Hello all! I have brought to you another Stanza! Please remember to read the Author's Note for an explanation or two.

Review Response: Dear farronewp, greetings! I should be working on that one-shot next, but it will take a while to finish. Hopefully this will tide you over for now.

Dear Harrison Orion Black, hey there! Thank you! I'm so pleased you enjoyed it. Mukuro does, in fact, remember what Skull did for a last hurrah. He also knows that it's a Very Bad Idea to get between a Mama!Cloud and her perceived "cub". These one-shots going to out of order at times because I'll be writing whatever one-shot catches my fancy for them. So, no Fran this time around unfortunately. But next time should be (if my muses cooperate) Arcobaleno reactions to Skull being awesome.

Dear cherry-888, hello there! Oh, she would, she totally would. Byakuran wouldn't really be able to retort anything either because they both know that he majorly messed up in how he handled Skull that time around. Glad you liked it! Enjoy the update!

Dear buterflypuss, greetings! Glad you liked it!

Dear Shiva, hello! Thrilled to hear it!

Dear May Eve, hi! So happy you enjoyed it! It took FOREVER to write. I hope you enjoy this update as well!

Dear StepOnLego14, greetings! No problem, I do try to update my stories. I just ... get stuck on them sometimes. Here's an update at long last!

Dear Guest, hello there! Happy to please! Have some humor to balance out the angst/fluff of last time!

Dear Dreamer Rose, hi! I am thrilled to hear how much you enjoy this story, it's been fun to write to far. Skull is a very underrated character in my opinion. Nope, the Arcobaleno have yet to be clued in to Skull's true awesomeness. That should be happening in the update after this (whenever that happens). She's not waiting for anything, she honestly never plans on telling them. The Arcobaleno as a whole have very little of her respect. They are HERS, under her protection, and she acknowledges that they are the best in their fields, but their arrogance and inability to see past their preconceptions has long since disgusted her to the point where she never intends to tell them truth. Of course, intentions and situations don't always agree, so they'll find out eventually. When she DOES, I hope to make it as epic and world-shattering as possible. You are completely correct about Reborn. Dude needs to be taken down a few pegs.

Dear AyameKitsune, hello! Glad you think so! Here's an update, as requested!

Dear EnderSorceress, hey there! Thrilled to hear it! Enjoy the update! I do intend to add more bots at some point, but there are things on the KHR side that I want to cover first. After that, I'll considering mixing more transformers in. Might not be the exact definition of 'soon', but here's an update for you!

Dear Dark-Angel-Elissa, heya! Well ... this is an update, but it doesn't continue the previous chapter. I have yet to write part two to the previous chapter. I hope you enjoy this anyway!

Dear iReadWriteType, hi there! I believe I already responded to this in a PM...? Glad you enjoyed it so much though!

Dear Lehna, greetings! (tips hat) I tried my best. I hope you enjoy the newest chapter!

Dear robina852, hey there! I'm honored that you think so.

Dear Amethyst-Pheonix2003, hello! Here is an update, but I'm afraid you'll have to wait a while longer on the Arcobaleno's reactions. I needed a break from the drama. Have a humor one-shot in the meantime!

Dear Wicken25, hello there! It's on the to-do list. In the meantime, there was a moment I really wanted to cover first. That and I needed a break from the drama the Arcobaleno tend to cause. Reborn's expression would indeed be hilarious...

Author's Note: So, first off, this one-shot actually takes place in the FTNW timeline and was referenced in Xanxus's future-memories. Specifically, this is the time when Bel was a "brat" and thus discovered the truth about Silhouette. I've wanted to do this one since I first adopted the idea from Wolf, so I hope you all enjoy it. Please remember though, that it is NOT meant to be taken too seriously. I actually think this is the closest thing to writing a crack-fic that I've ever done. I don't think it's ACTUALLY crack, but it is meant to make people laugh. Plus, I really can see Bel doing this. He's such a spoiled little trouble-maker. Second thing, you may notice Mammon does not show up during Bel's "discovery", that is because Mammon is away on mission at the time. She comes back in the last part of the story and the others fill her in on what happened. I think that should cover everything, so on to the story!

Copyright Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn, Transformers, cybertronian terms, or any references made in this story. The only things I own are my OCs who have run off with the plot.

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Sixth Stanza: How We Met Your Bike

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Year: 2011. Season: Early Spring. Country: Italy. Age: Cursed. Timeline: FTNW.

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Belphegor snickered to himself as he slipped down the stairs with his chosen pranking tools. Skull was upstairs getting debriefed and checked over. After that, she would almost certainly be asleep for the rest of the day to recuperate from her long string of back-to-back missions. So now was the perfect time to strike. The Chibi had been getting a little too confident about her skill in avoiding the Prince's pranks, so he had thought up a special one just for the Varia Cloud.

Padding quietly to the garage door, he paused long enough to pull out his phone and temporarily deactivate the garage security cameras. No sense in leaving evidence behind. He wasn't in the mood to be caught in the act and thrown through walls before he could find a nice hiding place to wait out the Chibi's impending wrath.

That completed, he resumed his silent trek into the area informally known as Skull's Den and made his way toward his target. Skull's favorite modified bike sat in the center of the garage, hapless and unguarded from its impending doom. Cackling to himself, Belphegor circled the bike a few times, mentally organizing how he was going to go about his prank, before he set down his tools and whispered cheerfully to the bike, "Your owner has been getting too complacent and cheeky around the Prince. The Prince is here to … remedy that, shishishishi."

Reaching down, Belphegor selected his brush and, with a flick of one of his knives, popped open the paint can. He took a moment to admire the eye-searing shade of neon orange before he dipped the brush in the paint and raised the now-dripping tool toward the bike. The brush swept smoothly across the purple bike, leaving a bright clashing trail of wet paint behind. He swiped a second time, then a third, cackling to himself the entire time. On the fourth swipe, his intended straight line was thrown off into a jagged zig-zag as the entire bike shuddered violently.

Belphegor jerked back, wary of a possible hidden security measure that Skull might have programmed into the bike. He would have thought that any security measures would activate after the first swipe rather than the fourth, but it could be a delayed effect. One never knew with the Chibi.

He watched the bike for signs of booby-traps or alarms for several long seconds before cautiously dipping the paintbrush back into the can and running another stripe of orange across his target. The bike jolted again and this time the thing actually growled at him, a short rev coming from the supposedly turned off engine. Belphegor danced back again and resumed staring, his head tilting to one side as he tried to puzzle out just what Skull had programmed her precious bike to do.

It wasn't setting off an alarm, it wasn't trying to drive away to a pre-set location to escape his assault, there didn't even appear to be any attack protocols. Curiosity reared its head, mingling with his already roused sense of mischief and with a wide grin, Belphegor suddenly darted forward and swiped the brush across the bike again. He danced back as the bike jolted and revved again, headlights flickering on and off for a moment.

He repeated his attack five more times, each with a similar reaction, before the bike went inert again and didn't respond to his reckless splashes of paint. Belphegor pouted, he'd been having fun trying to puzzle out what Skull had programed her bike to do. Sighing faintly through his nose in disappointment, Belphegor decided there was enough orange on the bike now and dropped his used brush into the opened paint can.

Reaching over, Belphegor selected the second brush he had brought along and popped open the second unmarked paint can. A truly horrid shade of hot pink glinted in the overhead lights of the garage and Belphegor watched the bike out of the corner of his eye as he carefully dipped the brush in and then pulled it back out, utterly soaked in the new color.

His back muscles tensed in surprise as the bike suddenly began to growl a low, steady note and some of its plating actually rattled. If it had been anything other than an inanimate object, Belphegor would have sworn it was acting like a cornered animal, giving off the last warning signs to stay away or be bitten. Turning to look at it fully, dripping brush in his hand, Belphegor tilted his head to the side, curiosity roused again, "What, don't like the Prince's choice of paint?" He teased the bike automatically, unable to help himself even though a tiny voice in the back of his head was hissing warnings.

Was it his imagination, or had the revving just grown louder? Belphegor contemplated what to do as he held a staring contest with the bike. On the one hand, his instincts were whispering to back off and leave while he could. On the other, he really, really wanted to know how Skull had programed her bike to act this way, why, and what the upper limits of the program were.

On the first hand, he was already messing with the property of the Varia Cloud, so logically he should stop while he was ahead, so to speak. On the second hand again … he wanted to see what would happen if he kept painting the bike. Coming to a decision, Belphegor nodded to himself.

Since when had the Prince ever let anyone, other than Boss, stop him from doing what he wanted?

Darting forward, he drew a long, wide, sloppy pink line down the entire right side of the bike. The revving kicked up to a roar as Belphegor stepped back to admire his work and he jerked in surprise as the bike's kickstand suddenly retracted and the bike straightened up on its own. His instincts, which had been quietly trying to dissuade him from doing this ever since the bike had twitched for the first time, now started screaming warnings to dodge. He obeyed instantly, rolling to the side just in time to avoid getting run over as the bike positively launched itself at him.

Rolling back to his feet, Belphegor twisted around to stare at the bike with wide eyes from under his fringe. The bike circled back around with a somehow predatory air, its engine pitch going down to a low growl he was very certain bike engines couldn't naturally reach. For a few seconds, Belphegor and the bike held a standoff, neither moving. Then the bike jerked toward him once, twice, thrice, engine getting louder with each jerk.

Belphegor got the oddest impression for a moment that the thing was actually counting down from five. Instinct had Belphegor pulling out his knives and running when it jerked forward a fourth time. A moment later, his odd impression came true. At the fifth rev, it charged after him, weaving down the aisles of other vehicles with an ease that did not look pre-programmed at all. Forgetting for a moment that this was Skull's bike and what she would do to him if he actually damaged her bike rather than pranked it with water-soluble paint, he threw two of his knives over his shoulder at the thing, aiming for the tires.

The bike hunkered down on its wheels and then jumped, jumped, over the knives at the last second, speeding up as soon as it landed again.

Belphegor cursed as he dived for the garage door, no prank was worth getting hunted down and run over by Skull's bike. Sprinting through the door that connected the garage to the castle, Belphegor slammed it shut, locked it, and breathed a faint sigh of relief.

His relief was shattered in a rather spectacular manner when the bike rammed straight through the metal door and came barreling toward him with a howling engine that sounded distinctly like a war cry. Dodging to the side, Belphegor cursed and threw another handful of knives at it. Two missed because of the bike's sudden turn, but the other three screeched and ricocheted off of the bike's plating, leaving long, ugly scratches behind.

The bike jolted to a stop and Belphegor watched with wary disbelief as it actually turned its front wheel and adjusted one of its rear-view mirrors as if it was trying to get a look at the damage. There was a very, very long pause as the bike examined the long scratches and the dripping streaks of paint on its side. Very slowly, the front wheel swiveled back to face Belphegor.

A wave of Killing Intent surged through the air, far stronger even than Boss's, and Belphegor swallowed hard to loosen his suddenly dry throat. The bike charged and Belphegor's instincts fully overrode his pride in determining his response.

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Squalo was polishing one of his favorite antique swords when a surge of foreign Killing Intent rippled through the mansion. He was on his feet and running in the direction of the source before he had even fully processed what he had sensed. The same moment comprehension set in, a surge of wild fear that was not his own had Squalo running so fast he was a literally a silver blur to the yelling grunts he passed. It took a second of barreling down the hallways to identify where the surge of fear was coming from. When he did, he started cursing aloud, what the h*** just broke in that has f****** Bel scared?

Around the mansion, the other Guardians and Xanxus were also racing in the direction of the Killing Intent and Belphegor's poorly-suppressed panic, rushing to reach him in time to defend their fellow Element. Squalo bounded down the stairs, taking them four at a time in his haste, sword already drawn as he roared orders at the grunts he was passing.

As he closed the distance to Belphegor's location, Squalo began to hear a loud noise that didn't fit with the various battle scenarios flashing through his head. It wasn't gun-fire, nor was it anything that he had ever heard from a close combat weapon. It didn't even sound like artillery fire, the pitch was wrong and it was a continuous roar rather than short barks of noise. Almost sounds like … an engine?

Raising his sword in preparation, Squalo rounded the corner of the second level, bracing himself for anything that might lie beyond-

Except the sight of Belphegor whipping past Squalo, cursing in every language the prince knew, while Skull's vandalized motorcycle bumped its way up the stairs in hot pursuit, by itself.

Stunned despite himself, Squalo slid to a halt and just watched the chase as it shot past him for a moment, trying to get his brain to produce a thought other than, what the f***? A loud engine rev heralded a decidedly undignified yip from their local blond psychopath followed by more shrieked curses. Shaking himself out of his shocked stupor, Squalo took off after Belphegor and Skull's apparently possessed bike.

When he finally caught up with them again, the bike had successfully cornered Belphegor in one of the many unused sitting rooms. Belphegor was pinned flat against the wall with his knives held defensively in his hands while the bike revved and snarled at him from a mere foot away. Sword ready to dispatch the bike should it attack but reluctant to seal his fate by attacking the prized possession of the Varia Cloud, Squalo roared, "Voi! What the h*** is going on here?"

Belphegor yelled over the snarling bike, "It isn't the Prince's fault!"

That caused the bike to inch toward the blond with a positively savage snarl and Belphegor struggled to flatten himself against the wall even more. Squalo wavered on attacking with his sword, "Voi! Just knife the thing's tires already, you d*** brat!"

Belphegor's teeth were bared in an animalistic and defensive expression, "The Prince tried that! It doesn't f****** work!"

Squalo eyed the many long scratches littered across the bike's frame and conceded the point. Swallowing back his apprehension at what Skull would do to him once this was over, he lunged for the bike, sword raised.

Faster than even Squalo's trained eye could follow, the bike reversed and turned sharply, avoiding Squalo's sword slash by only a narrow margin. Belphegor took the offered opening and bolted again, this time throwing himself out the large window on the far side of the room rather than risk getting cornered in the narrow castle hallways again.

A rolling collection of sounds that vaguely reminded Squalo of a dying blender and construction machinery grated across his ears as the bike turned its front wheel and made to follow Belphegor. Squalo lunged in front of it, sword flashing for its front tire as he yelled, "Hold still, d*** it!"

The strange sounds grew louder and more complicated as the bike somehow dodged his close-range swing and got around him to jump, literally jump, out of the window in pursuit of Belphegor. Squalo cursed, whirling to pursue as Belphegor's fear spiked shamelessly across the bonds. Leaping out of the window, Squalo took off across the grounds after the bike and its chosen prey. The tires of the possessed vehicle threw dirt and grass into the air with the force of its momentum as Belphegor resorted to tight turns and last minute dodges to avoid being caught.

Squalo tried to slash the bike again, only to miss and somehow end up with a spray of dirt and grass smacking into his face from the squealing back tire of his target. Temporarily blinded, Squalo roared and waved his sword in rage while his other hand tried to clear his eyes. Footsteps thudded up to him and Levi asked breathlessly, "What the f*** is going on?"

Shaking the last of the dirt clear, Squalo swore as he realized that the chase had already moved away from the front grounds and was headed for the gardens, "H*** if I f****** know! All I know is Skull's bike up and decided to move on its own and f****** murder Bel!"

Lussuria fell into step with the other two Elements as they took off after the crazed bike and the screeching Storm it was pursuing, "Mou~, is this some kind of security program Skull-chan installed? The bike does look vandalized~."

Squalo huffed as he signaled the other two to spread out and encircle the bike, "Voi! It would have to be one h*** of a program to navigate the stairs and dodge my attacks in close quarters!"

Levi bluff-charged the bike to distract it from Bel, Lightning flames crackling across his umbrellas. The bike instantly twisted away from Levi and its chosen target, the gargling machinery sounds growing louder in … a tone of outrage? Wait. Some of that stuff sounds f****** familiar. Where have I heard-? His thoughts were interrupted by the bike choosing to avoid Levi's attacks by nearly running the Varia Rain down.

Lussuria bounced on his heels, trying to figure out how to help when it was clear that his Muay Thai was not a good idea against a rampaging armored motorcycle. Just as it was circling around for another shot at Bel, who was doing his utmost to climb the wall surrounding the castle grounds, Sky flames rippled powerfully over the area and Xanxus's voice cut through the air, "That's enough."

Everyone stopped what they were doing. Levi paused in charging his umbrellas, Lussuria lowered his fists a fraction, Squalo faltered in his charge at the bike, Belphegor froze halfway up the wall like an oversized, terrified blond gecko. Even the bike slid to a grudging halt at Xanxus's command. Xanxus surveyed the scene with hard red eyes, his Sky flames pressing down on everyone in the area, "What. The f***. Is going on?"

Belphegor called from his wall-clinging position, "It was not the Prince's fault!"

The bike jerked forward a few feet, the strange dying blender noises coming back with a few loud train whistles thrown in. Xanxus's scowl grew heavier as he studied the demon bike, then looked over his shoulder and demanded flatly, "Translation, Chibi?"

Skull's true form stomped across the grass, Cloud flames simmering with danger and adding to the heavy feeling in the air, "She says that Bel tried to repaint her with the most horrible colors in existence, refused to stand down when she repeatedly warned him, and then scratched her paint with his knives."

Xanxus reacted as if Skull translating the behavioral excuses of an inanimate object was perfectly normal and turned baleful eyes on Bel, "You. Are a d*** idiot, trash."

His gaze flicked to the bike, "And you, don't try to run over my Elements again. If one of them causes that much f****** trouble again, just shoot him in the d*** foot."

The bike stopped its garbled mesh of sounds and was silent for several seconds before it gave a low, grudging beep that sounded like an agreement. Xanxus nodded in seeming satisfaction with the answer, then looked over at Bel, "You're cleaning up the mess you made in the garage, trash."

Levi piped up cautiously, "Um, Boss … aren't you … curious about why Skull's bike can move on its own?"

Squalo waved his sword emphatically in the air, "Any why it can use tactics in close quarters? Voi!"

Xanxus gave them all a flat look while the bike made a strange rattling sound and Skull looked vaguely surprised. After a moment, Skull slapped her forehead, "Oh, right. We still haven't told them have we? I completely forgot."

Xanxus transferred the flat look to Skull and raised an eyebrow, holding a silent conversation with his Cloud for a few moments before he huffed and moved to lean against the wall, "Make it quick, Chibi. I have s*** to do."

Lussuria voiced curiously, "Haven't told us … what, Skull-chan?"

Skull sighed in a way that indicated she was too tired to deal with the situation with any tact, "Sil." There was a pause, then the bike seemed to come apart at the seams, splitting and rising and growing until, before the gawping eyes of the other Varia, it was a giant robot.

Said robot glowered with narrowed red optics at Belphegor, who had fallen off of the wall in shock at the transformation. Skull made one of her impossibly high jumps to land on the robot's outstretched palm, then motioned casually from the Varia to the robot and back, "Everyone, this is my big sister, Silhouette. She's a sentient cybernetic alien life-form that crash-landed here on Earth a few decades ago, before I was born. She's also the one who taught me everything I know. Sil, you already know the idiots."

The robot … alien? … Silhouette spoke in a flawless if irritated italian, "You are very, very lucky I know better than to use my guns on any of you. Especially you, Belphegor. I. Hate. Pink. And paint scratches."

Belphegor made a wordless selection of squeaking sounds and Squalo felt very much like joining him because seriously … what?

Squalo opened his mouth to begin a barrage of questions when the Cloud flames in the air thickened menacingly, "No, Squalo. Sil and I are tired, we have had no sleep for days, and we are both Going. To. Bed. If you've got questions, fragging ask Xanxus or wait until Sil and I have both had a nice long bath and an even longer recharge." Purple eyes and red optics glared death threats down at Belphegor as Skull finished, "And if we get interrupted again, I guarantee that there will be consequences. Understood? Good. Good-Night."

With that, fussy Cloud and apparent robot alien sibling turned around and marched back to the garage, ignoring the sputtering and floundering Varia members they had left behind.

After a long moment of staring, all gazes swung to Xanxus, silently demanding answers. Naturally, because their boss was a shameless pain in Squalo's a**, he merely smirked at them and sauntered away with a lazy, "Not my secret to tell, trash."

Despite much cursing, bribery, and window-shaking shouting for explanations, Xanxus refused to give any answers and they were forced to wait almost two days for Skull to come out of her exhaustion-induced hibernation before they got their answers. Squalo knew Xanxus was having far too much fun with the situation when his Sky refused to suspend the mission that had been scheduled during said two-day period, forcing them to either brave the garage and its grouchy alien occupant or walk several miles to the nearest taxi stop.

Once Skull had recuperated and her not-bike cleaned and repainted from Bel's prank, the Varia were treated to a several hour long lecture on all things Cybertronian. That included the existence of Cybertronian life-forms, an overview of their history, the Great War, how Silhouette ended up on Earth, how she ended up being Skull's sister figure, and what terminology to use around Silhouette unless they wanted to get chased around the grounds by a very unhappy and overprotective Cloud.

"So let me get this straight." Squalo growled as he pinched the bridge of his nose, "We've had a fifteen-foot alien war refugee living in our garage for almost three d***** years and you didn't bother to tell us?"

Skull shrugged, "Pretty much."

Squalo took a deep breath, tried to restrain his temper, failed, and resorted to his standard fallback reaction to all the insanity in his life, "Voi! Why the f*** not? Do you even know how much of a security breach this is? We've had an alien ro-" Skull growled warningly and Squalo shifted words without pausing, "-fugitive living on the grounds without any of us knowing! Some of us have ridden on the d*** thing! Why would you not think to even mention it until she almost turned Bel into a f****** tire smear?"

Skull's answer was vaguely sheepish, "To be honest? … I forgot."

Squalo stared at her flatly, "You forgot."

The Cloud shifted a bit, "I've never told anyone about Silhouette. Ever. I never even told Xanxus about her, she chose to reveal herself to him. When I first came here, I didn't trust any of you enough to tell you and after I did come to trust you I just … it never even crossed my mind." A heavy, disbelieving silence fell over the group for a few moments at the simplicity of Skull's reason.

Then Lussuria sighed and cradled his chin with a hand, "Oh Skull-chan, you are just impossible~. Do you know that?"

Skull actually looked abashed at Lussuria's exasperated statement, "…Sorry?"

Mammon pulled out a new notepad, the last three already filled with the new information Skull and Silhouette had given them, her voice perfectly bland as she spoke, "First you fool the Mafia into thinking you are a bumbling fool when you are actually Femme Fatale, now you keep adoptive alien siblings in the garage under the noses of the Varia for an extended period of time. Do you have any other secrets that destroy the basic facts of life and reality as we know it that you would care to share?"

Skull's lips twitched upward with the clearly restrained urge to smirk at Mammon's words before she answered, "None that I can think of at the moment, no."

Silhouette chuckled, and Squalo pointedly refused to flinch at the noise. He was not going to be intimidated by the robo- alien- femme who had apparently been living in their garage in secret for almost three years. She hadn't attacked them during all that time, even helped them out with how fast her motorcycle form was. Most of all, S***** Boss trusted her around them, so Squalo was not going to be intimidated by her when all she did was laugh.

Even if the laugh did sound distinctly inhuman with its mechanical undertones and it came from a being that was fifteen f****** feet tall.

He could handle this. He could deal. He could control the situation-

Mammon was asking more specific questions to flesh out the overview they'd been given on all things Cybertronians, "So, exactly how tall are you compared to the average of your species?"

Silhouette settled back a bit against the wall, shifting her folded legs, "Short actually. Not a dwarf, but definitely on the short side. While there is no strict 'average' height among Cybertronians, I'd say that somewhere between twenty-three to twenty-six feet would be a common norm. Although back before the war, and even during the war among the flyers, there were many of who's frames were as tall as thirty feet. Perhaps if any other Autobots ever make it to Earth, I'll introduce you to them and you can see for yourself."

Squalo took a long moment to contemplate that casual statement. Twenty-some foot average with up to thirty feet being not unheard of. He added in details such as "war refugees", "trained soldiers", "alien weapons", and "robot PTSD from thousands of years of war", and then placed all that in the hypothetical situation of "being on Earth".

A few seconds later he pointedly shut down that line of thought and started snapping out agitated orders, "That's it. Luss! Grill Skull for Cybertronian medical c***. Mammon! Weapons list and damage capability! Levi! Stay the f*** away from her! If I see you throwing lightning bolts at her as some kind of 'test of worth' I'll let Skull have you and then f****** chop what's left of you to bits! Bel! No pranking the alien! Skull! If you have anymore d***** secrets that destroy the basic concepts of f****** reality…" Skull cocked her head innocently as his voice trailed off for a moment.

Squalo rubbed his forehead, "ah, f***. Just … keep them to yourself unless they endanger the Varia. Or write a report and leave it on S***** Boss's desk. I don't want to know. Boss!" Squalo paused at the sight of glee in Xanxus's eyes and pointed his sword menacingly in his Sky's direction, "Voi! Stop laughing about this! It d*** well isn't funny!" Xanxus's smirk just got bigger and the Rain stomped off in disgust. Ignoring the Q&A session that had started up behind him, Squalo stormed indoors and made his way upstairs.

He was going to steal some of his Sky's bourbon stash. Consequences be d*****, he needed a drink.

Almost three years and he'd never known. Though, looking back on things with his new knowledge, it was a wonder he hadn't suspected anything. The sheer speed despite how well-armored the bike was, how it had always just shown up wherever Skull needed it to, regardless of where she had originally parked it, those times when he'd sworn he was being watched while selecting a vehicle from the garage…

Squalo tossed back a glass of his chosen liquor and muttered about crazy Clouds and the chaos that came with them. At the word chaos, he paused and considered something before breaking out into low cackles. Chibi said that no one but us knows about Silhouette. Keh, wonder how the World's Greatest Hitman and so-called Master of Chaos would react to knowing that there's been an alien running around right under his nose for thirty d***** years without his ever knowing. Somehow, the thought made Squalo feel more cheerful. Slightly.

The alcohol worked better.

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Far away in Japan, Reborn sneezed, provoking a concerned reaction from his ex-student/current Vongola Boss. Reborn waved off the concern with threats of more paperwork and privately wondered who was talking about him. And why he had the oddly ominous, unexpected feeling that he was missing something big.

He'd better patrol the area. Just in case.