The Arcobaleno's first mission together as a whole team was exactly as much of a disaster as Fon expected. Somehow, they succeeded anyway. It hadn't really been anyone's fault. Not that it stopped everyone from arguing about that.

It had been supposed to be a prettied-up smash-and-grab. One group very obviously smashing their way into the famiglia's compound, while the secondary group snuck in to steal whatever it was they were there for. Fon, Reborn and Lal had made up the distraction team while Verde and Viper went for the information. Skull drove the distraction team in, and drove them out again once Luce gave the signal that she had Viper and Verde with her.

Initially the plan had gone just fine.

Skull had stopped the car in the center of the courtyard. Renato and Lal moved behind the vehicle so they could use it as cover, but still have the freedom to move when necessary. Fon ditched the car immediately, so he could cover Renato and Lal's open backs. Their opponents had fired from out the windows and around the doorframes of the building.

Fon's job had been to prevent reinforcements from getting them from behind. The security building was to the side of the courtyard, attached to the fence. Fon couldn't have just gone in and cleared the place, because the grunts would have just fired out the windows at Lal and Renato. Instead, Fon had stood a dozen paces back from the entryway and sent up a thin wall of his Flames behind him. It was a modified form of Projectile Disintegration (the move he had based Poison Disintegration on) that would keep any bullets from getting his allies in the back. It would also take someone with massive Will to get through without being vaporized.

Usually, Projectile Disintegration is used by applying a thin coat of Flames over his body. It's not something he uses often. While it does prevent him from getting shot, it tends to Disintegrate his opponents and that's a bit too much like cheating for the martial artist. In close combat, it's really only practical (read: fair) against Flame-users with enough Will to be difficult opponents. It also eliminates air resistance, which honestly just reminds Fon that he's in a manga. He's already fast enough to dodge bullets, any faster and he can't consciously process his movements. At this point, Fon actually trusts his muscle memory more than conscious thought in combat scenarios; it's still disconcerting though.

But this version of Projectile Disintegration takes more concentration and effort. It didn't cause him Flame strain, but it was another thing to keep track of in the fight. And it wound up backfiring a little bit. Fon was in the middle of a small army. It wasn't a particularly difficult fight. They were mainly grunts and they hadn't resorted to shooting through each other yet.

A sudden scream had surprised him. There was a lot of screaming. Mostly in incoherent Italian, before it was cut off by Lal or Renato's shooting.

But this scream wasn't like the others. It wasn't pain or anger or shouted orders. It was agony and fear and horror so all-encompassing Fon had only heard it in his head before. It was the sound he wanted to make the first time Mei took an injury during a mission. (It had looked bad, head injuries always do, but she had recovered. And the person who hurt her had paid for it.)

Fon couldn't resist the urge to look. Someone had decided that they should try walking through Fon's barrier, since shooting through it clearly wasn't working. (Seriously, what kind of idiot tries to walk through a wall of fire?!) The grunt's arm was Disintegrating. For a moment all Fon sees is the face of the first person he ever did that to. The Storm is sharply brought back to reality by a punch to the face. It broke his nose, which was annoying. The grunts had taken advantage of his momentary distraction to swarm him.

They got a couple more hits in before Fon stopped holding back. In the briefing for the mission, they had decided that the distraction team would hold back to prolong their fight as much as possible.

Renato and Lal were essentially making a game out of it; performing trick shots and keeping score.

Personally, Fon thought he had the highest score because the other two were in a gun battle where everyone is firing from cover. Fon was in the middle of a small army – aka a target rich environment. These things are about perspective.

Skull was still in the car, ready to drive them away when Viper and Verde gave the signal. He had been freaked out and covering it with exaggerated bravado. Understandable yet also incredibly annoying. Renato had occasionally stopped bickering with Lal to taunt him, in an attempt to keep him distracted. It had worked well enough. Skull was very proud of his stunt driving, and his loud defense of their entry accounted for at least a third of the shouting.

The real problem had come when Fon heard shouting over the grunts' radios. Apparently someone in the famiglia had been more intelligent than anyone had anticipated. They had figured out they had been robbed, and had called for reinforcements. Thankfully, Verde and Viper had not been discovered.

Renato and Lal had quickly switched into 'professional murderers' mode, and Fon had started maneuvering back toward the car. Mostly by using his opponents as stepstools and launch pads. And because the Projectile Disintegration Wall was made of his own Flames, it didn't harm him. As Fon had discovered in his training, it takes a lot of concentration or being on the verge of Flame-exhaustion for someone's Flames to harm them.

It had been harder to keep the Wall up the farther he got from it, but Fon was the World's Strongest Storm. That had been only a small fraction of his power. Fon had gone past the car and scaled the outside of the main building, and entered a window. He had taken to snapping the necks or limbs of everyone in the room, then moving to the next window. Keeping Renato and Lal from hitting him had been a simple matter of keeping a bright ball of Flame burning so they could tell where he was.

Eventually, Skull had shouted that Luce had radioed him the signal. Fon had dragged the nearest goon to the window and used the man to cushion his landing. A quick sprint to the car later and Skull had driven them backwards out the wrecked fence.

The whole mess had left them where they are now: tearing down a back road in a reinforced car, with Skull freaking out in the driver's seat and Renato and Lal laying out covering fire from the back. Fon is sitting shotgun, leaning with a forearm braced against his knees to keep the strain off his ribs. Head tilted forward, he uses his free hand to pinch his nose, in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Fon had taken a free moment to fix it during the fight but it was still bleeding. It wouldn't take long for Fon to have a spectacular set of black eyes. Not to mention, his forearms and legs are going to be as black and blue as his face soon.

All in all, pretty much situation normal. Sure Fon is the best, but that doesn't exempt him from injury. At least he's not shot. That would have been embarrassing. Fon hasn't been shot since just after his Flames activated.

Head trauma and gunshots really don't mix well, and Fon's head is starting to throb. Deciding to take the proactive approach, he rolls down the window and sticks his head out. It's a really awkward position for an Exploding Lotus Kempo, but watching two of their pursuers get eaten by his Storm dragon makes it worth it. The way the others cars slammed on the brakes and turned around was also very gratifying. Flames are really about Will anyway. If he wants it enough, then it happens.

When he resettles into the seat, Fon politely asks everyone to be quiet. He must look pretty pitiful because Skull stops shrieking, and Lal and Renato stop shooting. Fon meditates in the front seat until the reach the rendezvous point. Skull must think he's asleep, because Fon almost breaks the stuntman's wrist when he tries to shake the martial artist awake.

They get out of the cars Skull had stolen for the mission, and then Fon torches them. They switch back to Luce's vehicles and go back to the property the Sky is letting them use as their safe house.

It's a nice place; different from the Mountain Master's palace, obviously. But similar enough in the pretentious wealth that it makes Fon uncomfortable. Fon always feels awkward in these places; more comfortable in servants' quarters than guests'. Thankfully, the property isn't occupied by any staff; instead left for the "Strongest Seven" to use in relative privacy (when Luce is there, members of her famiglia are always a step behind). Fon suspects Luce is already in the early stages of pregnancy, but doesn't want to ask.

The first thing Fon does is clean himself up in the bathroom of the suite he is staying in. He tries not to get blood on anything. Then he goes to the kitchen – immediately feeling more comfortable in a place that is traditionally avoided by those 'higher' than himself – and makes himself some tea while icing his face. It's a routine he's performed often enough that the only hesitations come from being in an unfamiliar kitchen.

As the teapot is whistling, Renato wanders in. Knowing he'll turn it down, Fon offers the hitman tea. He's proven right, and Renato starts fiddling with the excessively expensive coffeemaker. When Renato asks how he's doing, Fon is so shocked he nearly reacts. Instead, he smiles and remarks that such injuries are common for martial artists and he has enough medical training to deal with them. The next time Renato surprises him, Fon's calm façade actually does crack a little. Fon hadn't even known the Sun knew how to heal with his Flames, let alone that he would offer such a thing.

The Storm thinks about it as he sips his tea. He's never come into contact with someone's Flames outside of training or combat; and he's not sure how he feels about the idea.

On the other hand, Renato is such a perfectionist that he'd take it as a personal insult if Fon experienced any adverse effects.

Fon agrees. Sun Flames create an interesting sensation. It's somewhere between an itch and an ache at first, but it's increasingly soothing as the pain fades.

Fon thanks Renato, and they sit quietly across from each other for a time.