Even they had been forewarned that Nero would be touching ground in Japan soon, a few days passed with no incident which only added to everyone's anxious anticipation. No one wasted any time though as Vero continued his training to hone his fighting skills more, and the guardians worked hard to make sure their defenses were iron tight.
Unfortunately their hard work was all in vain, as late one night Nero slipped into the Vongola base unexpectedly with ease…
A loud blaring alarm suddenly awoke Vero from his slumber and he jolted up into a sitting position just as Hibari came crashing through the wall with just enough force to slam against the wall behind.
"Hibari-san?!" He shouted with urgent confusion while hopping out of bed. "What's going on?!"
"I can't believe you…slept through the alarm. You can be quite incompetent sometimes…Reminds me of a certain useless mentor I had…" the raven haired male uttered almost breathlessly with a smirk which quickly changed into a serious frown. "It's Nero…He's here…"
The color drained from the young boss' face and he felt intense chills up and down his spine in response. "Wh-?"
"So, we finally meet…Vero Cavallone," a malicious sounding male voice sneered from the gaping hole in the wall. "If that is even your true name."
The blonde gritted his teeth, wanting to make an argument but held his tongue because he didn't want to reveal his family secret just yet.
"What? Cat got your tongue?" The villainous male remarked mockingly.
Vero turned his startled gaze into a glare, as the fear he'd felt before quickly disappeared. He then reached for his tonfa to be the first to attack but Nero was leagues faster. In the blink of an eye he was standing next to Vero and before he could react was kicked into the wall with so much force it left him breathless.
Nero followed him and immediately pinned the blonde to the wall by his neck. The young Cavallone boss struggled to try and free himself but his foe only tightened his grip even more.
"Heh, this is too easy." Nero remarked with a chuckle, a victorious grin lighting his face.
He meant to continue but was interrupted when a large purple spiked sphere tore him away from Vero, knocked him into the hallway and made him crash through several walls. In the meantime Vero (now released) collapsed to his knees, coughing and gasping for air.
When he had regained his composure he turned his gaze to Hibari who by the look of his open box animal was the one who had attacked.
"What are you still doing here?" The cloud guardian asked incredulously with slight indifference while preparing his weapon. "Go now, while he's knocked out!"
"What about you?" The blonde asked in response.
"Who do you think I am?" The raven haired male responded with a deadly glare. "I can handle fighting him here so you can run." - he paused but Vero made no movement - "What are you waiting for? Go! Now!"
The young Cavallone boss jumped at the demand then nodded quickly and left his room, making a mad dash for the elevator. Hibari partially followed him out and stopped when his box animal returned to his box.
Knowing that Nero was sure to trail close behind he slipped into a defensive stance and thought, 'I'm hoping this is enough to repay my debt to you…Rosetta Mezzanotte…'
Vero had only made it halfway to the elevator though before he heard a crash and then rapid footsteps behind him, thus signifying that Hibari was defeated and Nero was hot on his tail. Within moments he was right behind and swinging his blade to maim. Luckily the blonde was able to dodge to the side and pick up his pace.
'Damn! I was hoping Hibari-san would buy me more time!' He thought while barely dodging another assault. 'If even he was unable to hold my uncle back for more than a few seconds then I've got one heck of a fight ahead of me.' - he paused momentarily to dodge a third attack - 'I hope Hibari-san's okay…'
By this time he had reached the turn to the elevator, quickly rounded it and went to press the call button, only to find that the doors were already open with nothing but a long bottomless shaft to greet him.
"Oh, how unfortunate…" Nero uttered with a fake sad tone.
Vero flinched, then turned quickly to face him with gritted teeth and narrowed eyes. The raven haired male approached and the blonde immediately took a defensive stance against him but he only came closer to have a look down the elevator shaft himself.
"Hmm…I wonder how far down this goes…" he commented half to himself with curious thought.
"…Why do you say that…?" Vero dared to ask somewhat hesitantly.
An utterly vicious smirk suddenly appeared on Nero's face.
"How foolish you are to ask such a question when it's so laughably easy to figure out why I made that comment." He stated before frowning. "This method wasn't my first choice of course but I'll take what I can get."
Just as he'd finished Vero managed to figure out what he was aiming to do but it was too late, for the man simply shoved him into the shaft before another word could be spoken.
As he plummeted down at an alarming speed the young boss kept as calm as he could, quickly formulating a plan in order to stop his fall. He pulled out one of his tonfa, released the cable and used it to grab a bar on the wall.
Luckily he got it on the first try but it sent him swinging and slamming into the wall. Vero briefly exclaimed painfully before glancing down, seeing that he was now only a short fall way from the stuck elevator and jerked at the cable to get it free.
He fell the last few yards and landed safely on the elevator's roof, then looked up the shaft just as he heard and enraged shout coming from above.
'Considering that shout I heard, Nero might not be too far behind.' The blonde thought before looking for a way out of the shaft.
He happened to find a gap that was big enough for him to slip through and did so, discovering that he had entered one of the training rooms.
'Good. I was hoping for a larger area.' Vero thought as he walked further in and stopped in the middle of the room. 'Although I won't be able to run anymore…'
He trailed off as the anxiousness washed over him but he quickly shook himself free of that feeling to steel himself for the battle ahead. 'I wanted more time to hone my skills but it looks like I have no choice but to face Nero, whether I'm ready or not!'
Sorry for the weird delay. As it's gotten closer to Christmas, work has been a bit more taxing and I just forgot to submit the chapter on the day I'd originally intended to.