~.~.~
Title: Inheritors of Flame
Last time: Chrome joined the Sawada household, while Tsuna began to have strange dreams. Meanwhile, Byakuran tried to recruit Mukuro, who had been imprisoned and used by the Cervello.
Notes: Hiiiiibariiiiiiiiiii! Man, I'm so mean to Hibari. I fully expect indignant messages about how underpowered he is. Or full flames, depending on how much you guys like him, I guess.
There's a lot of shuffling around in this chapter, cause everyone's got plans, plans, plans. Urgh… Let me know if you need anything clarified. I'm not sure how well it's all coming through.
Also, haha, graceless backstory dump.
~.~.~
Chapter 16: Tournament
Groaning, Irie stretched his arms up and tilted back in his chair. Since he did his work through IoF, it shouldn't have been possible for him to be stiff, but the psychosomatic feeling of pulling an all-nighter was still there.
He was considering logging off for a quick nap, rubbing his eyes tiredly beneath his glasses — another pointless gesture — when a tap at his shoulder made him jump in surprise.
"Agh! B-Byakuran?!" Irie exclaimed, spinning around to face his unexpected visitor.
"Yo, Sho-chan! I came by for a surprise call!" Byakuran said brightly. "It's been a while!"
Taking a moment to catch his breath, Irie sighed. "Yeah, it has… Are they keeping you busy at the main office?"
Byakuran chuckled. "Calling it an office… You're making it sound like some boring desk job!" He spread his arms expressively, as if to show off their illusionary surroundings. "Well, the decor's a bit dull…" Byakuran admitted.
The Observatory, the Cervello's testing and work area within IoF, was an almost exact replica of their main facility in Italy, with the difference being the impossible number of floors inside to accommodate all the workers and Special Zone testing sites. By the same token, what should have been an overglorified cubicle was expanded into a spacious office.
It was possible to alter the decor as well, but Irie had left it plain, aside from a few posters from his favorite bands. The only thing that would have been out of place in a normal office were the holographic displays in place of a monitor. Byakuran frowned at the white walls and modern white desk as if they had personally offended him.
Irie chuckled. "And you always make it sound like a game. It's our real job now, you know," he said. Of course, Byakuran had always had that kind of lighthearted attitude. That was what had drawn Irie to him when they first met online, back before IoF had been released.
They had bought two copies on the day of release, and they had entered the game together. But it wasn't long before Byakuran's natural talent was drawn out, as per IoF's hidden purpose. His Flames and… his other ability grew stronger, until it all came bursting out to create the first special area "Hell Hole" — and the first Over Rank.
Out of concern for Byakuran's changing personality and the distance that began to grow between them, Irie had tried to hack into IoF, only to get caught by the Cervello. In the end, both of them had been recruited, Byakuran transferred to the Italian branch.
"Right, right. Working hard?" Byakuran said lightly. His smirk said clearly he knew the answer. It wasn't like he could have missed the commotion.
"It's been pretty crazy," Irie sighed. "First, it was testing in the low traffic areas… But now we're doing a game-wide restructuring! It's just insane!" He groaned again, just thinking of the hours he'd been forced to put in recently.
Although IoF was at its core an illusion constructed from Mist Flames, there were still many aspects that involved actual computers and programming. To maintain consistency across the many, many Cervello illusionists who worked in tandem to generate the entire world, a variation of the hypnosis technology was used. The specific details were stored digitally and then systematically implanted in the illusionists' minds, ensuring that even when the illusionists were rotated, the transition was seamless.
Most aspects of the machine interface hadn't been revealed to Irie, who worked mainly on the digital databases of the areas, items, combat system, and other game components.
"I don't really understand what the difference is," Irie admitted. "I can tell we're fundamentally changing the underpinnings of how the environment is generated, but I don't understand how."
"Hmm, let me see…" Byakuran said, leaning over Irie's shoulder. He hummed thoughtfully. "Well, Mist's not really my thing, but… See here? This will loop the illusion back in on itself. Like a serpent eating its own tail. The end will become the beginning again, so the illusion won't disperse, even without additional input."
Irie's brow furrowed as he puzzled over what Byakuran was saying. "So it'll raise efficiency? No… It's more than that," he murmured. "If it's like that, then… Once the environment is generated… as long as it runs uninterrupted, it won't need to be constantly reinforced by illusionists! Really? But that's amazing! I didn't know that's possible!"
"I heard it's something they happened to stumble on by chance," Byakuran agreed, beaming. "So I guess the Cervello want to implement it as soon as possible."
"Yeah, it's going to be in just a little while. We backed everything up, and the test has been scheduled," Irie said. "I'm looking forward to how it goes, but I'll be glad when it's done…"
"I'm looking forward to seeing the result as well," Byakuran agreed, his gaze still on Irie's monitor. Unnoticed, his smile shifted into something strange.
~.~.~
Groaning, Tsuna collapsed face-first into one of the guildhall's couches. Yamamoto, who had been sorting through his inventory, chuckled.
"Another hard day mentoring the newbie? Good work, good work," he said teasingly.
Tsuna groaned again. "Don't even joke. Mentoring? Newbie? It's like trying to run damage control on a Legend class monster," he grumbled. "Do you know how many complaints I've received because he PKed someone's guild member unprovoked? Why me? It's not like I can do anything about him. He's not even in our guild!"
Sniffling a little, he buried his face in the cushions as if trying to escape the harsh reality. "Well, it's not against the rules to pick a fight with every single person you come across," Yamamoto said. "It's a pretty unique way of playing though…"
'I'm not sure you can call it playing… I don't think Hibari is interested in playing anyway,' Tsuna thought glumly.
He wasn't sure precisely what had convinced Hibari to start IoF — although he guessed the mysterious lotus infestation and the Cervello's subsequent quarantine of the area had been the last straw. So Hibari had cornered Tsuna one day and demanded that Tsuna explain how the VR system worked and help him set up an account.
And of course, Hibari had then proceeded to fight every single opponent he came across. Tsuna had been too busy doing damage control to check, but there was doubtlessly an entire host of unfriendly nicknames for him circling the message boards.
"Well, don't forget to tell him about the scheduled downtime," Yamamoto said. "There's also a ban on all combat activities for a while before and after. Twelve hours, I think? Or was it twenty four…?"
"…Downtime?" Tsuna parroted, raising his head and turning to Yamamoto with a puzzled frown. "What do you mean, downtime?"
Yamamoto laughed. "I guess you've been so busy that you missed the announcement. I was surprised when I heard too. This is the first time IoF has had downtime, isn't it? Everyone thinks they're going to have some big update or expansion."
'I wonder about that,' Tsuna thought, turning away to hide his uneasy expression. He instinctively found himself doubting whether anything connected with the Cervello was as simple as it appeared. He didn't like it — he didn't want to think those kinds of things or feel that uncertainty in IoF, the place he had always gone to be happy and enjoy himself.
Groaning again, he let his head drop onto the couch cushions again.
And how was he going to explain this to Hibari?
~.~.~
Verde flexed his small hand with an unhappy frown. He had spent so much time within the virtual world that returning to his cursed form created an unpleasant sense of disequilibrium. Forcing his discomfort away, he pushed up his glasses and focused instead on more productive lines of thought.
'The test was a success. It's confirmed — with Rokudo's circular world method, an illusionary world will continue to exists even without a single observer,' Verde thought, going over the data again. 'We haven't received complaints about areas being lost or destabilized…'
Having such a wide pool of unknowing but willing testers was useful in its own way. Players had assumed that there were some updates being made, some additional content to be found, and they had set out to scour all of IoF in search of it. If an area had been missing or had begun to collapse because it was no longer being supported by the Cervello illusionists, the players would have certainly complained.
Instead, they just complained about not finding anything new.
'Naturally, there must be a limit; there's no such thing as a system with zero loss,' Verde thought firmly. It was too early to get optimistic. 'But the rate is still too low to be detected. And going from Rokudo's example, other Flame types can be incorporated as well. The Tenth's Sky Flames were still inside that world and continued to be used for the real illusion materializations… Which means it really might be possible.'
His hands clenched automatically, his heart speeding up a little. It was too early to get optimistic… but he couldn't help the small sliver of hope.
There was so little real knowledge about Flames that Verde had felt like a caveman faced with a lightbulb. No, a caveman in a nuclear power plant. The Pacifiers were immense and dangerous, and created on foundations Verde couldn't even begin to grasp.
But given what he had learned of their requirements, and what he now knew was possible… there just might be answer, almost within his grasp.
Verde glanced at the two Cervello who had accompanied him to the exchange. They, along with another mechanic, were now waiting at the designated meeting place, an abandoned rest stop on a forgotten Italian backroad. The mechanic seemed to be dozing in the cabin of their truck, while Verde sat on the edge of the covered truck bed and the Cervello stood almost entirely concealed in its shadow.
They had been speaking in low tones — unusual, for a group that often seemed to be a hivemind. But then, they had been unusually active, almost agitated, ever since Mukuro's escape, when it had become clear just what he had been doing with the freedom and resources the Cervello had allowed him to "hide" from them.
They hadn't expected it either, and they were adjusting their plans. It almost made Verde wonder what their original plans had been, that this obsoleted them. But in the end it didn't really matter; he had never been one to care about the machinations of others. All that mattered was that the Cervello were useful to him.
Speaking of useful…
The Cervello slowly made their way around the truck as another vehicle appeared around the bend. It was an old military truck, but it bore no identifying markings. The driver side door creaked open and slammed shut as the young mechanic, Spanner, ambled over as well.
"Is that them?" he asked, peeling open a fresh lollipop.
The Pacifier on Verde's chest began to glow softly, an answering pale blue light shining from the military vehicle's passenger seat. "Yes," he said. "It would seem so."
As the military truck pulled to a stop, crunching gravel and sending up a cloud of dust, the passenger side door opened, and the tiny form of a young child jumped out. Or rather, an Arcobaleno jumped out and moved around the front to meet the Cervello party. The glow in his blue Pacifier was only just beginning to dim a little, as he exchanged a nod with Verde.
"Interesting company you keep these days," he commented, glancing at Cervello and the teenager in coveralls with a faint frown.
"That's none of your concern, Colonnello," Verde replied evenly, already moving toward the back of the army truck and gesturing for Spanner to follow. "You already agreed. Did you bring it?"
"Yeah, yeah," Colonnello grumbled. "You're so annoying, even when you want something…"
He and Verde jumped nimbly into the truck bed and circled around the large cloth-covered object strapped there. Colonnello pealed back the tarp, metal glinting underneath. Leaning in and adjusting his glasses, Verde made a considering sound.
"You, boy," he gestured to Spanner, "take a look. Confirm it's according to specifications."
Colonnello frowned. "I ain't gonna cheat you," he protested. "Who do you take me for, huh?"
"You wouldn't know the difference if this it was missing half its parts," Verde said, making Colonnello scowl — however, he was right. "Furthermore, the military had it in storage for a number of years, I believe. If something was damaged irreparably, I want to know."
Conceding none too gracefully, Colonnello settled for watching with a scowl as Spanner scrabbled into the truck bed, wrenched the tarp further back and, prying open some panel in the strange machine, began to dig in its insides.
"…What do you even want it for?" Colonnello finally couldn't hold back any longer. "The Gola Mosca is a failure. It can't run on any power source smaller than an entire plant. Well, except a human being, but it kills within weeks, if that."
Verde smiled strangely. "That's perfect, then," he said, his glasses glinting as he pushed them up. For a moment, his hand touched the Pacifier still glowing faintly on his chest.
Colonnello followed the motion with a faint frown. He understood what Verde was thinking — in some ways, this machine was like a far cruder, deadlier version of the Pacifiers. "Verde, you… You're still…?"
"Of course," Verde said shortly.
"Looks okay," Spanner called out, heaving his head out of the Gola Mosca. "A bit antiquated, and I could definitely tweak it, but… It'll do."
"Alright, then let's get this over with," Colonnello said. Jumping out of the truck, he moved to the left side and waved his long rifle to catch the driver's attention. "Hey! Turn it around!"
The military truck's engine had been idling, and now it begun to move again, the white reverse lights shining. Once it was far enough, it pulled a three point U-turn and backed up again, until its rear opening was almost flush against the Cervello vehicle's. With the Cervello's help, Spanner began to slide the Gola Mosca and the dolly it was attached to into their truck.
"Regarding the payment…" Verde began.
"Forget it," Colonnello cut him off. "Call it a favor between fellow Arcobaleno. Just… figure it out. Find a way."
"Of course. There's no such thing as a problem that can't be solved," Verde said, pushing up his glasses. "I finally have all the data I need…"
~.~.~
This time, one of the Cervello took the driver's seat, while Spanner and her partner stayed in the back with their new acquisition. "How shall we proceed from here?" she asked, starting the truck. What she really wanted to know was the purpose behind getting the Mosca from the military, and what Verde planned to do with it.
"There's a tournament planned for Cloud types, to find someone for the Vongola," Verde said. "We're going to change the format. Instead of PvP, it'll be against a boss opponent. The Mosca internal drive will be the server. It should be enough for just that."
"…As you wish," the Cervello said, hesitating momentarily.
"And… I want the records for the Tenth's unique skill, the absorption one," Verde added.
It had been almost three years since the mass data collection project called Inheritors of Flame had begun. The results had been beyond anything Verde could have hoped for or imagined. The millions of players had come up with methods, applications, exploits, and possibilities for Flames that had never existed before.
The answer was there, Verde was certain. Now, it was just a matter of putting together the pieces.
~.~.~
Would you like to return to the nearest checkpoint or Quit?
Hibari gritted his teeth and glared at the message floating in the featureless void. Taking a moment to regain his composure while the mandatory cool down counter ran out, he chose the first option.
The darkness dissolved as the world of IoF reappeared around him — or rather, he reappeared within it, at the Sanmon dueling grounds. Instead of the stadium floor, surrounded by jeering crowds, Hibari had respawned in one of the duelist waiting rooms, the same one he had passed through before his match. It served as the checkpoint for those who lost their duels, to prevent them from getting mocked too much by those who had witnessed their defeat.
Tsuna was waiting there for him. He quickly held up his hands, smiling nervously. Hibari was tempted to take his anger out on him, but he settled for simply glaring.
"Where is he? I'm going to beat him this time," Hibari growled. "I won't accept losing to some show pony. I'll bite him to death."
Tsuna sighed. "He left already," he said. "And I don't think he'd accept a challenge from you. He got back all the stuff you won from all those people you PKed, and he'll redistribute it back to everyone. For him, that's acceptable retribution."
Hibari's scowl just deepened, but Tsuna was too irritated himself to let that faze him.
"You're lucky Bucking Horse stepped up," he said, his tone displeased and reprimanding. "He's honorable, even if you PKed some of his guildmates. You can't get corpse camped in IoF, but there's ways of chain-killing someone, if you're angry enough with them. Getting killed in one duel is pretty light revenge, all things considered."
The flat, annoyed look Hibari shot him made it clear just how little he cared about game mechanics — or levels, or items, or anything like that. It was frustrating, and it made Tsuna's frown deepen.
"Hibari, just why did you join IoF? What are you doing here?" he asked, not bothering to beat around the bush any further.
"To get stronger," Hibari replied just as impatiently.
"By fighting everyone at random?" Tsuna said sharply. "What's the point of that? You don't this sort of thing in Namimori, so why are you acting like that here?"
"They're all herbivores," Hibari conceded, "but they have those powers and they can fight. So fighting them—"
"So what?" Tsuna cut him off. "Just because they can doesn't mean they want to! Everyone plays IoF to have fun, and maybe battles are part of that, but what you're doing is different! It's no better than bullying! You're just hunting them down for your own amusement! You're just rampaging as you please!"
His sudden, rare anger took Hibari aback enough to keep him silent and listening.
It had been building for a while, and Tsuna went on, looking away as if to hide his glare, "IoF isn't just, just some place you can do as you wish! Everyone here should be able to enjoy this world! I didn't say anything so far because Hibari is Hibari and I thought you'd figure it out, but if you're just to keep going like this even after the Cavalry had to step in… Then I'll stop you myself!"
His expression, when he met Hibari's gaze again squarely, was angry and determined.
It had been a long time since someone scolded Hibari like that, and it left him off balance. Shrugging one shoulder, he crossed his arms and looked away. "You became stronger here," he muttered. "You used to be the runt of the entire herd."
"That's true… I did get stronger here, but I think we're talking about different kinds of strength," Tsuna signed, his anger cooling into familiar frustration. "Maybe I learned about Flames, but that's not the real difference. The kind of strength I gained here is because I have things to fight for now. My friends, what I believe in, even this world and all the precious memories it holds… That's different from fighting power. I don't think you have any need for that, Hibari-san."
Hibari frowned, but he didn't disagree. The difference between a herbivore and a carnivore wasn't in the sharpness of their claw or the length of their fangs. A carnivore was a carnivore, whether a tiger or a mountain cat.
'You will certainly become strong,' that man had said, when he had defeated Hibari yet again. 'But I wonder what kind of strength it'll be. That's something only you can decide.' He had smiled, far too mild for any carnivore — but that was certainly no weak herbivore. A dragon, the young Hibari had thought. Something out of this world. 'I'll be watching to see what you become, Kyoya.'
However, he had never returned, even after all these years.
Was a carnivore something you learned to be? Hibari had thought Tsuna was just another pathetic herbivore — the most pathetic one — but now he had his own territory and stared Hibari down. Had Hibari just mistaken the kind of animal Tsuna was because of how small he had been? Or could every small animal become a lion?
Most of all… It was still too strange for Hibari.
The small animal he had thought was part of his territory and the herd that lived there had somehow grown into a strong beast. Where did they stand now? Two predators, circling each other?
"You understand, right? There's no point in fighting everyone," Tsuna pressed. "If you want to fight strong opponents… Here, how about this?" Opening his menu, he scrolled quickly through it and flicked something toward Hibari. A window opened in front of him, displaying what looked like a flyer.
"'Highest Cloud Tournament,'" Hibari read off tonelessly.
"The announcement went to everybody, but I guess you didn't notice," Tsuna said. "There's no level limit, but the prize is good, so you'll probably have some pretty strong guys join. Why don't you try it? There's always events like that going on. At the very least, it's better than just picking fights at random."
Hibari frowned, unreadable, and looked up at Tsuna sharply. "Are you going to be there?"
Tsuna wasn't sure what that question was supposed to mean, but the answer was simple. "No, it's for Cloud primary players only. There's no one in my guild that can enter," he said. "I'd usually ignore it or just go to watch the finals, but you're a Cloud type, so…"
He trailed off as Hibari glared down at the announcement again. Then, without bothering to respond, the prefect turned on his heel and strode off.
Watching him go, Tsuna could only sigh and shake his head. He'd never understand Hibari, that was for sure.
"I guess I'll go and cheer him on, if he does join…" Tsuna said absently. 'That, and try to keep him out of trouble…'
~.~.~
Every city and town in IoF had a dueling ground — an arena or stadium, or at least a ring, where players could come to hold arranged duels. The basic purpose was to ensure fairness, removing the chance of terrain favoring one side or ambushes, but mostly dueling grounds served as a convenient way of putting duels on display. Duels arranged to take place at the dueling grounds were listed in the schedule, which was cross posted on the message boards, and a duel between strong or famous players inevitably drew a crowd of spectators.
Tsuna had been in his share of those, and Hibari's duel against the Cavalry's guild master had also been packed — by curious gawkers, by Hibari's booing victims, and by those interested in scoping out the abilities of either fighter.
Occasionally, events were also held at dueling grounds — a guild training or evaluating potential members, take all challengers fights by high level players, versus rare monster battles, or tournaments, whether conducted by players or the admins. The "Highest Cloud" tournament Tsuna had recommended to Hibari was one such event, to be held at the dueling ground at Colosso, on the Italy server.
Well, one of the dueling grounds in the massive city — the largest one, in fact. The Colosseum, a giant elliptical structure meant to mimic Rome's ancient landmark.
Unlike the historical coliseum, IoF's Colosseum was white and set with tall, smooth pillars in the same style as many of the city's other buildings — gargantuan bones of monsters defeated by heroes of the past that had been made part of the city, supposedly. The open space on every side of the stadium was always busy, but especially packed that day.
Pushing his way through the press of people, Tsuna nervously tugged at the raised hood of his ragged black cloak — not his usual, but rather a special item that concealed his identity. Otherwise, wandering around a dueling ground was just asking to get challenged.
So when a hand clamped onto his shoulder from behind, Tsuna jumped in surprise and barely bit back a startled shriek.
"L-Leon-san?" Tsuna stammered as he glanced over his shoulder at the one who had snuck up up on him. "…What are you wearing?"
A gladiator's outfit, it looked like, or maybe a legionnaire's. Reborn preened, as he was prone to when his outlandish costumes provoked a reaction, but Tsuna shook his head quickly.
"Never mind that. How did you know it's me?" Tsuna wondered, instead.
"That thing only hides your ID and blurs your face," Reborn said, disinterested. "You still move the same way. I could tell by the way you walk."
For a hitman, it was basic stuff. Of course, as a civilian, Tsuna made a face and thought, 'Creepy…'
"It's impressive. That's the word you're looking for," Reborn corrected him.
Even as they spoke, the pair continued to make their way through the crowds and into the Colosseum. In a real arena, the viewing galleries inside would have never been able to accommodate all the interested spectators, but the virtual Colosseum was always as big as it needed to be. As Tsuna and Reborn moved along one of the covered observation galleries along the perimeter, the press of people lessened until they reached a yet unoccupied area — but the view of the Colosseum floor never changed.
"Right, right. So, did you come to scope out the competition?" Tsuna teased in return.
"Something like that," Reborn allowed. "Maybe I'll find some interesting new marks…" That, and it wouldn't hurt to see the potential Vongola Cloud Guardians. Given that the Varia was missing just one position, Reborn could make a guess to the purpose of the event.
"It's interesting, right? Pretty rare to see a one-element tournament," Tsuna commented. "I came to watch a… guy I know. His first match is supposed to be coming up soon." Since it was a game-wide tournament, players could schedule their matches based on their timezones, and the entire thing was supposed to last at least a day.
"First match?" Reborn said, raising an eyebrow. Seeing Tsuna's confused expression, he smirked. "You didn't read it through, did you? You just glanced at the time." He chuckled a little, shaking his head. "It's not a PvP tournament. They changed the setup — it's VS a boss, and the winner will be determined by performance."
"Huh? But why call it a tournament then?" Tsuna wondered. Then, as the full implications hit him, he paled. "Hibari's going to be so mad at me," he muttered, facepalming. "I told him he'd get to fight lots of strong opponents… I don't think he's going to be happy with just a special boss."
Certainly, fighting monsters didn't interest Hibari in the slightest. Only human opponents could apparently serve his purposes.
"Hibari…" Reborn muttered, looking up at the giant holographic screens that floated in the open space over the Colosseum floor, supposedly projected from a slowly rotating silver ring overhead. The information displayed included a schedule of the day's matches. "There, he's next. Hmm…"
"What's wrong?" Tsuna asked, noticing Reborn's faint frown.
"It's nothing," Reborn replied. "He just looks a lot like a… colleague of mine." 'Another coincidence?' he thought dryly. 'But at least his Flames are different. Fon's entirely Storm.'
The holographic displays overhead shifted, half of them showing large-letter, bright announcements of the next match. Others switched to video feeds of the two arena entrances. On one end, a heavy metal gate slid open — that was where Hibari would enter. On the other, a trapdoor opened, and a bulky shape was slowly raised up onto the arena floor.
"Is that the boss?" Tsuna wondered. "I've never seen it before. Is that… a robot?"
"It's supposed to be some ancient golem or something, that was recently discovered," Reborn said absently. He'd only glanced over the fluff because he thought Tsuna might be interested. "Supposedly, they're testing it, and it only reacts to Cloud Flames."
"Huh…" Tsuna drew out, studying the golem.
Its form was different from the usual robots that could be found in any number of areas in IoF. Neither slick and well polished, nor clumsy and box-like, it had a rounded form, almost like a ceramic pot. Its arms were long and curving as they hung around the thick, slouched body, and the legs were comparatively short, squat stubs.
"Gola… Mos-ca…" Tsuna read out, squinting at the boss's ID tag — first the furigana, then the kanji below. "Hungry… fly? It doesn't look much like a fly. Well, maybe the head…"
"I think it's supposed to be 'gluttony,'" Reborn commented.
On the other end of the coliseum, Hibari had emerged from the gate. He cut a surprisingly impressive figure, a black jacket hanging from his shoulders, a wide red ribbon on his arm in imitation of his uniform, but most of the crowd exploded into jeers and angry booing. It was probably a good thing that throwing things into the stadium wasn't possible.
"Popular, isn't he?" Reborn said, smirking in amusement. Tsuna just groaned, burying his face in one hand.
As Hibari approached the center of the arena, the Gola Mosca began to move as well — uncurling and straightening, as a light shone in the lenses of its eyes. It lumbered forward to meet him, until both paused at the start markers.
A window appeared between them, showing a count down. 3… 2… 1…
~.~.~
As the starting gong sounded, Hibari darted forward, swinging his tonfas with all his irritation at being denied the opponents he wanted. Tsuna winced just watching, but the Gola Mosca didn't move — not even when the attack connected with a loud clang.
Tsuna's eyes narrowed. He couldn't see whatever message Hibari received from the combat system, but he could recognize the sound effect. "It's resistant to physical damage," he guessed. "Hibari's not going to like that either…" 'He's really going to kill me for this.'
Given that Hibari hadn't fought any monsters, and players could only get that property from incredibly rare armor items, he naturally didn't recognize it — he attempted another futile attack, which also bounced off with no effect, before a heavy swipe of the Gola Mosca's long arms forced him to retreat.
Hibari paused to glare at the golem, his irritation almost visibly rising. But with an angry tch, he switched one tonfa out for a Box Weapon and began to gather Flames within it. The top split open, and a ball of purple fire sprang forth, forming a rolling mass that headed toward the Gola Mosca.
"Hoh… It's impressive he could get a basic Cloud Hedgehog to that size," Reborn noted, recognizing the animal as spikes appeared from within the purple Flames. "His Flames must be pretty powerful."
"Yeah…" Tsuna agreed half-heartedly. 'But I'm not sure how much he knows about using them… I don't think Hibari ever bothered trying to work out the skill system,' he thought. 'Not to mention that hedgehog is probably the only Box he has.' He only had it in the first place because Tsuna had managed to guide him through the initial tutorial like he had with Kyoko, before Hibari stormed off on his own.
Reborn was right, though. Cloud Hedgehogs were basic starter Box Animals, and they were supposed to be small and weak, but the thing rushing at the Gola Mosca was easily twice, or even three times taller than the golem. Hibari never did things by halves.
The Gola Mosca made no move to dodge — Tsuna wasn't even sure it could, given how ponderously it had moved so far — and instead spread its long arms wide as if for an embrace. The rolling sphere of spikes and Cloud Flames hit square in the center of its thick torso. But, strangely, the golem wasn't even pushed back a step.
Tsuna's eyes narrowed, as he saw purple Flames erupt from the point of collision. 'That's…'
Next to him, Reborn clicked his tongue. "So that's how it is," he muttered. "Do you recognize it? It's using the same trick as you."
"It's… absorbing the Flames?" Tsuna realized. Indeed, the hedgehog was shrinking before their eyes, until its shell cracked open to reveal the small animal inside. A moment later, it collapsed completely and the last of its Flames dispersed, only to be sucked into the Gola Mosca.
Hibari just looked more irritated.
"It's resistant to physical damage and it absorbs Flames… What's the point of that?" Tsuna wondered, with a faint frown. "Especially in a one on one with Cloud types. Propagation is kind of a mismatch in a situation like that, isn't it?"
The Cloud Flame property was mostly useful for area effects and certain kinds of buffs or debuffs. In a great irony, Cloud Flames were actually most useful when linked with the skills of other players… No matter how Tsuna looked at it, he couldn't see how usual Cloud skills would be much use against an opponent like that.
But what was the point of an unwinnable, frustrating battle?
Reborn didn't answer. 'Did they want a consistent measure? It does seem strange,' he thought. 'What are the Cervello aiming for?'
Down below, Hibari charged in. He might not have bothered learning anything about skills or tutorials, but he had seen his victims use Flames in a variety of ways, and with his natural instincts, he could at least replicate that on the most basic level. Purple Flames wreathed his tonfas as he swung at the golem, ducking under a wide swipe of its arms.
This time, he managed to penetrate its armor. Hibari's tonfa dug into the Gola Mosca's shoulder — but only partway, before the Flames around it were sucked away. The golem's optics flashed, and its arms lifted with surprising speed, closing around Hibari to trap and crush him.
Rather than try to retreat, Hibari planted a foot against the Mosca's torso and, using the deeply lodged tonfa, heaved himself up onto its shoulders. He drew his other tonfa back, aiming for the golem's head, but the Gola Mosca tilted forward sharply. Hibari was thrown off balance, and before he could correct himself, he was thrown off completely as the Mosca rocketed forward, thrusters in the soles of its round, stubby feet blazing to life.
The crowd roared in approval as Hibari was sent flying through the air head over heels. Spinning around, he managed to drag the tip of his remaining tonfa along the ground and use that point to reorient himself. But at the same time, several panels popped open in the Mosca's back, and missiles shot out, heading for Hibari.
Hibari held up his free hand, the same Box Weapon appearing in it — but there was no effect, despite the purple Flames gathering around the Box.
"It's still in cooldown," Tsuna winced. Did Hibari even know how that function worked? He'd probably never had to use his Box Animal more than once in any battle.
Whether he understood or not, the missiles were still bearing down on Hibari, with no time to dodge. He batted aside the first, but even he could not stop the rest. Explosions momentarily engulfed him, before Hibari's form, HP bar rapidly dropping, was thrown clear.
The crowd exploded into cheers that made Tsuna bite his lip in frustration until Reborn put a calming hand on his shoulder.
"What's the point of an enemy like that?" Tsuna muttered unhappily. "It's not interesting at all."
Frowning faintly, Reborn did not respond.
Down in the arena below, Hibari picked himself up with an expression more annoyed than defeated or scared. His eyes narrowed as he studied the golem, which turned to face him — the wound he had made, artificially smooth and bright red due to graphics limitations, was already closing, the tonfa pushed out until it fell to the arena floor. But it was too far to reach, and Hibari didn't have any spares in IoF.
'You have Cloud Flames. Their property is Propagation,' Tsuna had said on the first day when Hibari joined. 'Um, how to explain… They're good at making more of something — like multiplying the effect of other skills, or even objects…'
Nodding to himself, Hibari concentrated. Purple Flames blazed around his remaining weapon, but this time he only raised it and gripped the handle with both hands. When Hibari drew his hands apart, there was a tonfa in each one.
"Yes! Way to go!" Tsuna cheered. 'He figured it out! That's Hibari for you!'
The Gola Mosca was also ready to begin its attack. It raised its arms toward Hibari, revealing that each finger was a barrel. With the staccato sound of a machine gun, the Mosca opened fire.
Hibari zigzagged sharply, just managing to stay ahead of the bullet spray as he rushed toward the Gola Mosca. When there was no more room to dodge, he spun one tonfa — the Flame copy — in front of himself to knock the bullets aside and, in the momentary pause, hurled his other weapon toward the Mosca with all his might.
The tonfa looked more like a missile as it rocketed at the golem, covered in dense Cloud Flames. The force of its impact with the Mosca's arm near the shoulder was enough to make the golem stumble, before the Flames were absorbed again and the tonfa dispersed.
In that opening, Hibari finished closing the distance. He threw himself into a slide at the last moment, grabbing his lost weapon and stopping once again behind the Gola Mosca, which was only just regaining its balance. Without giving it a chance to react, Hibari attacked again. He aimed for the hole his thrown tonfa had ripped in the golem's arm — and managed to sever it completely on the second strike.
However, what triumph Hibari felt as the Gola Mosca's long arm dropped to the arena floor, torn off from the body, was undercut when the golem simply spun around and backhanded him again. Even though Hibari managed to block most of the strike, the force of it still sent him sliding away.
The Mosca's arm was already regenerating, its health bar refilling quickly. "No way… That's just unfair," Tsuna muttered, even as Hibari stubbornly readied to attack again.
"…Yeah," Reborn had to agree.
~.~.~
"You don't need to look so disheartened. It was a splendid struggle."
Hibari met the backhanded compliment with an acidic glare. The target of his ire — the androgynous player who had stepped into the waiting room of the Colosseum, where Hibari had respawned — only chuckled and tossed back a strand of long aquamarine hair. Under Hibari's attention, an ID cursor popped up next to — his? her? — head, reading "Kikyo II."
"You did as well as could have been expected, against an opponent like that, with the power you have. You're certain to win," Kikyo continued. He — probably, despite the feminine name — only continued to smile as Hibari glowered and tried to instinctively reach for his tonfas, though of course they were not on his avatar and could not be drawn.
"What do you want?" Hibari snapped.
"I just wanted to meet you," Kikyo insisted. "You were very impressive, and I can tell you'll go far. Perhaps you'll even reach our level one day."
"Your level?" Hibari repeated scornfully. "I don't care about that."
Kikyo's smile widened. "Really? I would say Over Rank is something to aspire to. You could become the eleventh player to exceed the limits of this game. Yes, an Over Rank would have even been able to beat that little toy, if they chose to go all out. Of course, that's impossible for an ordinary player…"
Even though he could tell he was being played, Hibari felt a spark of interest — if only because he wanted the power to make this flounce shut up.
"I'll be watching your progress with interest, Hibari-kun," Kikyo said, turning away and heading toward the exit.
Unsatisfied with being dismissed like that, Hibari quickly moved to give chase. However, Kikyo hadn't gone far. He had stopped only a few steps down the hallway out into the Colosseum lobby, instead locking stares with another player — Tsuna, who had been waiting for Hibari.
"What a pleasant surprise to see you, Tenth," Kikyo broke the silence, smiling again — Tsuna had made the mistake of pulling his hood down, so Hibari could recognize him. "This is our first time meeting, isn't it? Welcome to our ranks, on behalf of Millefiore guild." He chuckled at the unintentional pun.
"…Thank you," Tsuna replied slowly. "But I'm… surprised to see you, um, Kikyo-san. I thought all the other Over Rank players stopped coming to IoF . Are you going to join the tournament too?"
"No, no," Kikyo chuckled. "That won't be necessary, after that last display. I'm sure that will be enough. I'm just here by my guild master's request, just in case… Well, I'm happy to have the chance to see such an impressive new talent. And to meet you, of course."
"Yeah, same here…" Tsuna said, though it didn't sound much like an agreement.
He watched Kikyo disappear down the hallway with a faintly troubled look on his face. As the second Over Rank passed Reborn, who was leaning against the wall a little further away, their eyes met for a moment. The smirk passed quickly over Kikyo's face made Reborn frown as well. Something about him gave Reborn an uneasy feeling.
Shaking his head and turning back to Hibari, Tsuna started to say, "Are you okay? I'm sorry it turned out like this. I didn't think it would such a weird event…"
But Hibari didn't seem to be paying him any attention. Instead, the prefect shot one last glare in the direction Kikyo had disappeared and abruptly logged out, leaving Tsuna staring at the empty space he had been standing.
"…I hope that's not a sign he's coming over to beat me up in real life," Tsuna sighed. "But just in case I better log out too, so I'll see you later, Leon-san… Leon-san?"
It took a moment for Reborn to respond — he too had been staring after Kikyo, a frown still on his face. "Yeah, see you later," he said finally.
Even after Tsuna logged out, Reborn remained in the hallway, lost in thought. 'Does he know about me? Did they tell him?' he wondered. 'More importantly, what did he mean about not needing to participate? Something that kid did was "enough"… For what?'
As always, where the Cervello were concerned, there were many questions, but no real answers to be found.
~.~.~
Chewing his lip, Tsuna stared at the announcement contemplatively. "Should I congratulate him on winning…?" he wondered. "Or will Hibari just get mad if I do that?"
The admins had finally released the name of the winner of the Cloud tournament, and it was predictably Hibari. However, Tsuna somewhat doubted that the prefect would be happy with his supposed victory, even if he had refrained from biting Tsuna to death so far. In fact, Tsuna hadn't really seen him, in IoF or in the real world, since Hibari stormed out of the Colosseum.
He dithered a while longer, before the chime of a new message drew his attention away. Speaking of the devil, it was from Hibari. Tsuna hasn't even realized Hibari knew how to use the PM system and opened it curiously.
It was, naturally, a duel challenge — he had been expecting it for a while. Either that, or an ambush…
Shoulders slumping with a heavy sigh, Tsuna knew he had no choice but to accept.
Hibari hadn't set a time, but Tsuna knew him well enough to guess the implied "immediately." It might have been for the best, in any case. If other players had a chance to notice his name — or even Hibari's name, really — on the duel grounds roster, it was bound to draw unwanted attention to them.
As Tsuna had expected, Hibari was already waiting for him at the Minamoto arena. It was much smaller than the Colosso stadium, or even the one in Sanmon, but it was also much more familiar to Tsuna, who had used it quite often to teach a lesson to some upstart group that sought to prey on new players.
He had to wonder what Hibari was trying to say by holding the duel on Tsuna's "territory."
"Hibari-san…" Tsuna started to say as they faced each other, only to be cut off.
"Don't hold back," Hibari ordered. His fists clenched as he glared, but Tsuna's didn't seem to be the target of his ire. "Over Rank… In this world, you're not just a carnivore. You're a legend." He had been looking into it since the tournament, incensed but also unwillingly curious about Kikyo's words — and his interest in Tsuna.
"I wouldn't go that far…" Tsuna tried to demure, frowning a little.
Hibari's glare silenced him. "Don't hold back," he repeated. "Show me the full extent of your power."
Tsuna sighed, even as he clicked the accept button to begin the duel. Watching the displays between them count down, he thought, 'Full power, huh…'
He wondered if Hibari understood what that would be like. True, Hibari's combat instincts were nothing short of phenomenal. Even with Hyper Intuition, Tsuna wasn't sure if he could outmaneuver the prefect. But between Dying Will Mode and Tsuna's higher stats, the gap in pure physical ability would be reversed.
And… most of all, Hibari was no match for him in terms of Flame manipulation, as things stood. As far as precision, range of skills, experience, and pure power went, Tsuna was simply too far ahead. Hibari had only started a couple of weeks before, after all.
'But if I hold back, he'll kill me for sure,' Tsuna thought — not in the duel, but afterwards. 'Alright, if that's what he wants…' He took a deep breath, and when he opened his eyes again, they glowed with the power of Dying Will Mode.
As the countdown reached zero, Tsuna seemed to vanish from sight. Hibari didn't let himself hesitate for a moment, realizing what had happened, if not how. He threw himself aside, just barely avoiding a flaming punch from Tsuna, who was now behind him.
But that wasn't the real attack. "Sphere Burst," Tsuna commanded, a skill in his tree that he didn't use often.
A shining sphere of Flames exploded suddenly from his fist, expanding outward — only a short distance, but at that range it was enough to engulf Hibari's arm around the elbow, and completely disintegrate it. Hibari's eyes widened, even the prefect momentarily stunned as only a red-ended stump remained, the other end of his hand falling away and dissolving into light as Tsuna's attack faded.
The short range was balanced by the sheer destructive level — only someone near Tsuna's own level would have a high enough resistance to not be completely destroyed. However, the reason he had used it just then was different. Unlike X Burner, the Flames had no momentum and didn't need to be balanced to keep him from being thrust away.
Hibari recovered admirably, gritting his teeth against the shock, thankfully dulled by the VR system, and swung his remaining tonfa at Tsuna. It blazed with all the purple Flames he could master, and at that distance Tsuna would have been hard pressed to dodge.
He didn't even bother trying, letting his cloak take the blow. The black fabric rippled, negating both the Flames and the kinetic force, and dissolved as well, but that was more than enough. Tsuna swept Hibari's feet from under him, and Flame-enhanced uppercut to the solar plexus, sent him flying into the air.
Hibari tried to ready himself, gritting his teeth and squinting against the wind, expecting Tsuna to follow him, but instead he saw his opponent take a steady stance on the ground — one palm forward, one behind, both glowing with pure, concentrated Flames.
"X Burner," Tsuna announced evenly, "full power."
The wide burst of hot Sky Flames shot up toward the sky, crashing for a moment against the dome barrier over the stadium, then burning through it.
"You Win!" a display popped up in front of Tsuna, followed by a bright warning message about an error in the dueling grounds' structure. With a soft exhale, he let his attack fade away, along with the calculating calm of Dying Will Mode.
"…Maybe I overdid it a bit," he muttered, looking ruefully at the warning announcements urging him to leave the dueling grounds.
The smaller victory banner that had almost gotten lost under the alarms pushed its way forward again, updating to show the win conditions — which Tsuna had ignored before he hadn't expected Hibari to bother changing them from the default "half the loser's money."
But it looked like Hibari had modified them after all. Tsuna's expression slowly grew more and more horrified as the meaning of what he was seeing sank in and another window popped up, then another.
"Hibari has joined your guild."
"Congratulations! Your guild contains Seven Colors! While holding this status, you will be granted the following privileges…"
Seven Colors — the special status for guilds consisting of seven members with seven different primary Flames.
Hibari's chosen loss condition — joining the victor's guild.
"Hiiiiiiieeee!" 'Why?!'
~.~.~