Hello, everyone! This is a new chapter! Chapter 48! I hope everyone will enjoy it and without further ado, let's start!

Normal POV

As soon as he entered the apartment, Aichi returned to normal as Kai greeted him.

" Hey."

Aichi blushed after remembering what had happened back in Tsuna's house as he immediately grabbed his clothes and headed straight to the bathroom. After a few minutes, he came out of the bathroom as he then sat down and carried Tasuku from the bed.

" I'm back, Tasuku-kun." Aichi said

" We're having a simple dinner today. Rice and a side dish. Do you want some soup?" Kai ask

" Sure."

" What did you guys discuss today?" Kai ask

" About tomorrow's battle." Aichi replied before thinking, " Let's take off our watches for now."

Kai raised an eyebrow before nodding as they placed their watches in the cupboard and stacked a few clothings above them before heading back to the kitchen.

" All of the teams are going to work together to defeat Team Bermuda. That's how powerful they are." Aichi said

" Exactly how powerful?" Kai ask

" The leader, Jager, can short warp to any place at any time. Even Tsuna-san's Hyper Intuition couldn't make it in time to dodge some attacks. We don't know about the rest of the Vindice though, but the plan is to split all of them away from each other and defeat each of them one by one. While the others stall for time, Tsuna-san, Enma-san and Basil-san will fly by air using their flames to attack them by surprise." Aichi explained

" I see. That makes sense. The engineers will be doing some work then." Kai said

" Yes. I heard that they would be making the flame decoy from Choice to confuse them and separate them effectively." Aichi said

" With the addition of the Arcobaleno, Verde, there wouldn't be too much of a problem." Kai said as he cut a piece of croquette for Aichi to taste before continuing, " Don't come too close since the oil splattering is dangerous. Anyway, why did we take the watches off?"

" That's how Checkerface checks up on us. He watches our movements from our watches and listens to our conversations." Aichi replied

" So that's how it is... And what's our battle plan tomorrow? We both know that something bad happens to you whenever you get close to Bermuda." Kai said

" Remember the weapons that we never really got to use? The ones that rejected the Pontifex no matter how much she tries to use them? While we haven't figured out what they can do-" Aichi said as Kai cut him off

" And had your hand cut off many times." Kai added

" ... It's okay. Apparently, my powers can heal broken limbs back together. At least, that's what Pontifex did. Anyway, we have some weapons in there that can do long range attacks. What if we went aerial as well? That way, it'll be harder for me to make close contact with Bermuda too." Aichi said

" You've got a point there." Kai said as he set the dishes onto separate plates, " So what time will it start?"

" From what Pontifex has seen using my clairvoyance, tomorrow's battle will start at 3pm. We have enough time to prepare ourselves and spread everyone to different places." Aichi said

" True. We do need as much help as we can get if the Vindice are that strong." Kai said

" Yeah."

" We'll contact the others about the plan after dinner." Kai said

" Okay."

While Kai set the plates down for dinner, Aichi patted Tasuku to sleep and slowly laid him inside the crib before sitting down for dinner.

" About this afternoon... Did you do that call on purpose...?" Aichi ask as he looked away while blushing

" No. I did tell Miwa that. He sounded like he wanted to laugh and puke afterwards." Kai said

" I sure hope he made a better excuse for you for skipping school..." Aichi said

" Don't worry about it." Kai said

" If you say so..." Aichi said as he continued eating, " ... We can win tomorrow's battle, right?"

" Of course we will. And then we'll get some answers from Checkerface." Kai said

" I see... Well, Tsuna-san said that Checkerface is actually using this Representative Battle to choose new Arcobalenos... And that the current Arcobaleno will die as a result. But as far as I'm concerned... the Rainbow pacifier doesn't seem to have anyone suitable to replace me. Isn't it weird? And we will never know what our past selves are thinking since those memory crystals turned into masks that are invisible on our faces. Those spirits of them never showed up for a long time too..." Aichi said

" We'll solve them all, Aichi. It just takes time." Kai said

" Yeah... Let's do our best tomorrow." Aichi said

" Yeah."

The two quickly finished their meals and went to bed after contacting the others. The next day, it was a few minutes before the battle would start as the teams all spread out to their places. At a rooftop parking, Miwa, Kamui and Misaki were dropped off from a cloud.

" Yo! We're joining this battle too!" Miwa said

" About time! Hurry up! We need to hide!" Gokudera said

" Yeah!"

In the clearing of a mountain, Ren and Naoki were dropped off by a cloud as well as they hid in the trees after seeing Tsuna and the others.

" I'll conceal you guys with illusions while the flame decoys do their work." Ren said

" Thank you!"

" If the guy ain't tough, we'll handle him alone. So you guys can fly off to the rooftop team." Naoki said

" Is that possible?" Enma ask

" Don't underestimate our teamwork!" Naoki assured

" And where's Aichi-san and Kai-san?" Tsuna ask

" ... Those two are doing their own sneaky work. You'll see." Ren said

The flame decoys were quickly set up as they waited. A few minutes later, their watches all rang.

" 1 minute until battle commences. The time limit this time is 90 minutes."

" Oh? The time limit this time is way longer than the last three." Ren said

" That's enough time to take out Team Bermuda." Tsuna said

" Yeah."

" Battle start!"

As the Vindice all appeared in the locations, they immediately started taking out the flame decoys, thinking that they were real people.

" They're puppets with machinery inside?! Team Mammon is all fakes?!" Alejandro exclaimed

" Enma-kun."

" Yeah."

Enma used his flames to pin Alejandro to the ground.

" We'll start by picking you off one by one. Don't think badly of us." Tsuna said as Ren released his illusions

" What?! Tsunayoshi Sawada, Enma Kozato and Basil...?!" Alejandro exclaimed

" We're here too!" Naoki said

" We also are fighters with a Battler Watch!" Basil said

" What you did to my Family and Skull is horrible. Vindice!" Enma said

" So basically you rebuilt a team with the remaining watches?! And the fact that you used Mammon's team as a decoy means... that Reborn's, Mammon's and Verde's teams prepared this trap, right?!" Alejandro exclaimed

" Correct~! And judging by your flame power, you must be the one who attacked us during the ambush attack." Ren said

" We're gonna pay you back tenfold!" Naoki said

" Tsk, you're quite confident. Do you really think that this is enough to defeat me?" Alejandro ask as he resisted Enma's flames and got up

" He's pushing down the flames! What power!" Enma exclaimed

" Your first mistake was to think that I'd come here alone." Alejandro said

" What?!"

" Go! My carefully chosen children!" Alejandro said as he opened the briefcases

Two puppets shot out of the briefcases as they heard familiar voices.

" You know about us, don't you?" The voice said

" What?!"

" That's... Magician Doll, Ginger Bread!" Tsuna exclaimed

" Tsuna-kun, do you know them?" Enma ask

" Yeah, I met Ginger Bread at the Merone Base in the future. I heard that he's an ominous killer that always appears during big strifes where a Family is destroyed... But I had no idea that one of the Vindice was controlling them!" Tsuna exclaimed

" I've been in the Vindice for almost as long as Bermuda. I've devoted my time to building dolls that would be my children forever and sent them to meddle into wars. To correct what you said, they don't appear on battlefields as an omen of the Family's destruction. They destroy Families themselves in secret!" Alejandro said

" Yes~!"

" What?!"

" How curious, Tsunayoshi Sawada."

" It's the first time we meet, but at the same time it's not."

" But anyway..."

" ... You'll die here."

" Oh, that's nice to hear." Naoki said

" You really think we'd let you defeat us?" Ren ask

Both put up shields from their flames as the knives that were shot out were disintegrated while pushing the two dolls back.

" Get ready. This will end in a second." Naoki said as he got his spear out

" Don't blink." Ren said as he got his sword out

" Combination: Thunder Breakdown Death!"

Shadows encased the two dolls while a dragon shaped thunder crashed down and destroyed them both. Tsuna quickly flew towards Alejandro while he was still in shock as he burned his wrist with the watch and destroyed it.

" Damn! You destroyed my Battler watch!" Alejandro exclaimed

" Next one!" Tsuna shouted

The three flew off while Ren and Naoki ran off to somewhere else. At the rooftop battle, Small Gea and Big Pino were taking out various illusions.

" It's almost all illusions." Small Gea said as he swung his weapon before hitting Yamamoto's katana, " And sometimes a real one. Also, seeing how you're using a hit-and-run strategy without getting too close... I suppose you're just a techinician and a few battlers that are here to gain time. Big Pino! Rotate 15 degrees right and graze away the ground."

A beam fired out of Big Pino as a shattering noise was heard.

" Bingo."

The smoke dissipated as Gokudera and the others came out of it with their weapons destroyed.

" Shit... He broken the Sistema C.A.I and katanas in an instant... I didn't think I had to bring out my own shield so soon..." Miwa groaned

" Kamui, take Chrome-chan and Flan and run for it!" Misaki exclaimed

" But I can't leave you guys like this!" Kamui exclaimed

" Miwa's shield can only last for a little while longer. He doesn't have enough time to regain the energy he used to deflect the next one." Misaki said

" Hurry up and run!" Yamamoto shouted

" But..."

" Just run! Do you wanna die?!" Gokudera exclaimed

" Big Pino. Fire." Small Gea said

Big Pino fired the beam again as Miwa raised his shield up again as an explosion occurred after the beam made contact.

" So weak. It ended before I could have fun." Small Gea said

That was when Big Pino looked up and Small Gea followed suit to see them floating in the air. The smoke cleared away as Tsuna and the others were there.

" A support team!" Small Gea exclaimed

" Jyuudaime!"

" Tsuna!"

" We are your opponents!" Tsuna said

" Huh... Finally some people with spirit. I guess I might finally... have some fun. Big Pino. The 'brainpick' is not enough! Let's have fun with another weapon." Small Gea said

Big Pino then threw off the cloth around him as the metal around him also split apart while Small Gea caught two weapons.

" We'll kill you with style." Small Gea said

" What's with him?!" Enma exclaimed

" Are those odd things the big one is holding... some... weapons?" Gokudera ask

" Exactly, that's my weapon! He's here to carry stuff. Only the big cannon is his. The rest is all stuff I use for my weapon play!" Small Gea said

" Weapon play...?" Miwa muttered

" First of all, slaughter is among the top ten hobbies among men. Off the record. And what's most popular now is to get people-killing weapons and customize them to make them cooler. According to me. Of course, they're not the only weapons to win. I'm strong in the end. If I'd only care about winning I'd just use my bare hands with you. In other words, these are all weapons to have fun! But there's nothing like computers or annoying stuff that can be controlled electronically. Simple analog weapons are the coolest ones. In my opinion. Anyway, let's start!" Small Gea said as he charged towards them

Enma quickly used his flames to keep Small Gea up in the air.

" Yahoo~ I'm floating! So what?" Small Gea said as he clashed his weapons together, creating an explosion

" This is bad!" Basil exclaimed

" I lost him!" Enma exclaimed

Small Gea came out of the smoke in front of them.

" Next one!"

Small Gea then threw a small explosive as Tsuna blocked it with his flames.

" Nice one, Sawada-do-" Basil praised butwas cut off by a rod hooking onto his shirt

" Not over yet. Big Pino, the other way!" Small Gea said as he pulled Basil out of the flames

He then threw Basil aside while Big Pino turned and fired the cannon straight at him.

" Basil!"

" Goal!" Small Gea cheered

" Not good!" Miwa exclaimed as he ran over to the fallen Basil, " Hang in there!"

" Only two left! Here's the next surprise!" Small Gea said

" You!"

Tsuna flew towards him but Small Gea pulled out a device that flashed a bright light at Tsuna's eyes before he collided with the machine.

" What a success!" Small Gea said

" Flash?! Tsuna-kun!" Enma exclaimed

" My eyes... Ugh!" Tsuna grunted

" Damn, Tsuna-kun will-!" Enma exclaimed

" Boss!"

A gunshot from above was heard as Small Gea quickly side stepped to dodge a bullet.

" A gunshot?" Kamui wondered

" But from where...?" Misaki wondered

" Big Pino! Shoot into the clouds!" Small Gea said

Big Pino fired his cannon as the flames hit the clouds but they dispersed immediately upon contact.

" What?!"

" Hey there. Am I late for the battle?" Kai ask as the cloud he was standing on descended

" Totally late!" Miwa exclaimed

" Impossible... He blocked that attack with just clouds?!" Small Gea exclaimed

" The next bullet won't miss." Kai said

" Big Pino! Fire!" Small Gea exclaimed

Kai quickly looked into the sniper gun's scope while Big Pino charged up to fire his cannon. Pulling the trigger, the bullet shot out before dispersing itself with his cloud flames. He then jumped off the cloud when the cannon fired as he landed on the rooftop after the bullets successfully landed with an explosion on Small Gea and Big Pino. Both came out of the smoke defeated and with their watches destroyed as Kai sighed and set his sniper gun down.

" You were watching us from the cloud?" Misaki ask

" Aichi asked me to help when you guys really looked like you needed it." Kai said

" And where did Brother go?" Kamui ask

" ... I'll bring you guys over later. Miwa, is Basil faring well?" Kai ask

" Fon just checked up on him and said to expose him to the Sun flames immediately. Sasagawa is in charge of that." Miwa said

" Sawada. Are your eyes alright?" Kai ask after Enma helped Tsuna out of the machine

" It will be okay. I can see a little now." Tsuna said

" Sawada... dono... Forgive me for being unable to stay with you until the end!" Basil said

" Basil..."

" May you win!" Basil said

" Thank you." Tsuna said

" How long can your defense last?" Kai ask

" After that attack, it's taking me awhile to charge up again. This shield is tricky to use." Miwa said

" Get used to it. We might need it later. Get some rest for a bit until Sawada recovers. Once he does, we're heading over to Jager's place." Kai said

" Okay."

" Stay safe, Aichi." Kai thought


Meanwhile, Byakuran stepped out as he got ready to face Jager.

" I'm gonna start, then. Since I won the Janken match~" Byakuran said

" I don't care about your intentions, I'm gonna attack you all at once. You shouldn't be careless." Jager said

" Huh, you got some confidence. But you'll lose it soon." Byakuran said

" I wonder."

Byakuran sent out his white dragon to attack Jager as he short warped to dodge and slice it apart.

" His movement!" Mukuro exclaimed

" It's what Tsuna said." Dino said

" Short warp!" Squalo exclaimed

Jager then short warped behind Xanxus as he tried to fire his gun. However, his arm was immediately sliced off as he used his other hand to shoot as Jager dodged while Squalo tried to land a hit. Jager short warped behind him and pierced into his chest as he fell to the ground, motionless.

" Real blood. Seems like this time I didn't kill an illusion." Jager said

" Hey, shitty shark. Get up." Xanxus said

Squalo never responded as Xanxus's scars grew and crawled up his skin.

" Too powerful..." Verde exclaimed

" Jager came here to kill. This is bad, Tsuna..." Reborn thought

" Did you understand our power difference? How many more of you are willing to die?" Jager ask

" Captain! Boss!" Mammon exclaimed

" Shut up! Let me be!" Xanxus yelled as he burned his sliced arm close

Bermuda floated down onto Jager's shoulder afterwards.

" He doesn't care about the watches at all! Jager only wants to kill!" Verde exclaimed

" Isn't it the same? The rules don't say that you can't kill an opponent to stop him from fighting." Bermuda said

" I'm going." Jager said as Bermuda flew off

Suddenly, a bright light shone through the clouds as they looked up.

" What?!"

" ... This presence..." Byakuran exclaimed

A shadow emerged from the light as they gasped in surprise.


And that's the end of this chapter! Thank you for reading! I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and I'll see everyone in the next chapter!