought as they stood in front of the Decimo family's base entrance.

"Are you really sure this used to be our west wing?" Lampo gulped.

"Nufufufu, it seems they're using real illusions for this," Daemon commented. "I hate to admit it, but they're good. Not many people can make realistic illusions like this."

"So, it's all the more reason why we shouldn't be here," Lampo said, pivoting on his heels to leave the place.

Unfortunately, G caught the back of his collar. "You're not going anywhere. We're going in there and we're going right now."

"B-but that place is scary," Lampo shuttered.

"Not to mention, they may have set a few traps for us that can probably injure, maim or kill us if what the signboard said was true," Daemon muttered.

"Ha ha ha, don't worry, Lampo. We'll be there for you. You don't have to be scared," Asari laughed.

"I'm not scared," Lampo tried to act brave.

"Then why are you shaking?" G asked with a smug look.

"I am not shaking. I-it's just very cold here," Lampo lied, hoping the others will buy it.

"Lampo, it's EXTREMELY not nice to lie to everyone," Knuckle shouted.

"Could you keep your voices down?" Giotto asked quietly. "We're supposed to be silent. How're we going to infiltrate their base if you're all too loud?"

"Sorry," everyone mumbled with the exception of Daemon and Alaude.

"Alaude, do you have the layout on their base?" Giotto asked, turning his attention to said man.

With great professionalism, Alaude nodded and pulled out a set of blueprints. "I have the original layout plan on the west wing. But, we can never be sure they haven't made changes after they took it over."

"I see," Giotto nodded.

"So, what's the plan?" G asked.

"Simple. We just go there, see Tsuna, make sure he's okay, and then get out of there as fast as possible," Giotto replied, earning a smack on his head from G. "What?" he asked, completely unaware of everyone's look of disbelief.

"Can't you think of a better idea?" G glared.

"It's just a suggestion. No need to be offended," Giotto held up his hands.

"And I thought you had it all planned out when you suggested we infiltrate their base…" G muttered.

"That doesn't matter. What matters now is to see Tsuna. Let's go and do it!" Giotto yelled in high spirit only for his Guardians to cover his mouth.

"Idiot, you just told us to keep quiet! Do you want to terminate our mission before we even begin?" G hissed.

"Ha ha ha, sorry," Giotto laughed sheepishly.

Without further delay, their mission commenced. Giotto confidently moved towards the door and turned the doorknob.

"Let's do our best to reach Tsuna," Giotto said as he pushed the door.

However, as soon as he pushed it open, a blinding light came out. Primo's family quickly covered their eyes. Before they knew it, they were separated and in a strange place.

~With Alaude, Lampo and Daemon~

Lampo groaned and rubbed his eyes. That blinding light really hurt his eyes. Why did he agree with Giotto in the first place? Ah, that's right. Giotto pulled his innocent, sad, puppy face look. How could he say no to that? Lampo wanted to complain about his misfortune when he realized where he was.

He was in a graveyard.

And if that wasn't bad enough, he was stuck with Alaude and Daemon – the two most violent Guardians of their Famiglia.

His right leg was cuffed to Alaude's left leg while his left leg was cuffed to Daemon's right leg, like how they would do it in a three-legged race. He didn't want to imagine what was going to happen now. Giotto was not here to calm them down. And since his legs were cuffed to their legs, he couldn't run away from them. To put it simply, he was screwed in many ways.

"This is a dream. This is a dream. I am not in a graveyard, and I am not with Alaude and Daemon," Lampo chanted, wishing he was just having a nightmare, totally unaware that Daemon and Alaude had woken up.

"Nufufufu… You're annoying me, Lampo. Should I make you silent?" Daemon chuckled eerily.

"Nope," Lampo gulped audibly.

"That's better," Daemon nodded. "Now, let's find a way out from here."

Daemon then tried to stand up, only to stumble. He looked at his right leg and found that, to his shock, it was bound to Lampo's left leg. Alaude seemed to have noticed his left leg was cuffed to Lampo's right leg, too. Daemon and Alaude glared at Lampo.

"You have ten seconds to explain what happened," Daemon growled.

"I – I don't know. The cuffs were already there when I woke up," Lampo whimpered.

"It's against the law to lie," Alaude glared.

Obviously, the Cloud and Mist Guardians did not like Lampo's answer. They would happily use force to get information out from Lampo if necessary. For some reason, the Lightning Guardian had a gut feeling that today was going to be a long day for him. Hopefully, he came out unscratched.

…Hopefully.

~With Asari and Knuckle~

When Knuckle woke up, he was very confused. The first thing he did was look around for his friends. He found no one except Asari. To his surprise, his right leg was cuffed to Asari's left leg. Knuckle took a moment to survey his surroundings.

They were in a corridor.

An EXTREMELY dark, creepy, silent corridor.

Just like that EXTREMELY dark, creepy, silent room where he was 'accidentally' locked in together with Asari.

He then noticed that Asari had brought his swords.

Horror slowly etched on Knuckle's face as realization came to his mind.

He was trapped in an EXTREMELY dark, creepy, silent corridor with Asari who had his swords within arm's reach.

Just like that time.

Asari chose that moment to wake up. He was confused to see Knuckle staring at him as though he was going to change into a demon. He waved a hand in front Knuckle, trying to get his attention. Knuckle, on the other hand, was frozen on the spot, remembering the nightmare he had when he was with Asari and the Rain Guardian had snapped.

Knuckle desperately prayed, 'Dear Lord, until we find a way out of here, please don't let Asari turn into a demon and try to skin me alive.'

~With Giotto and G~

"How the hell did our legs get cuffed together?" G bellowed, clearly annoyed with the current situation. "And why the hell can't I get it off?"

"Come on, G. It can't be that bad. We used to do it when we were kids. Remember the three-legged race we used to have?" Giotto said.

"But that doesn't mean I want to do it right now," G retorted.

When Giotto and G woke up, they, too, found that their legs were cuffed to each other, much to their displeasure. And if that was not bad enough, they found themselves in the middle of an unknown forest.

"How the hell did we land in a forest?" G shouted.

"I don't think it's a real forest, G. I think someone cast an illusion over us to make us think that we're in a forest," Giotto answered calmly, dragging G towards a wall. "The exit should be around here…"

"How do you know all of this?" G asked curiously, slightly impressed with Giotto.

"Hyper intuition," the blond muttered as his hands brushed against the wall. G wanted to yell at Giotto for believing such nonsense but was interrupted when Giotto let out a yell of triumph, "Found it!"

Before the redhead knew it, a door appeared in front of them. Giotto just grinned and gave an 'I told you so' look.

G could only sigh. "Let's just find the others and get out of here. The sooner we see Tsuna, the better."

~With the Decimo family~

"Kufufufu, it seems someone dared to infiltrate our base," Mukuro chuckled.

"What should we do now, Mukuro-sama?" Chrome asked, gripping her trident.

"Tsk, do you really need to ask? Of course we're going to stop them," Gokudera scowled.

"That's EXTREMELY right," Ryohei roared.

"Ha ha ha, it's going to be very interesting. Do you think they can get through the traps and reach here?" Yamamoto grinned.

"Herbivore, are you questioning my security system?" Hibari glared.

"Kufufufu… Yamamoto Takeshi, my illusions are high class. There's no way they can be broken that easily," Mukuro said.

"Ha ha ha, don't be mad. I was just checking." Yamamoto rubbed the back of his head.

"Ne, ne, Lambo-san's going to bomb them away with his grenades," Lambo declared childishly.

Everyone in the Primo family suddenly felt a shiver run down their spines. For some reason, they had a feeling the Decimo family won't let them pass through easily. They could only hope that they didn't make a mistake by coming here.