Considering the headache of the past few days, Seto decided they were all overdue a vacation. Besides, it was about the time of year for the annual Carcassa invasion and he really wanted to both tweak the noses of the Vongola and check in with Xanxus.
The Varia had been discreetly moving their resources to accorded neutral territory where the Ninth couldn't bother them easily.
Seto had to smirk whenever he thought of the cascade he was about to cause on the Vongola's reputation. Things were about to go from bad, to worse, to almost catastrophic. If there was any competence left in the famiglia, they would have to drum it up in very short order to avoid what he was about to do to them.
Since the tickets to the island were rather expensive, and he wanted to limit the number of people he had to keep an eye on, Seto only brought a small number of people with him.
Mokuba, Chrome, Mukuro, Marik, Yugi, Jounouchi and Reborn would be going with him. Kisara as well, since she was becoming rather clingy of late. On the plus side, she had started to make some clumsy attempts to fly.
There had been a minor bit of publicity the first time she had appeared on his shoulder, as the obvious resemblance to his favorite monster and calling card could be seen. However most of that headache died down upon realizing it was nothing more than an odd species of lizard that just happened to resemble a dragon and was being kept as an odd pet of sorts. Or perhaps a more 'friendly' version of the Kaiba Corporations official mascot.
Either way, Seto just wanted to relax a bit...and tweak the noses of the Vongola by blatantly wearing the Sky ring on his hand without any damage at all.
Mafialand was as chaotic as he remembered...and Reborn was being an absolute troll because he was perched on Seto's right shoulder while Kisara was napping on his head. He had to snort at the ridiculous balloons at the hotel they would be staying at.
Almost immediately, he could overhear the multiple conversations going on.
"Why are they staring at us like that?"
"One, because I just beat the shit out of the Vongola heir and I'm wearing the Sky ring to the famiglia like it's nothing. It's either that or the fact Reborn is blatantly announcing that he has finally found a Sky strong enough to harmonize with," said Seto calmly.
Reborn preened at that.
"It's mostly column B. The Vongola has been trying to keep the fact that a formerly dead heir they knew about but never mentioned has just announced himself as an independent...after stealing their infamous flame ring from their heir," said Reborn smugly. The chaos his former student was causing was glorious and he was happily reveling in the amount of misinformation he could spread for maximum impact.
Best of all, Seto was letting him do it without complaint!
"So where do we go next?" asked Jounouchi.
"First we announce our arrival. Then I'll lay down the ground rules, and give you all spending money to have fun with. Just remember, most of the people hear really don't speak Japanese," said Seto.
"What about Arabic?" asked Marik.
"The primary language spoken here is usually Italian or English. Japanese is considered an elective, though there might be a handful that speak Arabic," conceded Seto. "If nothing else, stick to English if you're not sure."
Yugi and Jounouchi both grimaced, mostly at the mental reminder of the massive migraine they got from Chrome and Mukuro essentially dumping the ability to speak English (albeit with a heavy Japanese accent) into their heads. On the plus side, their grades in the subject improved by leaps and strides, but it didn't help with the migraine they got from the info dump.
"Don't worry hime, both Chrome and I will be acting as minders for the two groups," said Mukuro snickering.
"You sayin' we need minders?"
"You're still technically classed as civilians. The second they realize you're with us, a large number of idiots will attempt to use you against me," deadpanned Seto. "Mukuro's just there to make them realize you've already been claimed and to deal with any morons too stupid to take the hint and get lost."
Mukuro let out a sinister laugh... his boss was the best sometimes, letting him play with the stupid mafioso who would dare to try something against his woman.
"What about us?" asked Ryou.
"Tell your other half he's free to rob the visitors blind so long as he doesn't get caught. I already warned him of the elite members that he should leave alone...Xanxus will likely use the fact his men got robbed by an outsider as an excuse to train them anyway. Aside from that, I really don't care. Besides, I mostly brought Marik because a certain someone is likely to show up during our visit and I want to throw him off by introducing a die hard fanboy from when he was still in the business," snorted Seto.
Marik perked up at that.
"Wait, are you telling me that..."
"There's an annual invasion that happens with such regularity they practically have a schedule for it, and my intuition confirmed he'd be here. Once he shows up, feel free to ask for an autograph and possible advice on how to improve your own skills later," said Seto.
Marik looked positively gleeful at the idea. It had been a magazine mentioning Skull de Mort that had gotten him hooked on the machines, and he had obsessively tracked down all the official recordings of his shows and stunts once he was out of the tomb keeper's watch. Odion had encouraged it because it was a harmless hobby.
"First let's get signed in," said Seto.
He took inordinate pleasure in scaring the shit out of the random mafioso who tested the newcomers. The White Dragon clan had been rising in prestige, but hadn't really made a name for itself outside of being known as a sanctuary group.
For the cutthroat world of the Cosa Nostra, it wasn't enough to show a display of potential power. The boss had to be just as bloodthirsty, if not more so, than the people he commanded.
Seto not only scared the shit out of the mafioso, he claimed the money for himself. Reborn was so proud.
Seto had to hold back his dark amusement when he ran into Colonello. Mokuba had been openly fascinated with meeting more of the Arcobaleno, so he had signed his little brother up for a one-day training session with the man.
"I can't believe Reborn finally found a Sky, kora," said Colonello in disbelief. "You did sign the waver right?"
"I gave my brother a clear idea of what to expect. He's eager to try out the obstacle course in particular," said Seto. "That being said I also gave Reborn full permission to put him through one of his special training exercises for the day."
"...You are evil," said Colonello.
Seto snorted.
"Mokuba said he wanted to see why I put myself through hell. I just thought I'd oblige and introduce him to what real hell is. Coincidentally Fon has refused to give him any ninja training, so have fun with that."
Colonello had a wicked grin on his face.
"So where are you going to be while your brother goes through hell?"
"Talking with a grumpier dragon than me without morning coffee," said Seto flippantly. "I would say grumpier than Reborn, but he gets extra trigger happy without his espresso."
Reborn smiled so innocently that both men snorted derisively at it.
With Mokuba and Reborn settled in for the day, and the Mist duo watching over the other two groups, he went to the new base for the soon-to-be ex-Varia.
He easily dodged the knife Belphegor threw his way.
"You missed, your highness," deadpanned Seto.
"Shishishi... The dragon king has not lost his touch. The boss will be pleased."
Xanxus looked pleased to see Seto...particularly when he saw the Sky ring on his hand.
"It's confirmed then?"
Seto sneered at him.
"That worthless trash I unfortunately share half my genetics with barely withstood the fight. I only left him alive to send a message that the heir they believed dead is back and not inclined to follow their rule," said Seto.
Xanxus looked openly pleased at that.
"Finally...we can throw off the shackles the Ninth tried to put around our neck," he said pleased.
"I can pay Verde for some LMD's to use to deliver your retirement papers. What better way to piss off that senile bastard and his braying jackass than to have a robot deliver the news you're dropping them like a sack of flaming dog shit?"
Xanxus let out a bark of laughter at that.
"Can you rig them to cause even more mischief?"
"I can do better than that. My step brother Noah is still stuck in the computers. I can have him use the robots to deliver him to their mainframe and cause all sorts of hell with their networks. I can completely annihilate all their digital files and leave them wide open for Interpol to come after their ass," said Seto darkly. "If we do it right, then we can also wreck their hard copies in CEDEF headquarters."
Xanxus hummed appreciatively. He pulled out a decanter of whiskey and gave Seto a questioning look. He shook his head.
"I'd rather wait until I finally have a run-in with the jackass... mostly so I can properly savor having rid myself of that parasite and any potential influence he might have had at one time."
Xanxus snorted.
"You run into him, I'll break out the really good shit that should be savored. So, what sort of trouble are you planning to cause now?"
"For the immediate future? Not much outside of possibly tempting Skull from the Carcassa through the use of a die-hard fanboy. Once my vacation is over? I want to properly savor watching the cascade of destruction I'm going to be causing the Vongola. Either they gain some competence and fast, or they self-destruct. Either way they'll never be a real problem for me again."
"What do you have against the Vongola anyway?" asked Xanxus.
"Have you ever heard of the Ten Year Bazooka?"
"The lightning brat that the trash heir had uses it. Why?"
"Verde and two other idiot scientists got their hands on it and hit me with the modified version. I woke up in my four year old self and decided I wasn't about to play by their rules anymore."
Xanxus wanted to call bullshit, but the ten-year-bazooka was a weapon that made limited to no sense to begin with. The possibility of a modified version sending someone to their child self was about as possible as switching with your older self for five minutes.
"What happened last time then?"
"Iemitsu convinced Nono to seal me right after I went flame active at five, and left me and my mother alone for over ten years before sending Reborn to train me to become Decimo," said Seto bitterly. "And even when I survived to claim the throne, they became a nuisance that countermanded far too many of my orders. It became obvious after the first year they didn't want a don...they wanted a puppet to consolidate their power after retirement."
Xanxus remained silent...though this did explain a lot about why the man before him was working himself to the bone to avoid being dragged into the Vongola twice. He was even going out of his way to cripple the famiglia!
He couldn't really blame him for the amount of steps he had taken though. He knew personally how ruthless Nono could be, and if he thought for a second he could use the man before him to secure the seat of power, he wouldn't hesitate to ruin his life to do so.
Just look at the sheer amount of crap Timoteo had put him through for all these years under the lie of being his father! The trust between them had shattered years ago, and nothing would ever fix it.
Seto downed the rest of his coffee.
"That being said, I was wondering if you'd like to join me in a viewing party."
"Of what?" asked Xanxus, curious in spite of himself. He liked the man before him.
"Of the expression on Nono's face when I hire the one mafia firm that absolutely hates the Vongola to dispute their claims on the Vongola rings," said Seto smirking evilly.
Xanxus nearly spat out his whiskey in shock.
"What?!" he said.
"Can you imagine the expression on Timoteo and Iemitsu's face when I hire the one firm that has given them no end of the grief because the majority of the lawyers there had a personal or petty grievance against them? I'm sure they'd be happy to give me a discount when I tell them that I'm giving them the chance to screw over the Vongola legally and insure they can never take back the Vongola rings."
Xanxus stared at him for a moment, jaw dropped.
Then he started laughing darkly.
"Think they'd be interested in giving the old bastard a restraining order when he tries to drag us back into their control?"
"I'd be more than happy to pay the fees for you. Not only would it be a slap to the face, but it would also prove I have the funds needed to keep a group of ex-Varia assassins on the payroll without needing your help to do it."
Xanxus cackled at the image. This was going to be fun, and from the looks of things the dragon before him was happy to let him join in on spreading misery to the Vongola.
It would be on the last day of the three day vacation that the Carcassa arrived for their usual invasion.
Seto quickly took control of the situation, and his commanding aura got the mafioso to behave long enough to deal with the intruders.
However once that was over with, he immediately took Marik with him to the beach to wait. By the time they got there, he could see Skull's familiar helmet already within range.
Marik was absolutely excited...he was about to meet his idol.
"The great Skull-sama is here!"
"Great Skull-sama my ass! How many times have I told you not to pull this shit lackey?!" said Colonello, pissed off.
Seto nudged Marik with a smirk.
"Excuse me, but are you really Skull de Mort, the stuntman that Death hates?" asked Marik.
That got the attention of the poor Cloud who was already nervous because he heard Reborn was on the island.
"Of course I am! Not even this stupid curse could stop me!" said Skull, trying to hide his real feelings.
Marik was grinning.
"Can I have your autograph? You're my idol, especially after that show you did in Dublin."
Dead silence.
Skull took off his helmet in shock.
"You actually saw my show?" he said, not daring to hope.
"Well, a recording of it. It was rather hard to find one of any decent quality. And those stunts you performed in Sicily were absolute genius!" said Marik enthusiastically.
Skull looked like he was ready to cry...it had been ages since he had a real fan of his old stuntwork.
Colonello just looked confused.
Seto grinned, as Marik continued to talk about his favorite stunts he had mostly seen on video, which distracted Skull from doing any actual invading.
The poor Cloud clearly had forgotten what it was like to deal with real fans, especially after the curse. Seto's intuition told him it would be easy to convince Skull to join his group later.