Chapter 14: Trial through flame.
Here's the link for this amazing piece of fan art I got. I hope you all like it as much as I did: http : / / goo . gl / JjysK (remove the spaces :)
Just a reminder, this is set before the Shimon family arrive- so when I talk about flames, and who has them, you need to ignore them.
Mukuro rushes forward, catching and supporting an exhausted Shinichi. Yamamoto does the same for Kaito.
"You did it guys. You've found your flames" shouts Tsuna, jumping over to the pair.
"Shini-chan you alright?" questions Ken, walking up next to Mukuro. Shinichi slowly nods his head, taking in deep breaths of air. Chikusa walks over and offers a bottle of water. Shinichi snatches the bottle out of Chikusa's hands and downs the thing as quickly as he can.
Chrome walks over and meekly takes Shinichi's hand "It's here Boss, there is a ring on his hand."
"Kaito's got one too" confirms Gokudera.
"Well done young Pups" commends Talbot. "My job here is done. Make sure to look after those two okay."
Reborn and Talbot walk towards the elevator. Reborn escorts Talbot out of the Mansion, and provides him transport home.
Back in the training room, Shinichi and Kaito sit on the floor, replenishing their energy.
"So does anyone know what these flames do?" asks Shoichi, walking forwards from his position leaning against the wall. Everyone looks at each other seeing if anyone has an idea. Head are shaken, shoulder shrugged and sighs exchanged.
"Well we're going to have to think this through logically then aren't we?" offers Shoichi. "So what do we know about the flames, in general I mean"
"Well, judging on what we saw in the future, I'd say that everyone has a flame." Guesses Tsuna. "Well it's obviously not just us is it? The Varia all have flames, Basil even has a Dying Will flame with the pills. And in the future everyone fought with flames. It can't just be a mafia thing exclusively since there is no way to tell who's going to join the mafia."
"That's an amazing deduction Juudaime" praises Gokudera. "The mafia must be the only people who have found out about the flames, hence why you don't see flames being used in everyday life. In fact, in our time period, it seems to be only members of the Tri-Ni-Set, such as Vongola and Giglio Nero, who even know flames exist."
"True, but that doesn't help the situation. What else do we know?" prompts Shoichi.
"You all have different flames right" confirms Shinichi. The others all nod. "How are they classified? Does the Guardian position match the flame?"
"Yes they do Shinichi." Confirms Mukuro "I am the Mist Guardian with Mist flames, as is my cute Chrome here. The same rule applies to all of the others."
"Are the Guardian's duties related to the flame too?" asks Shinichi, a small idea forming in his head.
"Guardian Duties?" asks Yamamoto.
"Yeah, that whole speech you guys go through at the start of those meetings, you know" Kaito makes a serious face and says in Tsuna's Boss voice "Rise Guardian of the Storm, the one who fiercely blows everything away.". Those duties."
The others look baffled at Kaito's voice mimicry, even though they have heard it before, during their fake heist.
"Those. Well I think Reborn did say that they were. They embody the role each person should take here. Luckily enough these duties go along with the personality of each… person… here… Oh, I see where you're going with this." Tsuna looks at Shinichi, his eyes narrowed in concentration.
"Well I don't TO THE EXTREME" roars Ryohei, scratching his head.
"Okay, I'll explain further, Shinichi correct me if I'm wrong" Tsuna turns back to Shinichi and gets his confirmation. "There are some people here who are better examples than others. Take Hibari for instance" Tsuna goes to point at him, but finds that Hibari is nowhere to be found "Must have left after we were done" mumbles Tsuna before continuing "For him, his duty is 'one that cannot be caught and goes his own way' well Hibari never involves himself with us since he doesn't like crowding. He follows his own rules and expects you to follow, right." The others nod "Well, that statement fits his personality perfectly. The same is true for the rest of us too, Mukuro can never be 'captured'- it's hard to get him to do what you want, and he just leaves if he doesn't like it." Mukuro grins as if this was a compliment "Yamamoto is really calm and diffuses all of the fights Gokudera and Lambo get into, so that's a bit like 'washing away everything' ."
"Oh, I see, Juudaime. You are the one that colours and engulfs everything. Well, you accepted all of us, even people like Mukuro and Hibari. So you reckon that their flames match their personalities?" finishes Gokudera.
"That's what I think. Was that what you were getting at Shinichi?" checks Tsuna
Shinichi nods and moves to sit in a different position.
"But we don't know what yours are, Reborn told us what ours were." Informs Tsuna.
"Guardian of the Moon, One that deceives even the darkness" recites Kaito
"Guardian of the Stars, the one that guides in the night" says Shinichi. "Pandora told us. Carrying on, your flames seem to affect your personality, so I suspect people with the same flame act similarly. Since there are no other Moon or Star users, we can't check, but we can still apply the same logic."
"So, what are your personalities then? We don't know you well enough to guess that." Explains Shoichi
"Logic"
Everyone turns to Kaito, who is laid flat out on the floor (a better position than looking up at them, less pain on the neck) shuffling a pack of cards.
"It describes Shinichi to a T" he explains. "Everything he does has some logic to it. Everything he thinks is logical. That's what makes him such a good detective. You don't get that good this young without a natural talent for logic."
"That reminds me of when we were younger," starts Mukuro, something possibly clicking into place. The others look at him suspiciously, the idea of Mukuro and Shinichi knowing each other still hard to accept. "Let me try something. It used to happen then, and he did it again today too. Since he has this flame uniquely, his flame may be the answer I'm looking for."
"Che, Mukuro we didn't get a word of that" complains Gokudera. "What on earth are you going on about? Do you know what Shinichi's flame can do?"
"I may know one aspect of his flame. But I'm going to need some test subjects." He smirks looking at the group infront of him. Some of the others back away, not wanting to be test subjects. "Hmm, let's see, who to pick. Not Tsunayoshi-kun, his intuition would give biased answers. Ken, go stand over there" Mukuro orders. Ken does as he is told, separating from the group. "Lambo, go with Ken." Lambo puts up a fuss until Ken produces some candy. "Would one of you two mechanics go over there too?" Mukuro asks, not sure which one to pick. After a little conference Spanner walks over.
"Mukuro did you just pick randomly?" Question Yamamoto. "But you said no to Tsuna specifically."
"No I didn't pick randomly" snarls Mukuro. "Tsunayoshi's intuition would affect his results. Ken has not cultivated his flame, Lambo has (and he's a fun toy), and the mechanics have a mind closest to Shinichi's out of all of us here. My dear Shinichi, go stand with them please. Right, now stand in a line. Shinichi, keep your flame off."
Once everyone was ready, Mukuro materialises his trident, and prepares to cast an illusion. With one clap of his hands, a cloud of mist appears above him, another clap, and a mixture of weaponry appears from that cloud. It ranges from knives to swords, to spikes, all aimed at the line of targets. He taps his trident on the floor, and the weaponry goes flying.
Lambo screams his head off and runs off in the opposite direction, hiding behind Gokudera.
"Mukuro-sama, what have I done now? I don't need a punishment, I haven't even called you pineapple for ages" whines Ken, ducking under a sword. Mukuro's eyes close slightly in anger, and a knife slices a cut in Ken's cheek. Spanner looks at the weapons and cocks his head as if noticing something wrong. Knowing these aren't real swords, he lets one brush his arm. Pain flares and a small line of blood appears on his arm. Dodging the rest of them, he wonders back to Shoichi, who puts a plaster on the cut.
Shinichi stands there, eyes looking at the weapons flying towards him. He flicks from one to another, analysing the attack and the area around them. Suddenly he double blinks and smiles.
"Shinichi! Watch out, move already." Shouts Kaito, seeing a knife aimed directly for Shinichi's heart. The others all tense, wanting to help, but knowing that this is an experiment.
Shinichi doesn't even flinch as the knife enters his heart. A sword slices a gash in his leg, a mace bangs into his shoulder before falling to the ground. One last knife appears from the cloud, aiming for his eye. Shinichi holds out a hand, and seemingly grabs this knife in his fist, blood dripping from gripping the blade.
"Nice try Mukuro, this sweet could have poked me in the eye."
The others jaws drop, not believing what Shinichi has just said. He didn't even react to the blood running down his leg, or arm. Hell, He didn't notice the knife in his heart!
Kaito rushes over, but before he can even stand fully, Shinichi holds up his hand.
"Kai, I'm alright." He turns back to Mukuro.
"Well My unharmed Shinichi, what was wrong this time?" Mukuro gives a grin that could rival KID, knowing that this statement would draw a reaction.
Jaws fall on the floor, and eyes widen to their full extent.
"W-w-what was w-wrong?" stutters Tsuna. "What do you mean what was wrong this time!"
"Shinichi never seems to be affected by my illusions. Not then, not now." Explains Mukuro nonchalantly "When we were younger, we made a game out of it. I would use an illusion and see if Shinichi would react to it. When he didn't he would tell me why."
"It's true" inputs Chikusa, seeing the unbelieving faces of the others. "They spent forever doing it. We had to leave since we were affected."
"Yeah, I remember that. You two used to get so scared." Laughs Shinichi. "Mukuro, your main fault was the differing weaponry. Swords, knives, spikes, and maces, really? They all weigh different amounts, some are top heavy, some less aerodynamic than others. Yet they all moved in an unwavering straight line, at the exact same speed. In battle, no one would notice this- as shown by the others moving out of the way, apart from Spanner. There were no wires that I could see to explain their straight path. The maces especially should have fallen to the ground, since the spiked end would have dragged it down."
The others watch and follow along with what Shinichi is saying, actually noticing these mistakes themselves.
"Next, like I said, they all moved at the same speed. The swords weigh a different amount to the knives and therefore would have moved at a slower speed. Next was the sound. Whilst there was a small amount of sound, there wasn't the varying range that there should have been."
"Shinichi, how would you know that?" asks Yamamoto.
"It's amazing what a murderer would do to escape. Throwing knives in last defence is common, especially in street thugs. And the swords, well rich people like to hang swords on their walls. They grab them as they run past, and you can guess the rest. And as for the mace, well, whilst I have no personal experience of one being thrown at me, I did go to a medieval re-enactment with my Dad when we went to England, and I saw someone use one in the mock battle. The sound was different to the one presented here. And just like earlier on today, once I knew they were fake, they suddenly disappeared. All I saw was this rock aiming at my eye, so I caught it."
"See I told you. Logic." Says Kaito smugly.
"What happened earlier today?" asks Lambo, finally reappearing from behind Gokudera.
"Mukuro snuck into my room whilst I was reading a book. I didn't hear or see the door open or close, but I smelt his cologne and knew it was him in the room. Discrepancies in the carpet patters showed me where he was and suddenly he was there."
"So you think his flame makes him see through illusions." confirms Tsuna.
"Kufufufu, yes I do. When I was younger, I thought I felt something, but I wasn't sure, but now with Pandora releasing his flame, I'm sure. Ken proves my illusions work on 'normal' people, Spanner shows that whilst he may have noticed these things, it didn't stop him from being harmed. Lambo proves that it must be Shinichi's flame specifically."
The others start a small conversation between themselves discussing their opinions on this.
"Shinichi, find your flame inside of you" orders Mukuro. Shinichi closes his eyes, and tried to feel for his flame. After a couple attempts, he finds it and takes a hold. "Now feed it a little bit of power, enough to light the ring." Shinichi breaths in and concentrates. After a few flickerings, a steady constant flame is lit upon his ring. "Now to prove that it isn't just me he can see through, Chrome, would you do the next experiment."
Chrome nods and takes a few steps to Mukuro's side, clutching her trident to her chest. "Of course Mukuro-sama. What would you like me to do?" Mukuro leans down and whispers something in her ear. She nods, and faces Shinichi. A flame lights on her ring and she taps the trident on the ground.
The others tense, Lambo and Tsuna scream. Shinichi looks at them as if they are mad.
"What are you all worried over? She hasn't even done anything yet." He asks.
"Shin-chan, can't you see that? There is this whole mutilated corpse infront of you. There is blood dripping everywhere- with sound effects I must admit." Kaito goes a little green, and some of the others turn away. "The corpses arm just fell off. Um Chrome was it? Shinichi's a detective, he's used to seeing bodies, maybe pick something else."
Chrome nods and taps the trident again. Slowly the others rub their arms, and teeth start chattering. Kaito clicks and produces gloves and a hat, as well as a scarf, and proceeds to put them on. Ryohei starts running around the room in an attempt to keep warm. Yamamoto, Gokudera and Tsuna all huddle together, turning slightly blue. Lambo joins in the huddle.
Shinichi looks at them, and laughs at their antics. Suddenly clicking in place, he turns to Chrome. "Is it supposed to be cold in here?" he asks, judging on their reactions.
"I would say it's about 10 degrees below freezing in here Shinichi" says Spanner.
"But I can't feel a thing" informs Shinichi.
"Turn your flame down." Suggests Mukuro. Slowly Shinichi lets go of the flames he's holding and the room starts to get colder. Just like mist, icicles appear in the corners, the other's breathes come out in white steam
"Nicely done Chrome" compliments Shinichi "There should be less moisture in the air. It should feel 'sharp' when you breathe in." Chrome nods, eyes narrowing and taps the trident again. Shinichi breaths in. "That's better. Okay, you can let up now, before the others complain of the cold."
"That's a pretty cool trick there Shinichi" compliments Yamamoto. "So you deduced this all with logic?"
"Logic, yes, but I'd rather say that I deal with facts." Shinichi says. Yamamoto looks confused. "Okay, let's put it this way. Everything I've said was because I knew it was a fact. Because I've seen it or read it, or experienced it. I know for a fact what a flying knife sounds like. I know for a fact what Mukuro's cologne smells like. I know for a fact that when water reaches below freezing it starts to freeze and leaves the air, creating that sharp feeling. Logic just puts the facts together in a way that makes sense."
"So what about combat abilities?" questions Gokudera. "There must be more to his flame than seeing through illusions. That sounds more like a side effect to me."
"Well I don't use weapons, not like you guys do. How did you guys get your weapons?" he asks
"Well for Tsuna, Leon kind of 'gave birth' to his gloves. Gokudera already used dynamites, Mukuro already used his trident, and Hibari already had his tonfas. Lambo's horns are his weapon, and he wears those anyway too. Ryohei uses his boxing and bare knuckles unless using Cambio Forma. And for me, the kid gave me a bat that turned into a sword, and I learnt my technique from my Dad. Our box weapons were created by someone else and given to us in the future." Explains Yamamoto.
"Conan knew how to defend himself" remarks Kaito. "And surely you just showed it off earlier too. Just because you're not pint-sized anymore doesn't mean things need to change"
"Conan? You mean the footballs and the watch?" asks Shinichi. "I did use those footballs to defend myself a lot, I think I even launched a few at KID didn't I?" he slyly smiles at Kaito, eyebrow raised.
"Yeah, and you destroyed one of my monocles." Kaito grumbles
"Shinichi, did Conan carry footballs with him?" asks Ryohei, not quite seeing how it was possible.
"Oh, I have a belt that makes them for me. You push the button and one inflates out." Enlightens Shinichi.
"Where did you think I got all of those footballs from in the fake heist? I certainly wasn't carrying them around with me, nor had I been there before to plant them." Says Kaito loftily.
"We can do something with that." Says Spanner. Everyone turns to look at the quiet mechanic.
Placing another lollipop in his mouth, he continues. "In the future, we created objects that could run off flames right, like those hover-bikes. Well we could create a belt that shoots out compressed balls of flames instead, that way you wouldn't run out unless you can't light your flame anymore." The others all think about this for a moment.
"That would be useful, and I have a few ideas with specifications I want. Could I see you guys later and go over it with you?" enquires Shinichi. The mechanic nods, and starts drawing on a pad of blue paper.
"So what's your plan with those new modifications, Shinichi?" asks Gokudera.
"I'm not going to tell you. I need to know if they can do what I want first." Shinichi laughs. Changing size and density may not be possible. Either that or I'm going to need to learn some serious flame control.
"Oy, try this." Comes the high pitched shout. Shinichi turns to the voice, and has just enough time to catch a thrown projectile.
Lowering his hand, he sees that it's a pen in his hand. Pushing the top of the pen, a thin sharp knife slides out.
"Reborn, what's this for?" Shinichi asks, looking at the blade.
"I was watching that 'experiment' and I noticed something. That pen should help. That blade is for attacking purposes. Feed your flames into the pen, as if filling it with ink."
Shinichi looks at the baby and sees the serious look on his face. Quickly Shinichi grabs his flame- it was easier this time- and slowly pushes it into the pen. When it seems as if the pen is full, he stops.
"Right, It's full Reborn." Confirms Shinichi.
"Good, now write with it." Orders Reborn.
Giving Reborn a slight look, he does as he's told. Testing the pen out, he draws a wavy squiggle. In the air, almost as if written with black ink, the flames follow the pens movement and the squiggle appears in the air.
"That's pretty cool Reborn." Admits Shinichi.
"Hey, Shin-chan, what happened? We can't see anything." Wonders Kaito.
Shinichi thinks that he wants Kaito to see this.
"Hey, Shin-chan, that's amazing, did the pen do that?" compliments Kaito, the ink suddenly becoming visible to him.
"Um, we still can't see anything" interrupts Tsuna.
Let everyone in the room see thinks Shinichi. A few gasps accompany this thought as the ink becomes visible to the others too.
"I can choose who sees this." Admits Shinichi in wonder, looking at the pen in his hands.
"Shinichi, forget about that, it's not important at the moment- it will be later, but not at this exact point in time." Reborn interjects "Raise your flame and direct it into your eyes."
Trusting Reborn knows what he's doing, Shinichi directs the flow of flames into his eyes.
The others watch as the light leaves Shinichi's eyes, and the blue irises fade into black. Shinichi's eyes start to flicker around the room, first looking right, then left, then down. They don't stay on the same place for more than a moment. This rapid eye movement is accompanied by frequent blinks. The pen in Shinichi's hand starts to move, but no ink appears. The pen seems to be moving too fast for it to be writing anything, yet it still moves left to right as if it is.
After a minute of this Reborn says to Kaito "Kaito, cover his eyes and snap him out of it."
Kaito takes a step forward to become directly infront of Shinichi, only a step away. Shinichi's black eyes focus on him, his view of the rest of the room gone. Eyes still flicker from one point to another. Carefully, Kaito takes both of his hands and places one over each eye, blocking out as much light as he can. The pen stops moving and Shinichi slumps. Taking his hands away, Kaito is met by bright but tired blue eyes.
"Shin-chan what happened? Your eyes went black and suddenly you were looking everywhere at once. The pen moved but we couldn't see any ink." Kaito asks concerned for his friend.
Shinichi rubs his temples as if he has a headache before answering Kaito. "Well, first off, I have a killer headache. More importantly, the world slowed down." Explains Shinichi. Tsuna looks at Gokudera, who nods, before saying to Shinichi,
"Actually Shinichi, you sped up. Like Kaito said, your eyes were moving faster than usual. The pen started writing incredibly fast too."
"Okay, I sped up then, but that's not the main point. I was noticing more things than I usually do. Like for instance, there is enough dust on that machine over there, to show it hasn't been cleaned in over three months. Or that Gokudera must have been practicing with his dynamites today since there is still powder in his hair. Spanner was working with his machinery less than two hours ago since there is an oil stain on his clothes, that hasn't fully dried. Or that there are 2,396 tiles on the ceiling."
Gokudera looks shocked; he was practicing with his dynamites this morning, it was target practice to keep him sharp. Spanner nodded to agree that he was working with oil less than two hours ago, it was just before he came here with the rest. Lambo decided that he should be the one to count the tiles on the ceiling, so the others left him to it.
"Um, what else." Thinks Shinichi out loud.
"What did the pen do?" questions Reborn, even though the smile gives it away that he knows full well what the pen did.
Shinichi thinks for the others to see it as well.
A long page of text appears, stretching from where Shinichi is, behind him until it hits the wall. Shinichi studies the text, using the pen like a pointer to move the text to where he wants it.
"This is…" he gasps and reads a little bit more. "This is everything I noticed. There's nothing useful though. Just a load of facts and observations about this room."
Reborn's smirk grows and he tips his hat lower, pleased with himself.
"That is the power of your flame Shinichi. From what I can tell from Mukuro's stories of your childhood together, you've dealt in facts for a very long time. Whilst you thought it was a like of detective stories like Sherlock Homes, it would have been the flame acting on your personality too. When you do deductions as a detective, it's because you have gathered all of the facts and put them together. With your flame's power, you are less likely to fall for illusions of any kind: flame or word based, such as lies your suspects tell you. Seeing through illusions, as Gokudera said, is just a side effect. Illusions are technically a creation of the illusionists' imagination. It can only be as accurate as the illusionist can imagine. With the advice you've been giving them, their flames will remember it and add it in next time a similar illusion occurs. Viper commented once that Illusions take over their targets perception. It's possible that your flame blocks the Mist from entering your mind"
"But these facts are just random, there is nothing of importance here." Complains Shinichi.
"That's because we didn't give you, nor did you give yourself, a target or objective to think about. The flame had free reign and so just gave you everything it could. Once you grow more accustomed to it, you should be able to narrow down what you want to see or write down with the pen."
"So that's what the pen's for. I wouldn't be able to remember everything I saw, so the pen keeps a record. And if I think about it, I should be able to show certain people the information I'm gathering, shouldn't I?" speculates Shinichi.
"I suppose so," guesses Kaito. "You can choose who sees what you've written, right, so I don't see why it can't do the same when you are like that. You just have to think about it."
"Once you get used to this power, you'll be able to find other applications for it. Like I said, at the moment, it's just useless information, since that's what you asked for. Plus, no one is moving, or fighting, or doing something that you would want to observe in high detail." Informs Reborn.
"Hmm, I have a few ideas on how to use this now. So why don't we move onto Kaito then." Suggests Shinichi.
"So what's Kaito's personality then?" asks Gokudera.
"Rather than his personality, I would say his best skill is impersonating people. He does it better than anyone I know, and he can switch between people really quickly and fluidly." Describes Shinichi.
"Kaito, light your ring" orders Reborn.
Kaito looks inwards, and finds that column of flame in the centre room they all share. He waves at it, and a small line breaks off and like a rope, connects him to the flame. Opening his eyes, he sees his flame on the ring. Reborn jumps up and sits on Kaito's shoulder, observing the flame on the ring. "I thought so. Kaito, keeping your flame on, impersonate the guardians with the exception of Shinichi. Just the voice if you don't mind."
Kaito looks at Reborn on his shoulder, but the shadow of the hat stops Kaito from being able to see Reborn's eyes. Shrugging the other shoulder, he complies.
"Lambo-sama is hungry!"
"Shut up you damn Ahoshi"
"Maa, maa Gokudera calm down"
"Heeii! Lambo, we'll find you something to eat in a minute so just be quiet"
"Shut up, herbivores, before I bite you to death"
"Kufufu, you can try"
"FIGHT TO THE EXTREME"
"How was that?" Kaito asks. He turns to Shinichi who is sniggering slightly.
"You got them all down perfectly Kaito. No wonder you have a white flame"
"What do you mean by that? Surely white goes with the moon."
"I see what he means. In the light spectrum, white light is made by a mixture of the other colours- by refracting it just right using a crystal, you can get it to split into its original colours. Your flame is the same. When you impersonated each of us, the outer layer of the flame changed colour accordingly. Red for me, orange for Juudaime and so on. I suspect the reason Reborn told you not to do Shinichi is because you can't make black light." Explains Gokudera, borrowing Spanners paper and pen to draw the scientific details down. "Impersonating Shinichi must just be a personal thing."
"So I have everyone's flames?" asks Kaito.
"Not exactly. If you look at your flame on the ring, it's a white core with rainbow tips- representing all the other flames. You should be able to copy their characteristics. Whenever you impersonated someone, you would unconsciously change your flame to match. I'm about to give you some important information. I need you to remember it as if your life depends on it. Remember it with your dying will." Reborn looks sharply at Kaito, making sure the magician is listening.
"Sky, Harmony. Storm, Degeneration. Cloud, Propagation. Sun, Activation. Mist, Construction. Thunder, Hardening. Rain-"
"Tranquillity" finishes off Kaito, remembering what Yamamoto had told him before. "So I should be able to use those characteristic when I'm using their flames. Shinichi, come here," Having an idea in his head he wants to try it out. Shinichi walks over and stands next to Kaito.
"Sure, Kai, what do you want me to do?" enquires Shinichi.
"I want you to just stand there. That trick earlier totally wiped you out didn't it? It's practically a mental overload controlled by your flame. I'm going to do something about that. Stand there and accept what I'm about to give you. Yamamoto, tell me if I'm going too far." He turns to Yamamoto and beckons him over.
"Will do Kaito." Confirms Yamamoto.
Taking a deep breath, Kaito closes his eyes.
"Kaito, a new door has appeared"
As soon as he opens his eyes to his Inner World, 1412 and the Magician greet him. 1412 points over to the opposite side to their usual painting.
"It appeared once you fully gained your flame. It was spinning earlier" explains the Magician.
Kaito walks over to the new doorway. At the moment, it is showing a picture of a white ball of flame on a black background.
"Rain"
Kaito orders, and give the door a slight push. Just like the other door, the paining spins and lands on a picture of a blue ball of flame, with a background of rain. Kaito goes to enter the room, but finds that he can't.
"Look this way." Suggests 1412.
Kaito turns and looks at the column of flame in the centre of the room. It's now the same blue as the rain flame.
He walks over and grabs a small portion of this new flame.
"Yep, rain flames, it feels like when Yamamoto gave me some of his."
Opening his eyes, he sees a blue flame on his ring. He looks down slightly at Shinichi "Trust me?"
Immediately Shinichi nods "Trust you."
Kaito places his hands on Shinichi's neck, just above the veins, and slowly pushes the rain flame into Shinichi. However there is a little resistance.
"Shin-chan, accept it" orders Kaito, whispering since he's not really concentrating on what he's saying. Shinichi shifts and the resistance leaves.
Very slowly, Kaito feeds the rope of flame into Shinichi, concentrating on keeping the flow small and constant. Eventually there is a hand on his shoulder.
Whispered carefully into his ear, Yamamoto murmurs. "Stop, Kaito, or you'll send him to sleep."
Kaito cuts off the connection to Shinichi, removing his hands from his neck, and lets the rope of flame return to its source. The flame on his ring returns to white.
Blue eyes meet indigo, and Shinichi smiles. "I feel a lot better now Kaito, thanks. The headache is gone now"
"Hmm, that was interesting" remarks Gokudera. "That's what Yamamoto did to me the other day when I was having a bad day. So what else can you do? How about illusions?"
In another part of the room, Reborn walks over to Spanner and Shoichi and talks to them. Nodding, Spanner leaves the room.
"Oh, Oh," shouts Kaito, jumping up and down, totally different to how he was earlier. "I had an idea about this when Reborn was reciting the characteristics. Mist is Construction and Lightening Hardening right?" Reborn nods, as do Lambo and Mukuro. "well-"
Kaito shuts his eyes again, an idea forming and begging to be done.
"Oy, Magician, come here"
The door spins and the Magician steps through.
"What do you want now Kaito?" seeing the barely contained grin on Kaito's face, the Magician gets excited "Oh~, is it a prank, a magic trick? Come on, Kaito teeeeell me"
Kaito laughs at the Magician. "Come here, I need you to spin the door whilst I control the flames."
The Magician walks over and touches Kaito's shoulder. Kaito passes his plan through the connection, and the Magician squeals in joy. "That'll be amazing Kaito, a trick worthy of the Magician himself."
Chuckling at the Magician, Kaito returns his attention back outside.
Kaito takes his card gun out of his jacket pocket, and holds it loosely in his hands. "Ladies and Gentlemen" Shinichi sighs and rolls his eyes, the others look attentive. Lambo looks excited to see a magic trick.
"Notice the Card Gun. Shinichi, can you confirm that this is indeed my Card Gun, and that there are no modifications to it?" Shinichi picks the card gun up, examines it, and empties the magazine, before handing it back
"Yes Kaito, that is your Card Gun and nothing else." Says Shinichi, exasperated.
Kaito grins and pulls on his connection to the Magician. "Watch as I change this Card Gun into something else before your very eyes." Kaito snaps his other hand.
Without a puff of smoke for once, the Card Gun changes into a riffle like Colonnello has.
"Well done Kaito, nice Illusion" complements Shinichi
"Ah, but I'm not finished. Mukuro, Chrome and Shinichi, you all agree that what you see before you is an illusion, correct" all three nod. Once again Kaito pulls on the connection.
Kaito theatrically waves his ring hand over the riffle, the flame on top green rather than the mist indigo.
"K-Kaito, what did you do? That's not an illusion anymore. No matter how high I raise my flame it's not going away." Stutters Shinichi in amazement. Mukuro and Chrome also look at the weapon weirdly.
"Gokudera, you would know how to fire one of these, correct?" asks Kaito. Gokudera nods and Kaito passes the riffle to him. Gokudera aims and shoots. The target across the room smashes.
"By using the mist flames, I can create illusions, very small ones actually, I couldn't change the gun into a tank sadly. By adding in the Lightening's hardening factor, I 'hardened' the illusion and made it real."
"Wow, Kaito, that's so cool!" exclaims Lambo.
Whilst Kaito accepts praise from the others, the gun returns to its original form in Gokudera's hands.
"Oops. I lost concentration on it," admits Kaito, taking the gun back and pocketing it.
Spanner walks back into the room, a small collection of something clear in his hands.
"The ammo for that gun, it's the same size as an average playing card right?" asks Spanner. Kaito nods and takes a look at what's in Spanner's hand, noticing one is already a dark purple.
"Yeah, they'll fit." Admits Kaito.
Reborn jumps up onto Spanner's shoulder. "All you guardians should take a card, and fill it with your flames." Guides Reborn. "Spanner, you got one off of Hibari?" Spanner nods. The others all take a card and fill it as Reborn requested.
Handing back the cards to Spanner, Tsuna asks "What are these for Reborn?"
"Kaito, load the deck. Everyone else go stand over there." Commands Reborn, ignoring his student.
Heeii, he's got that Spartan look again. I'm not going to like this, am I? worries Tsuna.
"Kaito, you should be able to tell what flame is loaded correct." Assumes Reborn. Kaito nods
"Yeah, at the moment it's a mist card." Confirms Kaito.
"Good. Aim the card at anyone but its flame match, and fire." Reborn's eyes glitter as protests start from the others. "Oy, I'm being merciful by making you all do it instead of just dame-Tsuna, so shut up"
Kaito and Shinichi laugh at the frightened bunch, secretly glad it wasn't them.
"How about I be impartial and start at one end of the line and work downwards" Kaito suggests, a similar predator grin and gleam in his eyes.
Taking aim at Ryohei, he shouts 'Mist' before firing the card. It crashes against Ryohei's chest, and a mist like smoke spills out. The mist spreads and thickens, and soon the whole area near him is covered in an opaque mist.
"I can't see anything to the EXTRMEM!" comes a muffled roar.
"Smoke screen" comments Reborn, writing it down.
They wait for the smokescreen to clear before continuing on.
Kaito takes aim again, this time at Mukuro, before shouting "storm" and firing.
About a meter before it reaches Mukuro, the card explodes in a very loud and blindingly bright bang. The line of targets all tightly close their eyes and cover their ears. Mukuro, Ryohei and Yamamoto all receive sharp pains on their face and arms. Once the light is gone, they check themselves and see small scratches on their arms and faces.
"Shrapnel flash bomb, interesting" remarks Reborn, writing down his observations again.
"Whoa, are you three alright?" asks Shinichi.
"maa, maa don't worry, just a few light scratches." Consoles Yamamoto.
"Can I move on?" asks Kaito, since Yamamoto is next in line.
"Sure thing Kaito, go ahead." Says Yamamoto brightly, waving his hand.
Taking aim at Yamamoto, Kaito warns 'thunder' before firing the card. This card hits Yamamoto on the shoulder, and emits a large green spark. Yamamoto shouts in pain, body convulsing before falling still.
"Lambo, grab him" shouts Tsuna, Lambo does and absorbs the electrical shock running rampage through Yamamoto.
"An electric shock to paralyse the enemy, very useful. Yamamoto will be fine in a minute, Shoichi, give him a check-up later just in case" informs Reborn, making more notes. Tsuna and Gokudera move Yamamoto to sit against the wall, and Shoichi comes over to look after him. The pair return to their places.
"Lambo-sama is scared. He doesn't want to do this anymore" whines the 10 year old.
Reborn totally ignores the crying cow and whispers to Kaito to do it anyway. "Best to shut him up now before he starts to spark" he warns.
"This one's rain" notes Kaito before taking aim at the bawling cow. The card crashes against Lambo's arm and a light blue smoke comes out. Since Lambo is crying, he takes in another breath to complain, and immediately falls backwards. The others lean over to check on him, but a loud snore gives the answer away.
"Sleeping gas, of course" mutters Reborn. "Next Kaito."
"Next is Cloud" informs Kaito, taking aim at Tsuna. Tsuna flinches but doesn't move away from the card. The card is fired and smashes against his collar bone. A very small amount of dark purple gas escapes and dissolves into their air.
"Juudaime, are you alright?" asks Gokudera. Tsuna blinks the gas away a few times before looking up at Gokudera.
"Heeii! Not three Gokudera's. I can't handle that many!" Screams Tsuna, scrabbling away. He looks around the room, eyes moving from one thing to another. "Gokudera, there's multiple images of everything I look at. I can't tell which one is the correct one and which are the illusions. If I turned up my flame, my intuition might help, but for anyone else… It's not a pleasant experience." Tsuna stands there, eyes closed to stop the images. After a few minutes, he opens them again and can see normally.
"Multiple Images, must go with the propagation. The enemy certainly couldn't run or fight back like that." comments Reborn, jotting the latest observation down.
"Gokudera, this is a sun flame" warns Kaito. Gokudera stands tall, firm against the attack. Kaito aims and fires. The card crashes against his chest, and a yellow light- similar to the flame- sinks into Gokudera. After a moment, Gokudera blinks twice, before bouncing on the balls of his feet and shaking out his arms.
"It's a good thing you chose me for this one. The others might not have noticed it's effects." He explains "as stupid as they are, excluding Juudaime of course" he mumbles to himself.
"It goes with the Activation factor. It's given me an energy boost- I feel more awake and alert to what's going on around me. In addition, my senses have sharpened up. I would guess that in battle I would move sharper and cleaner than before too. I'd imagine that you could use this on us or yourself when we're tired."
"Hmm, energy boost no. Cell activation." Mumbles Reborn, writing down what Gokudera has observed.
"Hmm, It seems that I've run out of targets" sings Kaito. Quickly he turns his gun to the side and shoots the remaining card at Shinichi.
"Shin-chan, this one is Sky" Kaito explains sweetly as the orange gas disappears.
"I could have guessed that Kaito" growls Shinichi. He goes to take a step towards Kaito to punch him, but misses the step and nearly falls over. Trying again, Shinichi takes another step. Finding that he can't walk straight, Shinichi holds his head in his hand. "Kai, come and grab me before I leave the ground" mumbles Shinichi.
"What do you mean by that Shin-chan?" asks Kaito, walking over and holding his friend steady.
"Well I've lost my sense of balance. That's why I couldn't walk straight. But I've got this weird feeling in my stomach and head. It feels as if I'm floating; like my feet are no longer connected to the floor."
"Hah, floating in the Sky." Says Reborn sarcastically. "Loss of balance" he writes in the notes. "Kaito, I'd imagine that you could fill these cards up yourself, considering you have all of their flames. However the strength of your flame, since it splits up, is not as strong as theirs. If you fill the cards up, then I reckon that the effects will be less potent and last a shorter time. I'd suggest bugging them to fill the cards for you, since they'll have a stronger effect. Spanner, would you be able to supply Kaito with a constant supply of these?"
Spanner looks up and nods. "Yeah, they're not hard to make. They can be made in advance and kept somewhere, so he shouldn't run out. They should hold the flames for a very long time too."
Shaking off the effects of the sky card, Shinichi grins at Kaito. And it's not a grin Kaito likes either. "Kaito, I've just thought of something else you can do. It goes with your ability to impersonate others."
Shinichi slithers over to the others, and gathers Ryohei and Yamamoto- who has recovered by now. Moving so Kaito can't read their lips, Shinichi explains what he wants them to do. They all turn around, and grin evilly at Kaito.
Ryohei rushes forwards, flame off, and starts to aim punches at Kaito. Kaito ducks and dodges, before shouting at Shinichi "Shin-chan what do you want me to do? This isn't revenge is it?"
"KID always talks in riddles, so here's one for you: 'what you can do I can do better'." Smugly, Shinichi folds his arms and watches the fight.
Ryohei aims another punch, and Kaito barely dodges; Ryohei's fist brushes over his shoulder.
What you can do I can do better? I don't think he's talking about himself. Better? Impersonation? Flames? Oh.
'1412 I need a sun flame!'
'Aye, aye Boss', says 1412 mockingly, walking over and spinning the picture.
Kaito looks over Ryohei before leaping back. Ryohei follows, a right hook aiming for an uppercut to the jaw. Kaito quickly jabs Ryohei in the stomach, forcing the boxer to take a step backwards. Kaito follows the boxer, not letting up for a minute. After Kaito lands a few more hits- admittedly not as powerful as one from Ryohei- Kaito backflips over a sword swing. Ryohei backs off, leaving the next part to Yamamoto, just like Shinichi asked
1412, Rain flame! Magician weapon!
The gun changes into a sword, and a clang of metal can be heard. Yamamoto disengages before coming in with another basic attack. Kaito parries and returns with an attack of his own
"So where were you going with this Shinichi?" asks Gokudera,
"Well, Kaito, especially after Pandora unlocked his flame, is a bit like a mirror. Him and KID never attack first, it's always an attack in self-defence. So that's why I told him: What you can do I can do better. With his mix of flames, and natural intelligence, it's possible for him to not only copy an opponent and their moves, but also improvise and improve upon them. So instead of calling it a counter attack, it's better to call it a mirror attack. All of the moves he's used against them are ones he has seen them do before. Without your box weapons he can't copy your Cambio Formas, hence why he hasn't done so with Yamamoto. See there he goes." Shinichi points the other back to the fight.
Yamamoto goes for a downwards swing, which is blocked by Kaito. Yamamoto disengages, spins and comes for a side sweep. Kaito on the other hand, clicks a few times, and throws confetti into Yamamoto's face, surprising the swordsman. Whilst Yamamoto has his eyes closed to protect himself from the confetti, Kaito sidesteps , bringing his sword up and around to rest against Yamamoto's neck. Shinichi takes one of the coloured balls from earlier and launches it at Kaito. Kaito brings the sword down and behind him, cutting the ball in half before back flipping over the next one.
"We should get you to train during a free-for all. In utter chaos." Remarks Reborn. "As you gain better control of your flame you'll be able to swap quicker and more often, allowing you to fight more enemies at once. Having the both of you fight simulation battles against this lot will help you to sharped and train your skills. Shinichi especially needs to practice using his skill in combat."
Shinichi looks down, slightly embarrassed.
"However" Reborn adds. "Shinichi will be able to teach you lot a thing or two." The others all look between Shinichi and Reborn "With his pen, and his logic, he'll be able to help you guys fight better as a team. Not all fights will be one on one you know. Once he's honed his skill to handle battle, he'll be able to help with your fights too. He'll be able to pinpoint enemies' weaknesses, and tell you how, when and where to attack. Kaito on the other hand, just needs to watch as many people as he can, and see their techniques so he can copy them." Reborn states.
"Can we stop now though" asks Kaito "I'm pretty tired, and I'd imagine that Shin-chan is too. We're not as trained in flames as you lot are, so it's taken quite a bit out of us." Kaito yawns "I really could go to sleep right now" The others all laugh, and even Reborn lightens up a little.
"Sure thing Kaito" assures Tsuna.
"I…[yawn] agree" mumbles Shinichi. Mukuro walks over and pokes Shinichi lightly with his trident, herding Shinichi towards the elevator.
"Get a rest then, my amazing detective." Smiles Mukuro.
Walking out of the elevator, Mukuro guides the tired detective to his bed. Shinichi gets, in not bothering with changing his clothes. "Good night Shinichi" whispers Mukuro, before taping Shinichi on the forehead and inducing sleep.
I wrote this all today, as you all can guess, instead of doing my assignments- naughty me. Two updates in as many days, aren't you all lucky readers.
These are their basic skills, I have notes on how they can use them in fights.
Join me next time when another familiar face appears. Those who like Blond Italians should be happy.
Phantom Hitman 1412
First published 26 Jan 2012