I have questions for you
Number one, tell me who you think you are
You got some nerve trying to tear my faith apart
(I have questions for you)
After the others beside Verde and Reborn left the meeting to make calls or just to get away from the knowledge that they weren't complete anymore, Viper found themselves wandering aimlessly in the direction of their room. It was.. hard to concentrate on where they needed to go and what they needed to do. They had people to call, they could try to get a read on Skull again or even try and go pick a fight with one of the others to blow off some of these dark rolling feelings, the ones that wanted to crawl out of their throat in shouts and accusations
The others would be up for it, they knew. But it would inevitably turn toxic once their emotions started to rise. And they didn't want that, didn't want to fight with the rest of their family, didn't want to spit the acidic words they knew they could- would say if they gave in to the impulse.
Didn't want to cause any more wounds then the ones they all to deal with already in this entirely too messed up situation.
So to their room it was.
( They hadn't known what was happening at first when Aria fell to the ground with a blood curdling shriek. One moment she'd been fine, trying to pull Lal into a conversation, one which the Rain was ignoring with as much politeness as she could when her Sky was talking to her, and drowning them all in surpy Sky Flames.
Then she'd dropped.
They hadn't panicked right away, confusion had been the most prominent feeling. It hadn't been as alarming as it probably should have been, when it concerned the Arcobaleno Sky. Fon had sighed, moving to stand when no one had gone to check on Aria, who remained on the ground for long seconds when Viper felt the most agonizing pain they'd ever had.
It was like someone was tearing off a chunk of their soul with a jagged spoon. They couldn't have stayed on their feet, even if they'd had a moment to brace for it. They felt so weak all of a sudden, like a strength they'd had for so long they'd forgotten about it had suddenly left them.
It felt like gravity was suddenly a hundred times heavier. They had to have blacked out for a second or two because they didn't remember closing their eyes before they were opening them again.
They couldn't move very well, their body so weak they were horrified for a heart stuttering second that they'd been Cursed back into their baby body again. But no, their hand was still the same size it was supposed to be, their robe fit them still instead of pooling around them like it had before.
Lal was yelling at something, her voice the most panicked Viper had ever heard the normally stoic woman use. But they couldn't focus enough to hear the words clearly. They caught some here and there, something about Skull and that Reborn was gone as well but that was it. Why did they feel so alone?
"-Fon! What's going on?! Fon! Dammit man! Wake up!-"
Fon?
Heaving themselves to the side Viper looked around with only their eyes, moving their head still felt like a colossal task and since they weren't actively getting murdered at the moment, they figured they had a while to rest.
"Colonello! You idiot, don't you dare die on me!"
Fon looked worse than drunk.
The poor man was as white as a sheet, his normally tidy hair was frizzed out everywhere, like he'd touched an electrical socket. Bruises were starting to appear around his eyes, which was beyond strange since she knew they hadn't been there this morning. And bruises as dark as that don't just appear with no warning.
Viper dragged themselves over towards Fon and Lal, the woman smacking him in the face to try and rouse him from unconsciousness, one hand still buried in a passed out Colonello 's hair.
They both really did look hungover. Colonello being dragged around by his hair, Fon basically swooning on the low couch, Lal frantically ( as frantic as she could be anyways) turning from one to the other.
Turning their head was even easier this time so they could look around for the only other person missing in the scene. Verde was also out cold, his eyelids twitching like he was about to wake back up. How long had it been? What had happened?
"L- Lal.." God, their throat hurt. Had they been screaming? Why couldn't they remember? Where was Reborn?
Lal's head snapped up, brown eyes narrowed in aggressive worry. Her hand hooked around the him of Viper's robe and pulled them towards the rest of the little group.
"Viper! Do you know what happened?! You were the first to go down." Lal ordered commandingly, her face set in stone as she glanced quickly over at Verde who was already coming to.
"No I-" Viper started, their voice cracking in the middle. "Do you feel that?"
"Feel what? Mist Flames? I don't think whatever this was could have been only one type of attack. How did they even incapacitate us all so quickly..." Lal tightened her grip on Vipers robe. "Something about this…"
"No." Viper said. "No not that, something's missing."
"Missing?" Lal askled absently. She wasn't really paying attention most of her focus on the entrances around them incase whoever had done this decided now was the time to attack with most of them out of commission.
Viper gritted their teeth underneath their hood. They understood why Lal March was doing what she was, Viper themself was pretty sure they wouldn't be able to hold off Tsunayoshi in this state and that kid didn't know the meaning of 'Don't hold back.' "Yes. It's like.. Like something's gone. Broken."
Lal's focus quickly came back at the note of barely suppressed annoyance in Viper's voice. She eyed them uncertainty. "Viper.. Are you sure? I don't feel like anything's… gone, just different. "
"So you can't feel anything? Nothing feels the slightest bit different?" Viper asked incredulously. How could Lal not feel the hole in her soul, like they could? Was it only them? Where was Reborn?
"I feel it too."
A deep, sorrowfully voice spoke up from the direction of the couch. Turning quickly both Viper and Lal could see Fon's eyes had opened but he hadn't tried to move yet. Silent tears were trailing down the side of his face. He stared uncomprehendingly at the ceiling.
"Fon?" Viper crawled over towards the couch hurriedly, Lal's grip on their robe breaking reluctantly when they pulled away. "Fon what is it, what's happened?"
"Skull's gone." Fon dragged one long arm over his eyes and left it there.
What?
"What are you talking about?" Lal demanded. "Why would Skull be gone? He can't die!"
Fon shook his head. Viper started to get a very bad feeling about all of these, the ache in their chest growing as the words spilled out of Fon's mouth. They sounded to much like the truth for them to deny as feverently as they wanted.
"Skull tore out his Bond to use all. That's what this feeling is. This emptiness." Fon's voice hitched." Skull did something that shouldn't even be possible without everyone involved dying. He should be dead, we should ALL be dead."
no.
No, Skull wouldn't do that. He wouldn't. They had plans coming up after this, Skull was going to show them the circus he'd started at and they we're going to a Maid Café on Thursday. He wouldn't do this!
"Your lying." Their voice came out in a whisper. "YOUR LYING! You just said it was impossible! If it's impossible then he couldn't have done it! He- he must have done something else! Reborn was probably picking on him again and something happened! Skull wouldn't DO THAT."
Lal looked away when Viper turned to her for support, looking down into the glazed eyes of a slowly waking Colonello. Her hand's tightened even further in his hair. "I don't know.. I still can't-"
"You still can't feel anything can you?" Came Verde's voice from the side of them all. The cold, practical tone sent Viper's blood boiling even hotter. "It has to be because you we're never a full Arcobaleno. So your bond to Skull was practically nonexistent."
"Oh, like you have room to talk!" Viper hissed. "Can you even feel anything? You seem very calm for someone who's missING PART OF THEIR SOUL!" They spun in a wide circle ready to go tearing out of the house to prove to all of the others that Skull hadn't done what they we're saying.
"Viper! You know Skull better than anyone! Can you honestly tell me he wouldn't do something like this if pushed?" Lal snapped out pushing Colonello head off her lap to stand and confront the Mist. "Can you look me in the eye and swear that this-"
"Unnatural."
Fon's bleak voice brought both Mist and Rain up short. Viper lost whatever strength their outrage had given them and fell back to the ground with an oomph. Lal sighed tiredly and did the same looking over towards Fon who still hadn't removed his arm. "What?"
Fon's mouth turned down darkly at the corners. "This is unnatural, all of it. When I said it was impossible, I meant it was Impossible. No human should have enough power to do this, It goes entirely against the natural order of things. I'd be surprised if Checker Face was able to do something like this and he's as close to a demi-god as anything I've ever seen."
" 'Skull' and 'Impossible' go together all the time, Fon. We were turned into super powered infants for decades. Skull doesn't die. I'm surprised you'd be the one who wouldn't think it was possible." Verde said simply.
"Yes and I'm sure you know all about that don't you?" Verde's face went stark white and he glared poison over at Viper.
"Don't you dare."
The smile Viper wore was vicious. " You know all about Skull's impossibleness, so please, share with the Class. Tell me about what my best friend can and can't do. Why don't you tell us how you have such intimate knowledge of Skull's immortality you crack-pot!"
Verde surged to his feat to tower over them all, every line in his face etched with desperate grief. "Do not bring up things you don't understand if you don't want your mistakes to be drug up as well!"
Viper scoffed. " MY mistakes? When have I ever-?"
"So you don't remember how Skull met the Carcassa?' Viper tried to rise to their feet but couldn't, slumping back down to the floor with a snarl on their face.
"That was Reborn! I wouldn't have actually-!"
"Oh, but you did! You agreed to-"
"Only because Reborn said Skull knew what was-"
"And you trusted that!? You know how he is with Skull-!"
"Do not bring up other people's issues with Skull when you can't even acknowledge-"
"That wasn't my fault!'
"It was all your fault! He wouldn't even go near-"
"THE POINT IS-" Fon's normally calm voice roared over them both, "-that what just happened shouldn't have physically been possible."
Both Viper and Verde quieted almost immediately. It was.. something else to hear the always serene man lose his temper, much less explode over other peoples yelling.
All was quiet for a moment as the rest of them all just,,, stood there. What else were they supposed to do? What were they going to do...
It's Verde that breaks the silence surprisingly. His voice is small in the hushed room, you could almost call it timid, if you didn't know he was the one talking. "Does anyone even know where Reborn is?"
"Gee, I don't know, Skull decided to break his Bonds with us all out of the blue and no one knows where Reborn is?" Colonello groaned from the ground. "Come on you guys, I feel like I was just in a fist fight with a bear and even I already know he's gotta be wherever Skull is, kora."
Colonello sat up slowly Lal helping him onto another couch. He rubbed a hand against his forehead and winced when Lal tried to shine a light into his eyes. He'd been the last to wake up.
"That kid sure can pack a punch, kora." Waving Lal away he took the reactionary puch she sent to his arm at the action, "It felt like I was in a fight with both Lal AND Reborn. Drunk. With no weapons."
Everybody looked away from each other to both hide the shiver at the very idea of fighting both Lal and Reborn, drunk and without weapons and to hide their embarrassment over not realizing, yeah this was probably Reborn's fault. Or at least he'd most likely been there.
(Somewhere far, far away Tsunayoshi Vongola felt as if someone had walked across his grave. He held in the instinctive Hei! that wanted to come out convinced that no matter where his tutor was he would somehow know, but couldn't resist ducking under his desk to hide.
His intuition was all but begging him to not call Reborn for the next (Redacted) (Redacted). Otherwise he'd have to do something horrible for 'training.' And to avoid all types of Skulls in the near future.
Despairing on what that even meant, and why his intuition was so weird, Tsunayoshi reached out from under his desk to press the intercom and command Hayato to come drink with him under his desk. If what his Intuition was vaguely hinting at was true… He'd need all the time he could get before everything went to hell.
Why was everyone he knew so Extra?!)
"Do you think he's.. alright?" Lal says into the awkward feeling room causing Fon to snort and Viper to turn away with a small smirk, Verde just looked exasperatedly at her.
"Reborn? He's probably fine if Skull did what he did to us all to him. At worst he passed out like the rest of us, at best he's carrying a shrieking Skull back to the house as we speak." Verde shook his head, hands going to rub at his face. "I'm honestly more concerned about what even brought this all on. They had to have another one of their Sexual Tension filled fights."
Colonello sputtered from where he had laid her head down on Lal's shoulder. " 'Sexual Tension filled fights?!' What the hell, kora!"
Verde dropped his hands and stared at the blonde like he'd grown another head and said Einstein was a flat earther. "You do… You do know Reborn's in love with Skull, right?"
If it was possible Colonello's eyes widened further in incredulous surprise. 'What are you even talking about? Reborn hates him!"
Verde stared at Colonello before looking at Lal who just shook her head with a small smile on her face. "Your joking."
Colonello looked at Lal pleadingly as well, then turned back towards Verde. "No! Why would I-! Reborn is not in love with Skull!" Colonello turned frantic looks at all the others who just shook their heads sadly at him. "What the hell, kora!"
"I think we all forget you weren't here for the very beginning." Viper chimed in. "And you still have to pay me for this information by the way, but when Skull first showed up Reborn was fascinated with him. They we're mission partners, like me and Fon and you and Lal, but after we were all Cursed.." Viper trailed off thoughtfully. "They were very close. And I don't think Skull ever realized but Reborn couldn't get enough of him." A pause. "Then something happened on one of their missions, neither of them would tell us what but Skull disappeared for months afterwards. After a few days Reborn seemed to calm from whatever had occurred but… no one could find Skull."
Colonello watched Viper intently, he was fascinated with this retailing since the others almost never talked about what happened before they were all cursed.
"He wouldn't answer any of our calls, and as the days went by Reborn got even more high strung then he already was. It took Checker Face himself looking for Skull before he reappeared."
Viper pursed their lips together unhappily. "It wasn't pretty, the aftermath. If I hadn't been spying on everyone for months beforehand I would have been convinced it was a Lovers Spat. It was brutal what Reborn said to try and get a rise out of Skull. I've never seen him so vicious then in the days after Skull was dragged back.."
"And?" Colonello prompted.
Viper shook herself out of her thoughts to turn and look at the door to the house, "And Skull was different after that. He became what he is now, stopped going on missions with Reborn, and never let him get to his heart ever again. So yes, Reborn is in love with Skull. He has been for a very long time." Viper sighed. "After the Curse everything fell even more apart. We were all broken in different ways, all clinging to each other. Except Skull."
Fon took over the story then. Vipers voice had slowly lost all emotion as they continued, shock setting in. "That's why I became Reborn's partner and Viper Skull's. They couldn't be in the same room together without Reborn trying something to get under Skull's skin, and when he didn't react the way Reborn wanted him to it just escalated."
Verde pulled out his suitcase from under the couch, and stated to set it up, head half turned towards where the others were.
"It was...very bad." Fon said quietly.
Verde snorted. "Bad? Try abusive. Whatever happened between them fucked their emotions and instincts towards each other up so badly it affected all of us. If they had just copulated like normal humans, or even just had hate sex it might have all calmed down eventually." The scientist turned on his trackers only to scowl at the screen. "But instead we get a Pining Powerhouse of a Sun and a In-Denial Broken Cloud as our Family Drama. I'm surprised something like this hasn't happened earlier."
"Skull is not-"
The door slammed open to reveal a disheveled Reborn grinning demonically at them all. His eyes excitedly moved from one Guardians to the next, taking them all in. The door slowly swung shut behind him, those creepy black eyes zeroed in on Viper who took half a step back at their intensity. They could practically feel the sharp intent behind that look.
"Viper. I need your Flames."
Reborn went to step forward but paused head cocked sideways. Slowly he looked at them again slowly and spoke as if he really didn't want the answer but couldn't resist the p[potential Chaos opportunity.
"...Why is Aria on the floor?"