Merone Base: A VERY LONG DAY (Part 2)
9th Floor...a young blonde mechanic was working on a machine when his communicator beeped. Sighing, he put down his screwdriver and and opened his wristband communicator.
/Hey Spanner, its me./ said Irie. /The Vongola have broken into the 8th Floor's Surveilance System and destroyed the Server./ he said. /Therefore I'd like you to intercept them immediately. I'm counting on you, Spanner./
'Can I get a download of a detailed 3D map of the base to get a gist of the secret passageways? ' he requested.
/T-that's top secret, we cannot.../ Twin 2 gasped out but Irie said loudly, /Very well. Permission to download granted, Spanner./
/I-Irie-sama.../ Twin 2 protested but Irie raised his hand in silence.
/Is there anything else you might need?/
Spanner chewed on his lollipop.
'If the surveillance system is down, it'll be best to block off the enemy's routes.' said Spanner. 'Close off all the gates around the Main Routes.'
/Got it. We'll do that immediately./ said Irie before frowning. /But can those things go through narrow passageways?/ he asked worriedly.
'Sure~. Otherwise they'll just crash through.' said Spanner matter-of-factly as behind him loomed Giant Moscas.
xxx
Control Room...the Cervello exchanged looks as the information is being downloaded into the Moscas.
'Download finished sir.' said a CIC.
'Is it alright Irie-sama?' Twin 2 asked Irie in concern. 'Giving him access to the detailed maps of this base's structure?'
'So?'
'His rank within the Millefiore may be high but Spanner's still part of the Black Spell.' said Twin 1 warily.
Irie twitched inwardly and tried not to sigh loudly in exasperation.
The Millefiore Famiglia is a merging of two families to avoid war. Said war is started by Byakuran, the head of the Gesso Famiglia and the ones on the losing end, was the Giglio Nero Famiglia led by a then ten years old girl Yuni when her mother died thus leadership fell on her inexperienced shoulders, forcing her to agree with this merge if only to protect her weakened famiglia that endured countless assaults from the Gesso who suffered casualty upon casualty on the losing end because Aria, their boss was unable to lead due to the fact that she was dying as a result of her Arcobaleno Curse. They fell apart without a boss and Yuni could not lead properly.
As a result, the Giglio Nero members showed hostility towards the Gesso as they became Millefiore led by Byakuran with Yuni as Vice-Leader but in reality it was Byakuran running the show in both positions and Yuni was a mere figurehead following his orders. Thus the Black Spell loathed the White Spell who in turn looked down on them and Irie wasn't blind to the fact that teamwork is with clenched, gritted teeth at best while trying to sabotage the other and highly distrustful of the other group and keep to themselves and act as if the merging never happened until orders come.
But he was nothing like them.
He is a College Boy Civilian invited into Millefiore with his friend Spanner for their abilities(and the fact that he and Byakuran are close friends) and they both saw the madhouse that was Millefiore and saw the reality of the organization while still in the technical department before they got big promotions. Thus they did not share the same prejudice of both Black and White Spell.
And he thought wryly, for being 'fair', these Cervello sure are 'contaminated' with organizational prejudice. Probably from months of exposure no doubt while working for Byakuran until he foisted them on him.
'At this moment, Black or White Spell doesn't matter,' he groused out. 'We are Millefiore!' he rang out strongly, causing the Cervello to flinch. 'And we were both in the same Technical Department upon recruitment so I know their type. He is genuinely passionate about machinery and didn't give a damn about what everyone else thinks. We are fully aware of how the Black and White Spell felt back then but we didn't care and we carried on as normal. I believe he can carry his duties with confidence. The Strau Moscas he modified are Millefiore's pride and top-notched among Millefiore's weaponry. If Gola Moscas are ordinary cars, his Strau Moscas are F1 Machines. Anyway, get all Main Routes blocked already.'
'Sir!'
"At any rate..." he thought darkly as he pushed up his thick glasses. "Regardless of who gets a map of this base, there isn't anything to worry about." he thought wryly. After all...its in his control.
xxx
While hiding, Lal stumbled and fell on her knees. 'Guh!'
'Lal?!' Tsuna yelped as they stopped running.
'Its nothing. Hurry up and go!' she barked. 'I won't be the one to slow you down! Leave me be!'
'No!' the boys cried as one.
'This operation can only be a success if all of us return together!' Tsuna insisted strongly as he released Arcanine. 'Ride on Arcanine, Lal.' he offered. 'Arcanine, she'll hang on tight to your fur since we don't have riding gear but bear with us.' he told his pokemon kindly as Arcanine licked his face. 'Haha, you got yourself a deal Lal.'
'...sorry about this.' said Lal as she shakily got up to ride on Arcanine.
'I don't get it...tako-head destroyed all the spider eggs and the Blissey Egg healed you perfectly...' Ryohei frowned as they continued running.
'It must be because of back then...' Tsuna said softly as earlier, Lal took out a pacifier.
It was supposed to be hers but Colonello took it from her to spare her the fate of an Arcobaleno. But she could use it in exchange for her life force. 'Lal...by becoming what you are, you became a Cloud and Mist but your real type is Rain isn't it?' he said as his guardians balked.
'...Aa.' Lal said dispassionately. 'I'm really a Rain-Type. So is Colonello...which is why he was able to take my spot.' she sighed. 'In exchange for my life force...I can draw on its power while using it.'
Suddenly, the doors began closing!
They sprinted ahead as far as they could until the last gate.
'Crap...they began closing off the main routes...' Ryohei swore. 'What now Sawada?'
'Let's try a Storm Flame.' he said as Gokudera aimed his Storm Cannon and fired. Sure its scorched, but no hole. 'Flame resistant door huh? No doubt the walls too. And according to simulations...in times like this, a decoy is needed...a fast, mobile decoy...that'll be me.' that was originally Lal's job and leadership will be to Ryohei afterwards as only he could use the future gadgets the kids had no idea to use and barely understood the basics of it...
'EHHH?!'
'B-but Juudaime!' Gokudera protested as Tsuna just smiled.
'Fast. Mobile. That's me and I can fly on top of that.' he said reassuringly. 'Right now, the four of you must stay together. Lal is our brains, oniisan is our healer, Gokudera-kun the main offense and Yamamoto-kun the main defense. My supply of eggs is still complete so I'm OK, don't worry about me, just get to the Main Installation.' the other guardians looked pained at this.
'We're endangering juudaime!' Gokudera wailed in utter dismay. Tsuna glanced at Ryohei who sighed.
'...alright. I input the information in your hand-held device.' he said reluctantly. 'Just follow the instructions. The 10th floor's underground canal would be the ideal place to do it.'
'Alright!' and Tsuna went to Arcanine. 'Arcanine, avoid using up your flame reserves alright? Stick to normal attacks no matter what, everyone else will cover you. They need you too.' Arcanine barked jovially and Tsuna patted his head fondly. 'I'm off!' and he ran off.
'Good luck, Tsuna!' Yamamoto called out.
'Please take care, Juudaime!' Gokudera added as Tsuna waved goodbye as he ran. Lal sighed. Reborn's students sure have matured well.
But still, the Guardians worried about their Sky.
'...there he goes.' Yamamoto said gloomily.
'We have to do our part so his work won't be for nothing...we can always come back.' Gokudera forced himself to say that with a pained expression. 'Let's go.'
xxx
10th Underground Canal...
'I certainly said that but...' Tsuna whimpered with a strained smile. 'This is crazy but I have to do it...everyone's doing action and all I did is talk so far...I have to act too and this is...my time to act.' he gulped as he took out his Dying Will Pill canister. It was refilled to the brim by Reborn. Upon eating one, his Hyper Mode activated and sensed the arrival of hi-speed things...Moscas!
In the briefing, this was another thing they have to be wary of.
But unlike the Gola Mosca...no pilot.
Meaning, he won't kill anyone.
He really DID NOT WANT TO if he can help it.
He was scared of killing...so how could his guardians do it and saying 'its for him' is not an excuse.
Killing scared him. A beatdown and KO is enough isn't it?
'No,' said Mai pleadingly when he said his case. 'Tsuna-sama...killing is unavoidable. Its kill or be killed if you encounter a real sicko who's out to kill you. And only one will survive so please make sure that's you. You're more important to us than anything else.' her words rang in his head.
He thought of his famiglia.
For Guardian Flames, their Sky is precious. Their home and the one holding them together.
His future guardians who have bloodstained hands just so he'd stay clean...
He didn't like that either.
While he wished that none of them would kill OR the fact that none of them are in the mafia, his misfortune was in his blood that he wound up dragging his precious friends into this mess. Where he goes, they follow. He really wished they were just ordinary kids, he lamented.
The Strau Moscas are here.
"This is it." he narrowed his eyes as his thinking was clearer and more logical in Hyper Mode. He's pretty much ready. He wore his special shirt under a black vest and a pair of jeans. He went straight for combat, utilizing pure, and hard flames for combat while using hadou to enhance his physical capabilities.
Good thing they're friends with a Squib who taught them all she knows!
xxx
'He's pretty good.' Spanner commented as he began typing on two keyboards. 'Flame Attribute is Sky...Logging the damage levels Mosca sustained in all angles and speed...' he mused as one Mosca is down, three more to go. Tsuna barely avoided rockets with Tear Gas as quickly as possible by diving into the water and wash the irritants off his eyes. 'Estimated Fiamma Voltage of the flames...20000?!' his eyes went wide. 'Its way higher than Strau's combat abilities...but if I combine all my Moscas, our fighting power can reach the same and its quantity VS quality this time.' he mused as he changed the programming.
Outside...Tsuna was glad for his training, teachings and tactics drilled into his head and more grateful to Hyper Mode. Had he fought in normal mode, his usual personality would be panicking. It seems Hyper Mode seals away his emotions to fight better, leaving only tactics and strategy behind without influence but it also made him much colder, cold enough that his personality does a 180 even though he still wanted peaceful ways out if possible. He lured the Moscas underwater and when he got followed, he endured the dive after a deep breath...then flew back out as fast as he could. He hoped to freeze them and hoped for no more surprises...
Apparently, there is a surprise.
"I knew it." he thought wryly as laser beams...Storm Flames in fact...shot at him so he got his new technique ready for his own benefit.
From inside his Control Room, Spanner watched, shocked. 'So this is the Zero-Point Breakthrough: Revised! It can really be pulled off by the human body...' he gasped in amazement out of pure interest. He then communicated. 'How do you know that Mosca's lasers were flames?'
'That would be because nothing can melt through the flames of Zero-Point Breakthrough...other than flames.' Tsuna answered him.
'Hummm...that's true indeed...so how much of the energy absorbed via the Zero-Point Breakthrough: Revised can you convert into fighting power?'
Tsuna won't answer that. Hell no.
'...so there's no alternative to fighting?'
Spanner smirked.
'Nope.'
Moscas broke out of the ice and began attacking again, Tsuna dodged before lunging and delivered a powerful stomp at the back, and smashed the head where the cameras would be, although that would be moot as there's three more camera heads to bash. The Mosca bounced on the concrete despite propulsion attempting to break its fall.
'Hummm...data acquired...I think they underestimated this guy.' Spanner mused but he was enjoying himself nonetheless. Even Captains had trouble yet this kid...Tsuna turned to look at the remaining Moscas and he saw cold beauty. He heard that the Juudaime is an effeminately attractive man...and they weren't kidding. Poor kid must have enduring bullying as a kid for his girly looks(he's half-right and wrong).
'...shall I destroy them?' he spoke just as cold. He began computing the data while thinking.
According to intel, the Juudaime has two personalities. His normal personality is that he's exceptionally kind and forgiving despite being bamboozled and exasperated by his famiglia's comically crazy, destructive antics and loathed paperwork with a passion and he accepts everyone no matter the background. Heck, he even forgave Rokudo Mukuro of all people and capable of sitting in the same room as Xanxus. But in Hyper Mode, this is what they get and this form only comes when he's serious...and totally pissed off. In fact, he often freezes his Guardians with Chrome as the exception as she is the 'only normal one in the bunch'. Freezing was his idea of 'time out', and taking their salaries to pay the bills they caused so his guardians are often short on money, and Chrome isn't.
Vongola sounded like a fun family but they were taken by Millefiore first and Shoichi agreed because he and Byakuran were College Friends(Shoichi suffered severe stomachache when he learned his best friend is a mafia boss before accepting). He regretted it now because Millefiore atmosphere is utterly uncomfortable...and that's just putting it lightly. Now, a job is a job with Vongola on the losing side since Byakuran began the Vongola Hunt.
'172%.' he mused. 'By converting the energy absorbed via the Zero-Point Breakthrough: Revised, your power increases by 3 times.' Tsuna frowned. 3 times? Well, all that training was worth it but he really didn't want the enemy to know that... 'That's a considerable figure. For a human that is.'
'What are you implying?'
'It means taking you down will be more fun than I thought.' Spanner grinned as two of his Moscas charged their chest blasters as Tsuna got himself ready for absorption.
'You still don't get it do you?' he frowned when the two Moscas turned to...fire everything at the third Mosca. 'Eh?'
His internal alarm bells were ringing.
Reborn always told him to trust his Hyper Intuition and do what he feels is best and not hesitate.
The Third Mosca is in flames...and when its chest cover was gone, it revealed three mechanical eyeballs and a different design. Then it just beat the crap out of him! 'This is King Mosca, my trump card.' Spanner told him. 'All its aspects have been fine-tuned to perfection and double the layer of armor. In addition, its eyeballs are developed in the same function as Zero-Point Breakthrough: Revised. Its an enhanced flame-absorption system. King Mosca's vastly-efficient converter increases its power by ten times...vastly superior to that of Vongola Tenth.'
'...are you that confident in your calculations?' Tsuna spoke as Spanner was surprised he's still alive. 'A tenfold increase in power isn't that big of a deal.' he said. 'If that's your trump card...then let me show you mine.'
He now has an opportunity to use it. Thank you for slamming him on his own ice, Spanner. He has a nice platform on his own ice but the problem is Mosca's speed so he has to make it really big with no room to dodge.
'So you have another technique besides the Breakthrough and Revised?'
'Wouldn't you like to know?'
'Either way you can't defeat King Mosca. It has all the finest attunements I, Spanner can think of.'
'Well, you won't know until we try.' "I'll beat this for sure!" he decided to reduce its mobility by aiming for its rocket blasters, but easier said than done of course...melee for now! He managed to destroy one leg in a kick before he got shot at towards the walls.
'You just don't get it.' said Spanner, working on programming. 'You've just barely begun to see King Mosca's abilities. It other words...it wasn't meant to capture you.' as the attack shot, Tsuna noticed that there's also missiles...he can't absorb it! As he dodged, Spanner continued talking. 'King Mosca's design is based on reference of you. It knows all strengths and weaknesses of your techniques.'
"Tsk! Even the platform is destroyed...what would Mai say in a time like this?" Tsuna wondered. His lightning guardian taught them how to exploit Hadou and their Flames. Interpret differently...one word can mean plenty...then he realized exactly why he needed Soft Flames. Because he originally needed it as a ground as to not lose his footing...and ground or air no longer mattered as long as he has that.
He felt like an idiot really.
He smiled, thanking his lightning guardian for saving their hides with her teachings. Afterall, who to know superpowers better other than magic users themselves?
"X-Burner...Air!"
Spanner wasn't expecting that.