Episode 3: The War of the Rings
"I do believe in the light… Raise your hands into the sky. The fight is done, the war is won… lift your hands into the sun… To the right, to the left, we will fight to the death. To the edge of the earth… it's a brave new world from the last to the first…"
-"This is War" by 30 Seconds to Mars

Lal was at home one day as I walked around town. It had been almost seven days since we were given the Rings. I ran my fingers over my half of the Wave Ring once again. It had a distinctive feel to it, like it was smooth, but it felt rough as well. Like I could safely run my fingers over it, but it may give me a bad gash and cause me to bleed.

A small hand tugged at my shirt. "Najika-nee, do you know how to get home?" Fuuta's small voice asked. I frowned, wondering what he was doing alone, so late at night, on the streets of Namimori.

After hearing the two five-year-olds bickering in the background, I frowned, heaving a huge sigh of exasperation. "Fuuta, are you and Lambo and I-Pin lost again?" Fuuta's grip on the hem of my shirt tightened, affirming what I already knew.

Kids…

I sighed. "Alright, I'm going to guess that Lambo's huge stomach got you three lost, am I right?" He gripped my shirt tighter again. "It's okay, Fuuta. I won't tell anyone. We'll just say that I met you guys in town and decided that we should spend some time together! Now, let's go home." Lambo cheered, as did I-Pin and Fuuta, but I could've sworn I felt another presence nearby.

My intuition proved itself when a threatening man dropped down from the rooftops, his Flame giving off a dangerous feel. I immediately dropped into a protective stance, pulling Fuuta behind me. "W-who are you?" Fuuta bravely asked. "What do you want?"

The man simply advanced, bearing his sword-drill-thing, whatever it was. Fuuta and I-Pin moved even closer to me, clinging to my shirt one more in fear. "It's okay," I attempted to reassure them, patting Fuuta's head. "You'll be okay."

But Lambo mistook the man for a friend and said, "Oh, you want to play with Lambo-san." I gaped at the five-year-old assassin. "I'm so popular!" Before I could do anything, the man attacked.

One swipe from the blade sent Lambo flying back towards me. I caught him quickly, putting the now-crying child down on the ground. I growled a little, mentally cursing this person.

Fuuta gasped in fear as I-Pin ran up, jumping over the man. He swiped at her, as well, and she went flying down to the ground, landing painfully. "I-Pin!" I cried, picking her up and putting her next to Lambo. "Fuuta, stay back. Go get help, do something!" I ordered him. "I'll try and hold him off." Fuuta did as I told him to, picking up the two children and running.

Drawing my gun, I aimed. I want to be able to help Fuuta and I-Pin and Lambo! I don't want them to get hurt! The gun buzzed again, charging with Flames from my will, and as I pulled the trigger, the man fell to the ground.

But it wasn't strong enough, since the man got up and pushed me to the side. He was strong, and I felt it in just a push. My back hit something hard, and I fell to the ground, landing in a heap.

I looked up to see his Flame growing smaller as he ran away. Damnit, he's going after Fuuta and the kids! I cursed mentally and tried to stand up. My legs felt weak, but I quickly shook it off, dashing in the same direction.

I reached them, and I saw Tsuna's familiar Flame, the children's Flames, and the Flame of the man with the sword. I noticed a familiar looking glint of something and then looked down at my own. A bright white Flame…

The Rings! Lambo is a Guardian, too? He's only five! I gaped, shocked that Reborn would condone such a thing.

A fist came out of nowhere and struck the man. Ryohei Sasagawa had arrived.

I blinked, seeing another Flame from the corner of my eye. "Tsuna! Another one is coming from the right!" Just as I yelled that, another one of the men ran out. I lifted my gun and prepared to shoot, but he had already been struck down. A third force was on the roofs above and I yelled, "Guys, there's one more! Up on the roofs!" Explosions rang in my ears and I could only guess who had come to help. Takeshi Yamamoto and Hayato Gokudera. "So, you're all here?" The Flames began to fade out. It'd been an hour since I'd taken one of the pills that Lal had made. "Crap."

Fuuta ran to embrace Tsuna and I stumbled forward. "Hey, you okay?" From the voice, it was Gokudera. "… Wave girl? You alright?"

Nodding, I replied, "Yeah, I just can't see." Gokudera sighed and I felt someone in front of me. "Huh?"

"Get on," he said simply. I realized that he wanted me to get on his back, so I climbed on, accidentally stepping on his hand. He winced in pain a little, but his voice was almost concerned as he demanded, "You're too light. Have you been eating lately?" I laughed a bit, trying to make light of the situation at hand. Then, I remembered I-Pin.

I looked down, where I was sure that I-Pin was. "I-Pin, are you okay?" I asked gently, concerned about the brave little girl who had defended us all. I didn't get my answer; Lambo was complaining that he was hungry.

Lambo doesn't even get why he has the Ring… or that he's in danger because of that Ring. He doesn't know… He's lucky.

I felt another force coming towards us. I wasn't able to see, but I could still sense a Flame around, growing closer and closer. "Guys… Something's coming." My voice was steadier than I felt.

It's… so strong. I've never felt any Flame this huge before, or this frightening… I'm being overwhelmed…

Apparently Reborn felt it too, and he quickly warned all of us to be on guard. "Gokudera-kun, let me down." I could feel his confusion as I crawled off his back. "Sorry, but we can't go home just yet. The danger's not over." Reaching into my back pocket, I pulled out one of the pills that Lal had warned me to keep on me. I swallowed it and grimaced at the taste.

X Hayato Gokudera X

Wave girl, once she swallowed what looked like an aspirin, started to shake violently, the serious smile on her face gone, with her now shaking in total fear. "They're coming… Guys… I don't know what it is, but I know that we don't stand a chance!" Gokudera wondered what she could see or feel because of those pills. She let out a small shriek.

From within the trees, Gokudera noticed that someone had jumped out, landing on a small cliff above the Vongola. He was tall and seemed to have eight of the swords on his back.

He growled, "Did you do this?" Gokudera stared at him; was he one of the Varia? "Who holds the Thunder Ring?" Ah, so he was the stupid cow's opponent, then. All he wanted was the Thunder Ring. "Is it that curly-headed brat?" Gokudera could have laughed. The Varia was right on the dot. Lambo looked up from where he was clinging to Juudaime's leg.

Juudaime was quick to defend the stupid cow. He protested, "I-It's not! T-this is a misunderstanding!"

"If you get in the way, I'll kill you." The way the Thunder Varia said it so bluntly pissed Gokudera off. Drawing two of the swords, Gokudera was vaguely aware of Wave girl shaking again and falling to her knees. It was clear how frightened she was of this man.

Another voice seemed to come out of nowhere. "Hold on, Levi." Five more people jumped down next to him. It was the green-haired man who spoke. "You can't hunt them by yourself. Share the prey."

At the arrival of the other five, Gokudera chanced a look at Wave girl. She was now shaking violently, squeezing her glassy purple eyes shut and shivering violently, practically curled into herself and crying. Gokudera knelt next to her and put one hand on her shoulder. The blonde of the Varia laughed cruelly, grinning a toothy smile.

The smallest of the group pointed out, "The situation has changed. The other Guardians of the Rings are here." Even Juudaime seemed to begin to worry at this point.

The silver-haired bastard was there, too, a cruel smile on his face. "How dare you trick me, you trash!" he shouted, his voice making Wave girl flinch in Gokudera's hold.

Both the baseball idiot and Gokudera looked up, the latter growling, "That bastard…" Najika seemed to be more frightened of him than anyone and clung to his hand, not letting it go as she shook, tears leaking from her eyes.

Smirking, the bastard demanded, "Which one of you has the Rain Ring?" Damn. The baseball idiot did. "So it's you?" he confirmed after the baseball idiot replied. "Three seconds. I'll cut you to pieces in three seconds." The baseball idiot narrowed his eyes and made to hold up his sword.

A hand stopped him, grabbing his pants leg. "Don't, please," Wave girl practically begged. "He's really strong; you won't be able to beat him!" Gokudera looked at the girl, who was about still crying and shaking. "I don't want you to die."

"Out of the way." An even more intimidating figure walked out from behind the bastard and forced him back. Wave girl's head snapped up to look at him. Or… whatever she did. His name, as Reborn said, was Xanxus. Even Juudaime was scared, and the others couldn't move. "Tsunayoshi Sawada." Xanxus lifted a hand that he curled into a fist of fire. "Die."

A pickaxe crashed right in front of the Varia, causing Xanxus to stop. "Hold on, Xanxus," a loud voice commanded. Everyone turned to look at the source of the voice besides Wave girl, who was still staring with wide eyes at Xanxus. "That's enough. I'll take charge from here." To everyone's shock, the figure was Juudaime's father, Iemitsu. The bastard growled and held up his sword threateningly. "Xanxus, are your subordinates going to point their swords at the External Advisor?" Juudaime's dad was the External Advisor? Oh crap, Gokudera was really going to have to impress him now…

Juudaime's dad had gotten a reply from the Kyuudaime, or the Ninth. The Rings that the group had gotten were only half of the Vongola Rings. Varia had the other halves of the Rings. Basil handed the Kyuudaime's direct order to Juudaime, sealed with a Dying Will Flame. It said:

"Until now I thought that Iemitsu's son, Tsunayoshi Sawada, was a worth successor, and acted as such. However, perhaps because I am close to death, by intuition I changed course and chose a new successor. My son, Xanxus. He is truly worthy to become the Tenth. However, there will be those who are unhappy with this change. That is why Iemitsu fought against handing the Rings to Xanxus. However, I do not wish for my Family to fight amongst itself for no reason. Thus, we will begin the decisive battle to decide who will be the official successor, through a method we can all agree on."

"Vongola successor candidate, Tsunayoshi Sawada. Also a successor candidate, Xanxus!" Juudaime's father announced. "The Vongola Rings that you both require to become the true successor… To decide who has the right to these, we will begin the decisive battle between Tsuna's family and Varia!"

So that cocky bastard was the Kyuudaime's son? And Juudaime's father didn't want him to be the Tenth? And now they all had to fight against the Varia to prove that Juudaime can be the Tenth? And it's a possibility they could die? Heh, story of a life in the Mafia.

X Najika Kamiya X

No effing way.

I was not fighting any of them, not in the state I was then. Their Flames… I knew no one else could see them, but if they could… They were a mass of all colors. Xanxus's shone orange, with a malice I never knew the color could have, and was bigger than all of the Varia's Flames combined. Whereas Tsuna's was really, really weak, not even a fraction of the malice seen in Xanxus' contained in Tsuna's Flame. There was no way that we could win.

I looked at Gokudera, who's Flame was a stormy red and around the healthy size for someone like him. "I'm sorry that you had to walk me home… That conflict took longer than I expected." The effects of the pill had worn off, and Tsuna had asked Gokudera to escort me home, which he did without complaints. "I kept telling Tsuna-kun that I could walk home myself, and that he didn't have to bother you, Gokudera-kun."

Said boy scoffed. "No problem. I'll do anything Juudaime asks of me." I had to let out a giggle at his stubborn reply. "What? I would." He crossed his arms stubbornly and huffed.

"I have no doubts about that, Gokudera-kun."

A brief and awkward silence ensued. "Hey…" I turned to Gokudera. "What did you see when you swallowed that pill? What did you see that scared you so much?" I must have freaked out really badly, because after seeing their Flames that were so big, I kind of blacked out. I'd never seen anything like that. He must've noticed my hesitation because he simply said, "You can tell me."

Taking confidence in his words, I revealed, "I can see their Flames. It's sort of like their life force, but also a measure of how strong they are. The Flames of the Varia are… they're huge, and terrifying. It looked like they could swallow all of us whole without even trying. It was awful. You have no idea how small all of you guys looked compared to them. It was like comparing a cricket to an anaconda."

Gokudera stopped walking and stood in front of me, putting his hands on my shoulders. "Don't worry. We're definitely going to win, so don't worry, okay?" I smiled and nodded. "Good. So… is this your house?" I looked up to see the outline of my house in front of me, marked with the Flame that Lal made to help me find my way home.

"Yeah, this is me." I turned back to him and hugged him. "Thanks. I needed that, Gokudera-kun. I can't promise that I won't worry, but I'll try my best to cheer everyone on. Just promise that you'll all come back alive, okay?" He seemed shocked, but returned my hug.

"I promise."

That was enough for me. I knew that they would all be okay. I knew that they were strong. Tsuna, Yamamoto, Ryohei, Lambo… and Gokudera.

CHAPTER EDITED AS OF 6/15/13

Atogaki-

Insanely short chapter for an insanely boring episode. This was mainly used to introduce the Varia, Xanxus, Squalo, Bel, Mammon, Lussuria, and Leviathan. They're probably my favorite group in this entire series. They're so crazy that I love them. I mean, Bel's a crazy-ass Prince, Mammon's a gold-digger, Xanxus has anger issues, Squalo doesn't know when to shut up, Lussuria's a crossdresser (and I'm pretty sure gay.), and Leviathan is completely in love with his boss, which also makes me worry for him. But I have to say, I like Mammon with the Arcobaleno, and Fran with the Varia. Fran and Bel are two of my favorite characters, and they are so funny when they're put onscreen. Take a look at a few of the Future Arc episodes, and watch to laugh.

But yeah, so this is actually just a short, boring filler chapter. Made to entertain and build up suspense for the next chapter, which will start the entire Ring Battle. I think there was a tiny bit of fluff in here... but not a lot, since I think that it was a more serious chapter, with all the death threats and stuff.

I titled this "The War of the Rings" for obvious reasons, once again, and I used the song "This is War" for again, obvious reasons. I knew that it's an action song, but unlike a few of the songs I chose for other chapters, it's not totally high action, because it has slow parts. Like this chapter, it has action, then boring talking, so it fit the pace of this chapter.

Please review!

-Aki.

Character Introductions (Ch 3):

Ryohei Sasagawa, age 15. A third year in Namimori Middle.

Xanxus, age 24. The current boss of Varia, and the Vongola Nono/Vongola Kyuudaime's son. He was born with the Flames of Wrath, as well as the Sky Flames. He is eligible for the position as Decimo.

Belphegor, age 16. The Storm Guardian of the Varia. His main weapons are knives, and he enjoys calling himself "the Prince." He killed his twin brother when he was eight, and joined the Varia then, wanting to be able to kill more.

Mammon, age unknown. The Mist Guardian of the Varia. He uses illusions. His hobby is collecting money, even if he rips it off from his own teammates. His past is relatively unknown, for now.

Lussuria, age 25. The Sun Guardian of the Varia. He mostly uses Muay Thai, a form of martial arts, and his coat is lined with a huge orange hood. On his left knee is a metal pad to block opponent's attacks.

Leviathan, age 23. The Thunder Guardian of the Varia. His weapons are parabolas that conduct electricity. Like Gokudera, his ambition is to become his boss's right-hand man.

Gola Mosca, no age. The Cloud Guardian of the Varia. Very little is known about Gola Mosca. It is never heard speaking, and its power is unknown at the moment. Xanxus seems reliant on its strength to win.

Cerevello, age unknown. They are usually purple haired women with black masks on, from the Cerevello organization. They are seemingly sided with the Varia, as their judgments are mostly unfair to Tsuna's side.

Iemitsu Sawada, age 38. Tsuna's father, Basil's master, and the current head of the CEDEF. He works closely with Nono, and is very loyal to the Vongola Family. He is also the External Advisor to Vongola Nono.