A Royal Summer Chapter Eleven

Fran shuffled a bit in his seat. The last Lightning Guardian had finally used up the last of his energy, and the torture of the burning lightning flames had come to an end. A temporary peace, of course. Soon enough, they'd be ready to go for more. It was so terrible, being in a helpless situation. The whole place was musky and dark, only adding to Fran's unexpressed anxiety. His phone would ring from time to time, a futile attempt, and Fran found that he was on the verge of giving in. Any more, and he'd snap. Being from the future hardly mattered. Torture was torture, no matter what time period it occured in.

"Senpai...," he whispered, just for the sake of hearing his own voice. He almost smiled when he heard it in tact, but he stopped for the sake of keeping his deadpan on. The inevitable prevailed, however, and his eyelids began to fail him. He started to doze, his body going limp.

Vongola Headquarters...

Hibari put a hand on Mukuro's shoulder. "Rokudo," he murmured, "Stop worrying. Belphegor will go to whatever it takes to save Fran. That's how he is. Is there anything I can do to help take your mind off of it?"

"Yeah. ... Let's fight," Mukuro said, "No holding back. This is how we do things. This is how we work things out. Yes... we're killers, Kyouya, so let's fight."

"... Sounds fun," the ex-prefect replied, smirking. "Let's fight. Is it me, or have I made that suggestion before?"

"... Kufufufufu... it's just you," Mukuro whispered, leaning over to kiss Hibari on the cheek.

Varia Headquarters...

"Where are we going, bossu~?" Lussuria asked, a spatula in his hand for reasons unknown.

"Out," Xanxus replied shortly. "But we don't need you. Call the shark trash. He, Bel and I are the only ones neccessary for this mission.

"Oh, bossu," Lussuria gushed, "You called Bel-chan by his name~!"

"Shut up and get the damn shark trash," Xanxus growled.

"Hai hai~! Squ-chan~! Bossu needs you!"

Xanxus waited as patiently as ever as Lussuria searched for his Rain Guardian, knowing Belphegor would be back first with his knives. As predicted, moments later, the prince came running down the hall, his jacket sagging with the weight of all his knives. "Is Squalo here yet?" he asked, panting lightly.

"No. Sun Trash is getting him now," Xanxus growled, "We'll be leaving the second he comes over. And here's the file for the trip."

Bel took the file silently and began reading through it, his heart racing as he tried to focus on the building instead of the terrible situations he might find Fran in. He took out his cell phone and called Fran once more. "Please pick up...," he whispered. Xanxus glanced at him, and his gaze narrowed. Were his subordinates growing weaker by being in love? And if that was the case, could this be the reason for the 'inevitable weakness' that the future Varia possessed?

Bel closed his phone with a serious, worried expression. "No answer?" Xanxus asked.

"Not just that. His voicemail is full. He hasn't been taking anyone's calls...," Bel muttered, before going back to reading the files. Xanxus looked away. He wasn't being paranoid. His teammates were losing their crazy attitude. The killer spirit. The murderer's bloodlust. If this was the cause to the Varia's weakness, it was going to be countered. Softness would destroy them.

All the same, Xanxus knew that he had to help Fran.

An hour later...

Fran woke up slowly, then with a start as the shock of Lightning flames began once more. He immediately flinched, and beat himself up for it. He was being weak again. He made a deadpan face, and sighed shortly. "You people have NO consideration!" he called, "I want to take a nap! So rude."

"You can have anything you want if you just talk to us about the future," Arrigo said, leaning against a wall, a cliche looking cup of coffee in his hand.

"I don't fall for that crap," Fran replied, "I want my cookies."

"Ugh," the man sighed, "This would've been so much easier if it was anyone else."

"It would've been easier if it was some random guy," Fran replied, "The Varia are better than that."

"Sure."

BANG.

Everything fell silent for a moment.

BANG!

Something was happening...

CRASH.

Fran tried to turn around, but he was unable to; the pain stopped him from doing so.

"Go in," Xanxus said gruffly. "Bel, we'll cover. You go find Fran."

"Yes, boss."

"Squalo, you and I against them. Let's go."

"I'm with you, Xanxus."

The three charged in, Squalo opening his box weapon just in time with Xanxus opening his own. Liger and Shark burst into the area in a mass of flames, destroying everything in their path. Bel called out Mink and sent him to search for Fran, while he snuck through the area beneath the cover of his jacket. Soon enough, he came up to an area that was cleared out, aside from a moniter and a chair that was crackling- the sound of Lightning flames.

Belphegor put his jacket on and ran into the room, calling, "Fran!"

"Senpai! Look out!"

Bel grunted as he was rammed into by a Lightning class wildebeest, sending him to the ground. He clutched his side, groaning, "Mink... get over here now!"

"Graru!"

Like a white lightning bolt, Mink dashed into the area and lashed its tail across the back of the wildebeest's neck, causing the Storm dissassemble factor to destroy it. Bel looked over to the chair and grinned. "I'm here, Froggy. Everything will be okay..."

Fran squirmed in his binds, and grunted, "I need a ring."

Bel scrambled to his feet, and looked around for anyone else who could interfere, before searching for Fran's rings. Finding it futile, he slipped one of his own Storm class rings onto the ring finger of Fran's right hand. The kouhai smiled for a moment and lit the ring, causing his binds to dissassemble just as the box weapon had.

"Senpai," Fran breathed, hugging the Storm guardian tightly. "Forgive me. I never meant to get caught up in this mess..."

"Ushishi. Doesn't matter. What matters is that Froggy's safe, and the prince is with him," Bel replied, hugging back. "Although, I was hoping that a man of the future could take care of himself. Shishishi."

"I think I just fell in love with you all over again," the Mist guardian breathed, before giving the prince a brief kiss on the lips.

"You'd think they'd have a better plan than this," Squalo muttered. "I'll bet Bel's already found Fran. They weren't so prepared for an attack."

"Yeah," Xanxus agreed, firing his pistols at two other soldiers. A small stampede of Lightning wildebeest box weapons charged in, but the lot of them were taken down by Xanxus and Squalo's own weapons.

Mink suddenly darted into the room, and made a high pitched growling noise, before racing back. Xanxus looked to Squalo and nodded. "We ought to find out what's going on."

Ten years in the Future...

"Control yourself," Mukuro said, standing behind Fran. "You don't even need to change point of view. Just watch."

Fran tried his best, but his fingers trembled, and the dragon's wings fumbled, causing the weight he was lifting to fall onto the ground. Fran sighed. "This isn't neccessary. The dragon's buff enough."

"I'm teaching you how to focus," Mukuro snapped. "Alright, alright. Stop. Just stop."

Fran returned the dragon to his hand, and Mukuro stepped in front. "Watch me." Mukuro placed both hands in front of him and sighed, interlocking his fingers. "Red body, black claws, golden underside, white horns, pointed face, horns, long bat-like wings," he muttered. A spectacular red dragon formed from his right hand, using his left as a take-off platform. It took flight for a moment, but landed, and Mukuro moved it to look at Fran, a long, black, forked tongue snaking out of its mouth for a moment. Its tail swept around the room, not knocking a thing over, and Mukuro reached his the dragon's wings under the weight, and lifted it with ease. He tossed the weight in the air and caught it on his snout, balancing it with amazing talent. Fran gaped at the dragon, who stood up on his hind legs, spreading his wings high, before taking the weight in his jaws and lowering it gracefully to the ground.

"Now try again, Fran."

-End Chapter