Nero's eyes instantly shot open and upon seeing Vero he gasped, pushed him away and stumbled backwards into a wall. The blonde could only stand and watch with silent perplexity while the man eventually calmed down once he'd realized he wasn't in danger.

Once he was calm enough the raven haired male stared at the blonde and slowly uttered, "…Dino? Are you…Dino Cavallone?"

Vero's brow furrowed with confusion. "No, I'm Vero Cavallone," he corrected with a steady voice. "You don't remember me? We were just fighting not long ago."

"We…were…?" Nero looked completely lost and in pain as he then cradled his head with a wince. Once the pain seemed to have subsided he continued apologetically. "Sorry, my mind is a little muddled right now." - suddenly a worrying realization washed over him - "The sword! Where is the sword I had?!"

Vero flinched from the urgency in his voice but glanced to the blonde in question before quickly stepping in between it and the man. "Why do you ask?" He then dared to inquire with a suspicious tone.

"It's incredibly dangerous," the raven haired male replied. "You must stay away from it."

Vero silently gazed at him. He wasn't sure if Nero could be fully trusted yet, but he seemed serious enough and he was curious so he decided to continue with his inquiry. "Why is the blade so dangerous that I have to stay away from it?"

"It…might be hard to believe but that sword…is possessed."

The blonde immediately furrowed his brow in response as he indeed found his statement quite far fetched. "Possessed…how?"

"Knowing your whole family's situation you've probably been raised primarily by the Cavallone so you most likely haven't been told," Nero explained almost half to himself. "But long ago the first Mezzanotte boss had two sons. Their story is a long one so in a nutshell the elder son was so selfish and power hungry that his right to take his place as the next boss was revoked. In his anger he stole the family sword and killed himself with it, thus tying his vengeful soul to the blade. Back then I disobeyed my parents and touched it…"

"And you got possessed."

"Yes!"

"So…that wasn't you I was fighting earlier but the Primo Mezzanotte's son who had taken over your body." Vero concluded eventually and Nero nodded enthusiastically, confirming that he was right.

The young Cavallone boss felt that there was more to it though. "If that's true, then…my family…and Rosetta's family…were killed after all?"

"No, no of course not!" The raven haired male quickly interjected in his defense. "When I was possessed it's true that I didn't have any control of my body. He…used my body and abilities for his cruel aspirations but I found out pretty soon that I could turn the tables and use his. One useful ability was creating some sort of warp portal. I used those to move my family and yours to safety - at least…I hope I did…"

After hearing this explanation Vero couldn't help but let out a short exasperated sigh in response. "You know…the more you say the less I find myself believing you."

"Everything I've said is true! I swear!" Nero argued insistently.

"Okay then tell me where you've 'sent' everybody."

The black haired male slowly averted his gaze. "That, unfortunately I can't tell you…" he uttered, then quickly added. "No, wait. It's not that I can't tell you, because I don't know…or can't remember. I forgot…I had to, so that the Primo's son wouldn't find me out and kill everyone for real."

Vero sighed. Was there really no hope of finding those who were missing now?

Suddenly without warning a set of chains extended from the darkness and coiled around Nero who started to panic.

"W-Wait I-I don't want to go with the Vindiche!" He shouted as he then aimed a pleading look to the blonde.

"Sorry I…never had any say in this." He could only reply apologetically in response. "The Mezzanotte and Cavallone aren't really allied after all. I'm not in any position to ask, but…if you know would you keep my true identity a secret please?"

The black haired male smiled for a moment. "I'll take it to the grave." He said before getting unexpectedly knocked out.

As he fell Vero watched with shock then quickly aimed his gaze to the one who enacted the blow. "A-Antonio?!" He uttered after recognizing the stand-in boss of the Mezzanotte.

He then paused, and now that he saw Antonio with a Vindiche's chain something didn't quite add up. He continued with a more disbelieving tone. "That's a legit Vindiche chain you have. But how…?"

"It's actually fake. I…called in a few favors to get it made so I could dupe the Vindiche into thinking they arrested Nero." The brunette replied with a somewhat unnervingly easygoing smile. "Knowing my family they'd fight to bring him back to his senses so I've come to get him to do just that."

"I believe Nero's already been brought back to his senses…" the young Cavallone boss stated in reply.

Antonio could only stare blankly at him, so he explained all that had happened from Nero's arrival to the moment before he was knocked out.

"So based on the history Rosetta's theory was correct!" The stand-in boss mused quite happily with relief once the blonde had finished. "We just didn't have any means of breaking the possession - until now that is."

"You believe it all then?"

"You said yourself that his whole demeanor took a one-eighty, and he didn't have a sense of bloodlust anymore."

"Well, yes…"

"Don't worry. I'll keep him safely detained and once he wakes I'll question him." Antonio then shot him a curious inquisitive gaze. "What are you going to do next?"

Vero paused in thought. He didn't have to think for very long though as he had his answer already. "I don't care about our families not being allied. I want to be all in on this search for everyone now," he said with an unshakable determination. "And I won't take no for an answer this time."

The brunette was taken aback at first, but he eventually smirked almost approvingly. "I think I can make that happen. I'll keep you in the loop when I'm able."

After sharing a handshake to seal their agreement Antonio left with Nero in tow.

With them gone Vero then turned his attention to the destruction of the Vongola base and its members. In the end less than twenty five percent of the base was damaged but not unfixable.

Because they all had a hand in holding Nero back, just about every Vongola member was quite wounded. All except Hibari, who had suffered more wounds than all of them due to him having to fight off Nero the most.

Once they were all willing and able, Vero asked to meet with them to talk and finally come clean.

"I know you said before that everything was okay, but Nero did wreck your base and hurt you all to some extent because he was after me." He stated quite seriously before bowing apologetically. "And for that I am deeply sorry. I'm willing to pay for or help with anything you might need."

"Thank you for the offer," Tsuna was the first to respond. "But there is no need. We have a perfectly good mechanic and healer here."

The young Cavallone looked disheartened at this statement for a moment, but collected himself to continue with a sense of conviction. "Then at least allow me to share the real reason…of why Nero came specifically to out me…"

The guardians all shared concerned and curious gazes.

"Antonio said Nero had been tipped off on who you really are." Gokudera started carefully.

He seemed like he was going to continue but Vero spoke once more before he could. "Yes. I've decided to put my trust in you just as…they have." The young boss said, then rose his head to gaze steadily at all of them. "I am actually Rosetta Mezzanotte's and Dino Cavallone's…son."

The statement was almost made to be a somewhat grand reveal, but there were no shocked reactions of any kind. In fact, they were all smiling gently at him.

"Vero…we've known this fact this whole time." Tsuna finally said with a knowledgeable tone.

"Well to be exact we made an educated guess and your parents confirmed it when entrusting us with this secret." Gokudera gently corrected.

"I didn't know at all." Hibari spoke up with a flat tone.

"That's because you didn't show any interest in wanting to know!" The storm guardian quickly argued.

"You proved as much when you were a no show to our meeting with Rosetta." Yamamoto added with his own statement. "So we figured you just didn't want to know."

Hibari just responded with a quiet huff and then went silent.

Through all the banter the Vongola boss simply smiled and once it had finished he asked the younger boss what he would be doing now that Nero had been recaptured. Vero shared that he would now put all his efforts into helping to find his parents and the main Mezzanotte family.

"I wish you luck then," Tsuna stated in agreement. "And know that we'll always be there to lend you a hand, should you ever need it."

Vero expressed his gratefulness for the Vongola's continued support, and in order to make up for everything he stayed at the base a little longer to help with some of the repairs.

Meanwhile at the Vindiche base…

"Sir! Someone's captured Nero with one of our chains," one of the members reported to the boss urgently. "But it wasn't one of us! Should we apprehend him and the one who stole the chain?"

"No, that chain isn't one of ours. It was made to dupe us." The boss, Bermuda, surprisingly replied. He quickly continued before his subordinate could make another outburst. "Such an act should require immediate action, but we will leave things as they are for now. Something tells me that Nero has been recaptured, but if he decides to make yet another escape…we will make our move…"