Hmm.
Guys. Hi.
Hmmmm.
... I'm thinking of ideas, of Arcobaleno, with Luce, and Vongola first generation, and I like it... It has Daemon and Viper as like main characters and half-siblings.
I don't knowknow if I can commit though. Since I also have that idea, of Luce and Reborn setting of on a quest to collect the others in accordance to the visions Luce saw (no timetraveler Reborn like last chapter though, or anything). So I'm hesitating posting first chapter here or separating it.
Hmm. I'll just see how I feel like it. Cause I really want it (both) to be long.
It definitely began as a life and death encounter, with each sides determined and assured that the they would be able to end the others.
All eight of them, in a free for all.
That was how the Ultimo Arcobaleno first came together.
Their names had been different then.
Giglio Nero was the famiglia chosen to host the meeting due to its acclaimed neutral stance -someone had first suggested the Cervello but everyone knew that they were too entrenched in the mafia to truly be as unbiased as they once were. It was a gathering of the big shots and Luce, the only daughter of the Boss, was loaned as the mediator.
Qin Bang had Fon as a guard while Lal had infiltrated Vongola, deep enough that she was brought by the Boss as a personal assistant. Colonnello was waiting outside to lead the troops to storm the place with Lal's signal.
Verde was sitting amongst the bosses, not exactly mafia but definitely an independent power on his own. He had built his empire with his gizmos -both weapons and for conveniences' sake-, though he didn't seem to care for that as long as he had the money and resources to research and invent. There was no one better than him in that.
Reborn was a hotel staff gunning for the Vongola head -and maybe one or two others because they absolutely did not lack prices with their faces stuck on it and he was expecting a big haul.
Viper was, not unexpectedly, playing multiple sides. They had been the one to give the Intel to the Sovereignty and assisted Lal in her operation while tipping the Cavallone about the hitman lying in wait and throwing a bone to the Tomaso and Qing Bang about Lal's identity, and they weren't even there in person, witnessing everything by a puppet ghost.
And Skull... had rented the room directly below them two floors down -since they had reserved three entire floors just in case- and was patiently waiting for his buddy to come back with dinner, none the wiser of the upcoming disaster.
(One could say he had the worst luck that week. And the subsequent centuries that would follow.)
_
In the end, they ruined the whole neighbourhood, had a pile of innocent bodies as collateral, and realized that they might've met the immovable object to their unstoppable forces.
Viper retreated first, burning everyone's figures in their mind and regretting that moment they slipped and accidentally revealed their presence when a Storm fist almost punched through their visage and they instinctively reacted.
Skull gaped in horror at the aftermath, wielding a broken post in one hand when he had defended himself from a kick by a surprised Lal. He quickly fled not long after.
Fon was the one to -grudgingly- stand down next. His client had already evacuated the place and it was going against his assignment to be away from them longer than necessary when the threats were already sufficiently distracted.
Verde trailed behind him, utilizing his Flames to keep Reborn's bullet from penetrating him and leaving his automaton slash assistant to stall the hitman, leaving him the focus of Lal's attacks while Colonnello gave chase to Luce, the other soldiers having already died at that point or splitting to follow the others famiglia.
Everything had happened too fast and not, but a caution against each other had been deeply planted and an interest grew.
No one forgot the thrill of their respective encounters, at least.
_
The first time they, as a group, officially met, was by a mysterious invitation that gathered them for an assignment.
There were only seven this time.
By that point, Viper, Fon, and Skull were already familiar with each other, with Reborn being acquainted with them individually, while Lal and Luce could be counted as friends.
(Either because one party expressly searched for the other or they just had a tendency to keep an especially close eye on each other. As the saying went, 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer and potential threats even closer'.)
It was, surprisingly, not as terse as one might've expected from gathering the seven most high-profile, lethal, and paranoid people -some possessing only one or two of those attributes while others being all three.
_
The mission only lasted a month or so.
But then there was another invitation, as vague as the last one and while they had previously accepted due to the curiosity for the co-workers listed, this time...
Reborn decided that there was nothing to truly be against with. He got to cement his ties with The informant, a mafia heiress to one of the most renowned Famiglia, a well connected assassin of the East, The weapons dealer, a soldier with great influence in the legal side of matters which he was completely removed from, and he supposed saying he knew Skull the Immortal could pick him up girls whenever he was too lazy to exert too much effort. And also they were the only people he'd met till now that truly posed a threat to him and he should get to know some soft spots, just in case.
Viper never denied anything as long as it pertained to money and didn't pose a threat they couldn't eventually escape from (which meant absolutely nothing since they could leisurely stroll in and out of Vindicare on the regular). The highest bid was always first priority and their unknown client was generous.
Luce had been plagued with weird daydreams in the last weeks and she had thought it would be nice to vent stress with people she was already familiar with while at the same time adding to the prestige of her Famiglia.
Fon had nothing against spending time with strong people to either exchange cultures or blows. Either way was win win for him.
Verde regarded the group an efficient, if sometimes rowdy, bunch that had intriguing skills and abilities and developed techniques (Viper and Reborn's esper powers specifically, as such people with enough psychic powers to actually do something with it and not yet be under the control of an organization numbered only a dozen or so) that he had no qualms studying at all.
Lal found the mission brought her in the same side as the others, albeit temporarily, and made use of that to somehow exploit the mission demands to get them to help her apprehend particularly problematic individuals -she especially found Viper's tracking ability very convenient.
Colonnello, after a slip by Lal and recalling that skirmish, though not invited stubbornly tagged along, unable to rest knowing that she could possibly be so outnumbered by such dangerous individuals.
Only Skull found it easy to admit that he thought them fun and nice to be around.
This time around, a base had been provided for them to use.
_
Then the next offers, this time just a duo, and this time a trio, a quartet, a trio again, a duo.
Then the next job, then the next commission, and then the next, and the next, and the next.
The still unknown client, in the end, handed out a grand total of fifty quests.
Ultimately, they never refused a single one.
Not the fifty first either.
Even as they, for the third time, came again as a group and Luce, carrying the growing baby in her stomach, looked pale and made a few paltry attempts to try and convince them to go back down this mountain without providing them one single solid reason to their collective bafflement.
As was the usual now, Colonnello was Lal's plus one again and Skull and he ribbed at Reborn while Lal, Verde, and Luce discussed something -most likely the approaching birth of her child- with the two trying to calm her down from what they assumed was anxiety in virtue of hormonal imbalance, and Viper and Fon harmoniously walked side by side.
_
Verde had briefly stopped thinking that day, falling into shock.
Skull fell unnaturally quiet, and simply walked away without a single word.
Fon and Viper descended that mountain together in silence and separated halfway just as silently.
Colonnello raged.
Lal stared at her hands listlessly.
Luce shivered under Reborn's accusing glare and the weight of the guilt.