Chapter 50: Mythological Mayhem
By the way words like Vrrr, Shhhk etc are all onomatopoeic for Static that I created.
After running back into the laboratory to collect Kaito and Shinichi's new box weapons, it suddenly dawns on Tsuna that he doesn't know how they are going to escape. Hell he didn't even know of any entrances or exits in the place to leave out of. Verde had never shown him any of them.
"Ne, Tsuna, aren't these yours?" asks Kaito holding up a mobile phone, headphones and more importantly…
"Ah! My Gloves and Pills! I wondered where he had placed them." Tsuna quickly snatches the gloves from Kaito and places them on, feeling more confident and calm with their warmth and support. And whilst it was nice to have them back, they didn't help. Even if he could fly out of this place, Gokudera and Hibari would certainly notice his escape. He was the only one other than Xanxus that could fly like this and Xanxus sure as hell wasn't going to be here.
So in his panic he turns to face the others. It seemed to him that Kaito nearly always had a plan- Shinichi and even Kaito himself had said so many times: plans made a Phantom Thief. So surely the magician must have one now. However Kaito is calmly watching Shinichi, arms crossed and toe tapping away. So Tsuna turns to Shinichi, only to find sparkling black eyes and a pen writing with phantom ink in the air. There is a pause before Shinichi writes something else. Then he blinks and sapphire blue is back. Tsuna almost jumps into the air when Shinichi quickly and forcefully turns to him and places his hands on Tsuna's shoulders.
"Boss, turn your Flame up now." Shinichi demands, staring directly into Tsuna's shocked eyes.
"Uh..he..What?" stumbles Tsuna, shocked by Shinichi's forwardness.
"If you want to be able to move and get out of here then turn your Flame up." Shinichi explains, a hint of frustration in his voice.
"I'd do it Tsuna," remarks Kaito "You're not going to like it but it's the only way we're going to get out of here. We've spent far too long cleaning up after ourselves to be able to go back and ask the Prof where the exits are. Listen, you can hear them entering the lab now. Gokudera is always so loud, I'm surprised he hasn't lost his voice yet."
"Boss you have about 10 seconds left," warns Shinichi.
Tsuna looks between the two and decides that if he wants their trust, he had better start trusting them too. Closing his eyes, he raises his Flames to a reasonable level and re-opens his eyes. Shinichi and Kaito both slap a hand over Tsuna's mouth before the boy can scream. For when Tsuna opened his eyes, it was to find Bermuda and a Vindice Officer directly in front of him.
Before Tsuna can protest to their form of transport, Kaito's grabbed one of his arms and Shinichi the other before Shinichi places a hand on Jagger's shoulder. Tsuna's eyes widen impossibly as a black hole appears before them and Jagger steps into it, pulling Shinichi, and consequently himself (along with a push from Kaito) into the swirling black nothingness.
The next thing Tsuna knows they are in an empty cave cavern, ice crystals decorating the walls, stalactites formed on the ceilings. Tsuna's breath comes out in white steams of smoke.
"Geez Shinichi, how did you live here for so long? It's no wonder all your winter clothing was missing." complains Kaito, making a hat and scarf appear.
"Shinichi! What are you doing? I know you don't like the idea of me being Verde's test subject, but that's no reason to set the Vindice on me!" screams Tsuna backing away in fear of the two Officers before him.
Shinichi turns to Tsuna and sighs. Any of the others would have noticed the resemblance to Tsuna's 14 year old self. "It was part of the deal. In return for getting us out of there, Bermuda wants to supervise my training with the Box Weapons. I don't see why not. You know how to use them don't you? So whether we train here or back at Vongola doesn't matter. Plus it gives time for the rest to let the trail go cold before we come back. I'm not going to lock you up for deciding what you did. "
"Humm, Shin-chan's right. We still need to decide how you 'escaped the Family that caught you'. It's all well and good saying that to protect Verde but it'll be useless if we can't follow it through. So coming here gives us time to think and allows us to train." Kaito grins at him, throwing the box into the air and catching it a few times. "So there's nothing to worry about."
Tsuna nods but keeps a wary eye on the Vindice present in the room. He'd faced them once before, long ago, and he wasn't too keen being back in their presence once again. All Mafioso were taught to fear the Vindice and here he was, having to be friendly with them. He couldn't believe that two of his men were 'best buds' with the Vindice. It was crazy! It defied Mafia Law… It was just like the 10th Generation of Vongola.
"So Shinichi, would you mind explaining what just happened?" asks Tsuna, deciding to let the matter drop.
"Well, like I said, I contacted Bermuda and made a deal with him. Bermuda is the only one who can transport people long distances, so he came to collect us himself. Jagger's his Right Hand Man so he came along too. I asked you to raise your Flame so that you wouldn't be too affected by their presence. Last time you were too tired out by your battle with Xanxus to combat their Flame Pressure." Shinichi explains carefully.
Well that made sense, Tsuna supposed.
"Hmph, I'd prefer it if you didn't reveal all of our secrets Shinichi." mutters Bermuda, flying over to sit on Shinichi's shoulder. Shinichi flinches and laughs. "But anyway, I hear that you have managed to gain yourself some custom made Vongola Upgraded Box Weapons made by the Arcobaleno of Lightning, the Mad Scientist Verde himself?"
"Wow that's a long title," Smiles Kaito, placing his hands behind his head. "How about just Super Duper Box Weapons? Or The Ultimate Box Weapons?" Shinichi rolls his eyes at Kaito's words.
"Yes Bermuda, we have." Shinichi takes out his Box Weapon from his jacket pocket. Just like the name suggested the Box was box shaped, with black panels and white bands holding the sides together. And for some reason- it was a strange re-occurring pattern between them- Kaito's was the opposite way around, with white panels and black sides. On 5 of the faces was an embossed Vongola crest, with the top having the opening for the ring.
"Oh you guys got the old Box Weapons," comments Tsuna, picking Kaito's one up (he was not going near Shinichi when Bermuda was sat on him) and giving it a good inspection. "You see, when we were finished in the future, we wanted to keep our animals, but the Box Weapon hadn't been invented in the past yet. So to do as little damage to the time continuum as we could, Verde transformed our Box Weapons into these Rings instead." Tsuna raises his hand to remind them of Natsu's ring. "However, when we were in the future, they looked like this." Tsuna points back to Kaito's box. "And it seems like he's given you the Vongola Upgrade too."
"The Vongola Upgrade?" asks Kaito. They didn't know a whole lot about the Box weapons, so this was all new information to them.
"Yes. Vongola took Box Weapons that had already been created and gave them an upgrade. This gave them new abilities and a power boost. If you notice, Hibari only has One Roll, or Riccio Di Nuvola Ver. Vongola but many Cloud Hedgehogs, hence the need for the Ver. Vongola suffix. However until you open them up we won't know what animal Verde gave you."
"So how do we open them up? We've only ever seen you activate the rings. Like you said Box Weapons haven't been created yet." Asks Shinichi, trying to look into the hole in the top.
"For Boxes like this you need to light a Flame onto your ring and then insert it into the box, continuing to feed it Flames. When it has enough energy, it'll come out and materialise. However make sure that you aren't scared of them. The Vongola upgrade makes them a reflection of you, so if you are scared of it, it's going to be scared of you and attack you back."
"Sounds like you have experience." remarks Kaito, a cheeky smile on his face and one eyebrow raised. Actually, Verde had said something to Tsuna about staying positive to make Natsu stronger back when the Box Weapon was attacking him.
Tsuna looks down but doesn't say anything. "Why not give it a try if you're up to it?" Tsuna says instead. Everything was fine now anyway, he wasn't scared of Natsu anymore.
"So are we practicing here?" Shinichi asks Bermuda. The little Arcobaleno Baby nods.
"We had best get moving before we freeze to death." Jokes Kaito. "Why is it so cold in here anyway?"
"To keep very dangerous prisoners asleep and weak enough to stop an escape." Shinichi supplies. He wasn't going to comment about the climate outside since Kaito knew very well they were on a snowy mountain top.
"Well one things for certain, KID is not coming here to steal a jewel. The audience would never come all the way up here to watch." Kaito huffs, pretending to pout. Changing moods in a well-practiced manor, Kaito jumps and places a raised hand into the air. "Hey Shin-chan, we should do it at the same time. Add some drama ya'know."
Shinichi sighs, but lifts his shoulder up in a gesture for Bermuda to get off. He does and hovers a safe distance away.
Lighting their rings, they insert the Flames into the hole at the top. Everything glows white before three cries are heard.
"Alejandro, stop messing around or else Shinichi will cause a hit."
"Alright Boss!" shouts the Vindice Officer.
"Corvi Delle Stelle: Orion's Offencive!" Shinichi swings the materialised police baton towards his sparring partner, controlling it's speed and force by the chain wrapped around his wrist. Alejandro jumps over the police baton before it can hit him. With a flick of his wrist Shinichi tries to reverse the weapon's trajectory, but instead it falls to the ground.
"You messed up there Kiddo." chides Alejandro, voice deep and slow.
"Kitsune Della Luna: Lightning Moon's Kitsune-bi!" A few balls of concentrated Lightning Flames shot at Alejandro from behind him. They smack him in the back, causing him to fall over since he was too busy gloating to notice.
Small Gia bursts out into raucous laughter at Alejandro's fall, holding his stomach tightly. "You're getting your ass handed to you, Heeheehee!"
"I'd worry about yourself rather than him," Shinichi smirks. Small Gia turns to face him, only to almost get hit by two sharp airwaves. "Sickle of Leo."
"Same could be said to you Shinichi. " says Tsuna, flying towards him with burning fists. Tsuna was here so he might as well help them train. And it helped him to remain fresh too. They had been here for a couple of days now, and whilst Shinichi and Kaito were still new at everything, they were learning tremendously fast. Tsuna stops in mid-air when he feels teeth sink into his neck and his body start to slow down.
"Flame's Eclipse" shouts Kaito.
Tsuna reaches behind him, using one hand to stay aloft, and grabs the animal hanging onto his shoulder. Hissing as the teeth are removed, Tsuna chucks the animal back at Kaito.
"Stop there." Bermuda orders. All 5 battle participants turn down their Flames and lower their fists. "That is enough for today." He turns to his subordinates "You may leave now."
"Yes Bermuda-sama." the pair say before bowing and walking out of the room.
Kaito and Shinichi sit down on the floor and Tsuna quickly joins them.
"Wow, that was tough. We hardly got a hit on them." Comments Kaito, lying back on the floor. Shinichi though sits there shaking his head. "Hey don't worry Shin-chan, we'll get better."
Shinichi gives a short, sharp laugh that Kaito doesn't like. "That's the thing Kaito. They weren't even trying. They walk faster than that. What you saw today wasn't even 10% of their power. For a start, you managed to hit him." Kaito doesn't quite believe this. If that was true then the Vindice were immeasurably powerful! He knew that they managed the Mafia as enforcers but still… Shinichi notices Kaito's look. "I snuck into one of their training days. They were so fast that I couldn't keep track, they left double images everywhere. Even with my Star Flames slowing things down they were still moving faster than I'd seen anyone move before."
"Whilst that is true, it is not something you need to be worrying about. You should be focusing on your lesson Shinichi, Kaito." Reprimands Bermuda, sitting on Kaito's stomach since Shinichi's shoulders were currently occupied. "Shinichi, you may start first. Please list out everything you currently know about your Box Weapon…"
"Right. My Box Weapon is the Corvi Delle Stelle, or Ravens of the Stars Version Vongola. They are a pair of Ravens, both fully black with a single white spot on their wings. According to the note Verde left, they are based on Norse Mythology, and hence are called Huginn and Muninn. The name Huginn means Thought and was often a common noun for Raven, meanwhile Muninn means Memory but was often a term for Carrion. The legends state that they worked for the Norse God Odin, leaving at dawn, collecting information, and coming back at dusk to relay it. Verde left this stanza from a book called the Third Grammatical Treatise, apparently it was this verse that made Verde think these would be good for me:
Two ravens flew from Odin's
shoulders; Huginn to the hanged and
Muninn to the slain.
So far I've only managed to create two attacks using them and that would be Orion's Offensive, which is where the birds transform, one into a police like baton and the other into a chain. These can either be separate or linked together. The second attack is the Sickle of Leo. The birds fly at a hyper sonic speed, creating airwaves sharp enough to cut an opponent. However I still feel like there's more I can do with them. There must be some reason that Verde chose that Verse to create them from."
Kaito nods, slowly stroking the animal that had curled up next to him. "Don't worry Shin-chan, you just need more time. I get the same feeling from Kit here. Plus I've only come up with two attacks with her too you know. AND we haven't even had them all that long." Shinichi nods to this and rubs a finger down the front of the birds perched on his shoulders.
"Would you like to repeat the process Kaito?" asks Bermuda. Tsuna just sat there in silence, watching the proceedings. He was tired though. He had been keeping his Flames up higher than usual to counter act the Vindice presence. He didn't know how Shinichi and Kaito could move normally. It was like they weren't even affected by Bermuda's Flame Pressure at all.
"Right ho Bermuda!" sings Kaito. "May I present to you all my beautiful Box Weapon Kitty." Kaito makes a presenting gesture worthy of KID at the fox like creature sat at his feet.
"Kai, I cannot believe you named a fox Kitty." Deadpans Shinichi.
"Well Kitty is just a nickname, her real name is Kit." Says Kaito haughtily, scratching the fox behind the ears. "Her full title is Kitsune Della Luna, or Kitsune of the Moon, Version Vongola. She is based on the Japanese Mythological fox of the same name. She is a small brown fox with one tail and white paws. She also has black ears. She can hover in the air if she wants to since she is based on a spirit. However it is not possible for her to fly through walls or objects.
So far I too have only discovered two attacks. The first is Lightning Moon's Kitsune-bi. According to legends Kitsune are capable of creating fire or lightning based Kitsune-bi, literally translating to Fox Fire. These are projected either from the mouth or tail. Due to my split Flame, these are either made of pure Moon Flames or concentrated Lightning Flames. These do damage to people and objects as well as being great light bulbs.
My second attack is called Flame's Eclipse. Kit can bite people, usually at the neck where the Flame Concentration is the strongest and remove their Flames, thus weakening them."
"As I found out last night." Grumbles Shinichi, glaring at the fox. She whimpers and hides behind Kaito.
"Verde most likely got that from the legends that say that Kitsune sometimes have abilities like Vampires or Scucubi and feed on the life of Human Beings." Guesses Kaito, waving a hand in the air for emphasis.
"I believe that the Mad Scientist has done well with his choice of inspiration for you. It is clear that he had put a lot of thought into the Box Weapons for you both, following preset trends found in the future." Comments Bermuda, deciding to change person and sit on Shinichi's head. The two ravens give him a good looking over before deciding he can be allowed to sit on their Master.
"Huh?" goes Tsuna, not getting that last bit. All three turn towards him since he had been quiet so far.
"What I mean Decimo, is that Verde has been careful with following the trends of the Box Weapons. For a start they are animals, which goes with the trend of ALL Box Weapons. Secondly they are mammals or birds, which goes with the Vongola Decimo Generational trend. He has also decided to follow the trend of different groups having different types of Box Weapon. A fine example of this is the… I believe Rokudo Mukuro called them Funeral Wreaths, had prehistoric Dinosaurs as their Box Weapons. With Shinichi and Kaito having the rare and special Flames they do have, following a Mythological theme is suitable."
"Oh… that's good. Well… Verde is a … genius after all… He puts lots of… thought into… every…thing." Tsuna then falls backwards, his Flame flickering out.
"Boss!" "Tsuna!" The pair shout, scrambling over to him.
Bermuda just gives out a light chuckle. "Fear not. The Young Decimo has done well to stand being in my presence for this long. Fighting a Battle whilst also fighting our Aura is in itself a great feat. He just needs to recuperate away from any of the Vindice Officers and he shall be fine. The rooms next to yours Shinichi shall suffice." Shinichi looks up at Bermuda, who had moved when Shinichi lunged for Tsuna, and nods before grabbing one of Tsuna's arms and lifting up with Kaito's help.
"It's this way Kai."
When Tsuna wakes up the next morning, it's to an annoying scratching sound. Groaning, he rolls over and pushes himself up and out of bed. Stumbling over to the door, he opens it up to find KID standing at the doorway. "Oh KID it's you. C'mon in." Tsuna turns around and collapses back into bed. His covers were warm, unlike the frozen air in the room and corridor. KID walks in with a grace that Tsuna didn't see too often before he sits down on a chair at the end of the bed.
"Are you feeling alright after yesterday?" Tsuna asks, filling up the silence that had settled over them. KID doesn't answer but he does nod. Tsuna finds this weird but doesn't comment on it. It was possible that KID was just as tired as he was.
"I think your training is going fine you know." Comments Tsuna before letting out a yawn. "Box animals are reasonably easy to master, well the Vongola ones are, since they are a reflection of your heart. Admittedly some are more than others. Natsu is practically a mirror, but for some people, like Hibari's Roll, it's a more internal mirror. You know, we got Hibari drunk once, a long time ago, and he acted just like Roll does when it's drunk. It was adorable actually. Don't tell him I said so or else he really will bite me to death. But anyway, I'm sure that you and Kit will get along fine, once you get used to her. Plus, it means that you never get lonely, even when you're locked in a room with a forest worth of paper." Tsuna chuckles to himself, remembering that event well. Natsu had done all it could to keep Tsuna signing the pieces of paper and to stop Tsuna from going mad. Once again KID doesn't say anything but just nods.
KID comes over and sits next to Tsuna on the bed. "I'm amazed at the Box Weapons you have. Verde made them totally from scratch since Lorenzini never designed animals like the Kitsune or the two Ravens." Here KID gives off a grin. "I think he's done an excellent job in creating them, I'll have to thank him the next chance I get."
Tsuna is extremely surprised when he gets a hug from KID. But there's… something… pressing against his arm from KID's chest. And he doesn't think it's the Card Gun. He doesn't have much time to contemplate it since KID jumps up, waves at him and leaves. Tsuna sits there for a second, simply thinking. His intuition was telling him that something was wrong. He was sure that it wasn't Kaito who had just been in the room, yet he gave off a similar feeling. Maybe his intuition was effected by KID playing dress up?
Shinichi is reawoken by the cawing of his Ravens. He had woken up earlier in the morning and decided to let them out. Tsuna had said that it was important to spend as much time with them as possible in the early stages so that they could bond better. However it was cold that morning, and Shinichi guessed that none of the others were even awake yet. Kaito's absent presence attested to the hypothesis. So when the birds wake him up from his attempt at getting more sleep, Shinichi rolls onto his side and opens his eyes to find KID walk into the room.
"I'm not becoming Conan just to please some weird craving KID." Shinichi mumbles. Shinichi swears that KID gives him puppy-dog-eyes before Shinichi gives him a clearly negative look. So KID shakes his head and sits down on the chair near the bed. Shinichi watches KID as the thief stares out of the window for a few moments before rolling over and facing the wall. If KID was just going to be quiet then Shinichi could ignore him. At least he hadn't been awoken by a prank from Magician.
After a few minutes of slience, Shinichi hears the sound of chattering teeth and KID's heeled shoes tapping against the floor from the thief's shivering. "If you're cold then why not go back to bed?" suggests Shinichi. When he hears the sound of heeled shoes walking across the room, the next thing he expects is to hear the door close. However that's not what happened. Instead, there's a cold draft as the covers are lifted up and Kaito climbs into bed with him.
"Hey KID, get out!" Shouts Shinichi. However KID just hugs him instead. Shinichi wonders why Kaito's decided for today of all days to dress up as a woman too, for that is not one of the magician's tricks pressing up against his back. "KID get off. If you're expecting a reaction you're not going to get one. Nor would you have if I was Conan like you wanted. Conan's been hugged by far too many women for that to affect me anymore." Shinichi ignored the slight blush he had anyway. When the thief still clings on Shinichi decides some more drastic measures are needed.
Huginn and Muninn fly down and sit on KID before pecking at him. KID makes a yelp, although not one Shinichi had heard before. KID tries to defend himself from the ravens and therefore has to let go of Shinichi. Shinichi uses that to push KID out of the bed. KID yelps once again before falling to the floor, his hat falling off at the same time.
Shinichi stops and stares at the ears now sitting on KID's head, flicking in discontentment. Maybe Kaito had really lost it, he'd never dressed up this crazily for no reason before. Huginn and Muninn start cawing at KID and KID makes the mistake of growling back before swatting at the Ravens with… clawed hands. Raising an eyebrow, Shinichi leans forwards and tugs at KID's cape, revealing a tail sticking out of the trousers.
"Is this…?" starts Shinichi. His two Ravens stop attacking the imposter and look at their Master before nodding and cawing an affirmative. In fact the caw had almost sounded like a real 'yes'.
"KAITO!" Bellows Shinichi. Kaito falls through the door, laughing his head off. Shinichi glares at him harshly.
"Haahaa… your face Shin-chan!" Kaito gasps between his laughs. "And you should have seen Tsuna earlier! He was mortified!"
After a good five minutes Kaito calms down and stops laughing before helping KID stand up. "Would you mind explaining?" asks Shinichi in a cold voice that couldn't be denied. That sobers Kaito up. Slightly anyway.
"When I woke up Kit was like this. Dressed up as KID and everything. However she had ears, claws and a tail. I hid the ears under the top hat and the tail under my glider cloak, but there's not a lot I can do about the claws except hide them under gloves. No matter how many times we tried, she couldn't hide them. I've named it Kaitou KID's Lunar Cycle, since she seems to like KID's form the best."
"The best? Can she do anyone else?" asks Shinichi, looking at the transformed Box Weapon. In a flash of muted white light, Kit has become her usual fox self. She then looks up at her Partner, almost as if waiting for an order.
"Umm, can you do Shin-chan?" Kaito asks. The Kitsune nods and closes her eyes. Kaito notices Shinichi's raised eyebrow and answers the unasked question. "Well, since you're my best friend and I know you best, it should be easier for her to transform into you than anyone else."
Shinichi thinks about that for a moment. Although it had never been said before, he did suppose that Kaito was his best friend now. He was closer to Kaito than he was to Ran. Best friend, partner in crime (now quite literally sadly), ally, fellow Guardian and Partner. He comes out of his contemplating when he hears a bark.
"Hey Shinichi, I think KID's acting weird today," says Tsuna as he walks down the corridor and opens Shinichi's door. Tsuna looks between the Shinichi on the bed and the Shinichi infront of him, noting the definite cleavage highlighted by the open blue suit. Back and forth he looks before he lets out his infamous girly shriek and faints once more.
Kaito laughs at Tsuna's embarrassment and catches the boy before he can hit the floor. He gives Tsuna a shake and a few light slaps to bring him back around. When Tsuna awakens once more, it's to stare at a female version of himself. Kaito shakes him once more before his eyes can roll back. "Hey Tsuna, get a grip, it's only Kitty." Kaito grins widely at Tsuna's evident confusion and embarrassment.
"So this morning… that wasn't you?" asks Tsuna carefully.
Kaito shakes his head, grin growing even wider. "Nah, that was Kitty. This is my new ability I discovered this morning: Kaitou KID's Lunar Cycle. She transforms into a female version of people I ask her to. The only down side is that she still retains some of her fox features."
Tsuna breathes a sigh of relief. "So it was all just a trick? Well Kitsune are known for being tricksters, as are you…" Tsuna stares into space for a few moments. "Oh God we're doomed!" Shinichi couldn't agree more. Now there was twice the tricksters prowling the Vongola Mansion, and he knew he'd be their favourite target. Lucky him.
A loud gong sounds from down the corridor, interrupting the internal moment of self-pitying Tsuna was having. He looks up and at the others. Kaito looks at Shinichi in question.
"Ah, breakfast is served," says Shinichi. He gets out of bed and brushes out as many wrinkles out of his suit as he can. "Hmm, I'll change after breakfast," he mumbles to himself. He leads the way out of the room, down the corridor and into a room containing a table and chairs and a small kitchen. On the table are steaming plates of a traditional Japanese breakfast.
Kaito literally jumps on it. "It's been so long since I've had Japanese food. Of course we've been living in Italy, but then we had that English food in London and then the American stuff in LA. It's just so nice and homely to have this again!"
Tsuna follows more sedately. "Where did this all come from? Do the Vindice cook for you too Shinichi?" He didn't think Shinichi was getting that kind of VIP treatment. Nor could he imagine one of the cloaked and terrifying Vindice Officers wearing an apron and holding a frying pan and spatula. He shivers over the mental image.
"No, it's… imported?" says Shinichi, trying to come up with some sort of cover story. He had never seen the Vindice eat, just like he had never seen one without their cloak on. He assumed that if they did eat, they did it somewhere else.
When everyone is finished eating, the three new box animals start making up a fuss. Kit starts to paw at Kaito's leg and Huginn and Muninn give a gentle tug on a lock of Shinichi's hair. Tsuna watches this and gives out a light chuckle.
"I think they want breakfast too. Did you feed them after training last night?" asks Tsuna, watching the animals with interest. Shinichi and Kaito both shake their heads. "Don't worry, it's very simple and rather cheap too. All you need to do is light your rings. They then intake Flames from there. Whilst not always necessary, it's more like a treat for them, and it's more bonding. On the rare occasion I catch Gokudera feeding Uri, they are at peace with each other and not in the middle of a fight. They don't need the energy since they are already taking it from you, but still… it's a nice gesture."
"So that's why I slept like a rock last night," guesses Kaito. "It's another Flame and therefore energy output."
"So that's why the animals are not out all of the time." Confirms Shinichi. The animals were out and about at the Mansion on occasion, more for companionship Shinichi supposed. Having them out all of the time would be too draining. And he had two!
"Shinichi, we never finished off your assessments due to the interruptions we had." States Bermuda, back in the training hall. "I allowed you the time off to recuperate. We shall continue them now. If you do not have suffieient Flame control yourself, then, according to how I understand the theory, you shall not be able to control the Box Weapons you have either. I believe we have shown you enough of the practical applications of your Flame to your work as a detective. However, I now want to teach you how to utilise your Flames to the fullest during battle. Watch the following mock battle and tell me how many times the chains touch the opponent, for both participants."
"Yes Bermuda." says Shinichi. He turns to face the rest of the cave before sitting down against a wall where he had a good view.
"Officers, you may begin." starts Bermuda.
"Start the Star Observation." Says Shinichi, activating his Flame. Kaito was just sat next to Shinichi, practicing his juggling and hand to hand tricks, making sure to stay out of Shinichi's line of sight to not distract him from his lessons. Tsuna sat next to Kaito, watching the battle and trying to keep up.
Huginn, Muginn and Kit had other ideas. And being nosy little birds like their Master, the Ravens went flying off to look around the place. Kit didn't like being bored and still any more than Kaito did, so she followed the pair, hoping for something interesting to happen.
45 hits right, 52 hits left, Kaito's Jack of Spades, 46 right, 53 and 54 for Left.
…crrrk…zzzk…A hallway…zzipp…
55 Left, 46,47,48 Right, Bermuda's 2nd interfering attack.
Kaito's 10 of Spades, another hit by Bermuda.
… vvvsh…krrr… A water tank… vrrrr…
"Muninn"
"Hmm, Shin-chan, did you say something?" asks Kaito. Shinichi never talked when using his Star Observation, whether because he couldn't or because he hadn't mastered the skill yet, Kaito wasn't sure; Shinichi wrote it all down anyway. However Shinichi remains silent, eyes flickering all over the place to keep up with the mock battle going on. Kaito, being bored already, keeps on shooting cards at the Vindice officers to put them off. It doesn't seem to be working though. Bermuda had also joined in Kaito's game and was adding in his own hits to make the Officers stumble and get hit more often- all more numbers for Shinichi to add up.
After another few minutes, Shinichi mumbles something again "Huginn."
"Yes Shin-chan you're right, I don't know where they are. Kitty's gone too. I'll go take a look. Boss, keep an eye on him." Tsuna looks up and nods before scooting over to take Kaito's place.
"Kitty~! Kitty~! Where are you Kitty~?" Kaito shouts as he walks down a corridor he's never been down before. Then again he hadn't been to the Vendicare. All his time recently had been spent on assignment with Shinichi in the other countries or in Verde's Lab. "Huginn, Muninn? Shinichi's worried about you!"
"Moon User, What are you doing here?" Kaito jumps as suddenly a cloaked and masked Vindice Officer appears before him. Kaito hadn't even sensed the man!
"I'm looking for our Box Animals, have you seen them?" Apparently the Vindice were to be treated with the upmost respect- according to every Mafioso he'd ever met.
"Follow me." The Officer turns and hovers down the corridor. It honestly looks like this Officer doesn't have any feet at all. Kaito follows along anyway, having the sneaking suspicion that the Vindice didn't want him wandering around the place unattended.
As they walk, Kaito gets the feeling they are descending. It also gets colder and colder the further on they go. Eventually Kaito catches sight of brown against the black of the walls and runs towards his Kitsune. The Ravens practically blend into the shadows of the hallway. Looking at what had caught the interest of the Box Weapons, Kaito turns and sees a series of Water-tanks filled with people. All the people are asleep, with breathing apparatus on them as well as other tubes and equipment. The sight was disgusting.
"Mukuro. Kaito." murmurs Shinichi.
"Heeii!" quietly shouts Tsuna "Mukuro is here?"
Bermuda turns to Tsuna. "No, there is no possible way that Ex-Prisoner Rokudo Mukuro is here." He states.
"Umm, Bermuda… Mr Boss Vindice… Sir." blabbers Tsuna before getting to his point. "I think something is wrong with Shinichi. A-at least my Intuition is saying so." Tsuna gets on his knees and crawls over slightly to Shinichi before waving a hand infront of the Detective's eyes. However, Shinichi doesn't follow the movement even once which is unusual.
"Command: Kudo Shinichi where is the Ex-Convict Rokudo Mukuro currently?" Asks Bermuda in his Boss voice. It literally sent shivers down Tsuna's spine and a dull throbbing into his head.
[Whereabouts unknown. Last seen fighting Kuroba Kaito outside of the Vendicare.] Shinichi writes, eyes still not moving at all. [Currently not enough Power to fly that far and verify the Mukuro's location.]
"What does he mean by Fly that far? Shinichi can't fly at all, not even Kaito can." Questions Tsuna, looking up at the man who seemed to have a lot of answers.
"You are not thinking logically, Decimo. What does Shinichi have that can fly?" Bermuda asks as if the answer was obvious.
Tsuna thinks for a few seconds before realising the answer. "Oh! His Box Weapons, the Corvi Delle Stelle. So he doesn't have enough Flames to make them Fly away and check where Mukuro is? So why did he mention Mukuro then?"
"Report: Where is the current location of the Corvi Delle Estelle?" Bermuda asks, not to Shinichi, but to the open air behind himself. Tsuna jumps a mile high when an officer just materialises out of the fog and whispers into Bermuda's ear. "Dismissed." And just like Mukuro did, the officer disappeared back into the mist. "It seems that the Box Weapons have taken an interest in our water tanks, the exact kind Ex-Prisoner Rokudo Mukuro was held in during his sentence. If Shinichi has seen a picture of this then he could be making a connection between the two."
"So why say Kaito's name too. Is it because Kaito isn't in the room anymore?" asks Tsuna, still confused.
The small baby turns to him and Tsuna swears that someone taller, older and far more powerful is looking down on him instead. Arcobaleno often gave him that feeling. "You seem to be a step behind Decimo. When I said a connection between the two, I meant it literally. Do you see a water tank in this room?" Despite the condescending tone, sounding rather like a child talking to an adult who doesn't get the basic idea, Tsuna shakes his head. There was not a water tank. Just him, Bermuda, two Officers and a whole lot of rocks. The only water was that in the freezing misty air or dripping off the ceiling. The only metal was that in the Vindice's Chains. "And where are the Box Animals now?" Without giving Tsuna a chance to answer, Bermuda continues "And where do you think Shinichi got that image from if it cannot be found in this room?"
Tsuna thinks and thinks (thinking was never his strong point, Gokudera usually got there first) until finally it clicks. "He's! He's! He is… He is?"
Bermuda sighs and shakes his head. "Shinichi is currently connected to his Box Weapons. He can see what they see. Like Shinichi said earlier, in the myths, the Ravens went all over the world to collect information for their God. The Mad Scientist has taken that concept and made it into a surveillance tool for battle. I'll prove it to you. I'll ask Kaito to repeat a sequence of numbers and I'll ask Shinichi to repeat them back. Since Kaito is currently with the Box Weapons, the Ravens will see these numbers and transmit them to Shinichi. How else would he be able to tell us those numbers?"
"Okay, I get it. So go ahead and prove it. I haven't heard of an ability like this before." comments Tsuna, still sceptical. What Tsuna was forgetting was that unlike him, Gokudera's contacts that made his eyes a mesmerising green, were actually part of the CAI system, not hand made ones.
Bermuda nods and plucks a feather from his cape before writing in the air with it in the same manor Shinichi does.
"Command: Shinichi Kudo, what were the last 5 numbers Kuroba Kaito has said?" asks Bermuda, floating infront of Shinichi's face.
[The last numbers spoken by Kuroba Kaito were: 59, 27, 80, 18 and 33.]
"He is correct." Confirms Bermuda. "Shinichi, wake up." Shinichi, however, still sits there, staring forwards. "Command: Shinichi wake up." Instead of coming out of the trance, Shinichi lifts one of his arms up, holding it out straight at shoulder level before becoming still once more.
"What is he doing?" wonders Tsuna. "Shinichi! Shinichi, wake up." He shakes Shinichi by the shoulders but nothing happens. Bermuda hovers forwards and slaps Shinichi with his chains instead, drawing a thin line of blood. From down the corridor there are two pain filled squawks. Kaito comes running in, following the two Ravens, the Kitsune following by her master's heels. Huginn and Muninn fly over and land on their Master's outstretched arm. Shinichi blinks and his eyes return to normal.
"Welcome back," he smiles to the Ravens, who caw in reply.
"Shinichi, what was that? The Raven's eyes went blue." Reports Kaito, having missed the action happening up here.
"That was something new." Comments Shinichi, wiping the sweat off his brow. "That was the Corvus Connection. I see what they see, one bird at a time. I… couldn't see what my own eyes were seeing, but I could hear faintly what was going on in the background. And I-Who harmed Huginn?" Shinichi shouts the last bit out, noticing the trail of blood going down Huginn's face.
Kaito leans forwards and wipes the dribble of blood off of Shinichi's own face before doing the same for the bird. He wanted to ask how Shinichi knew the difference between the two birds, but he guessed that Shinichi just knew because they were his.
"That would be where I slapped you." Admits Bermuda, no hint of an apology in his voice. Shinichi turns to him and gives him a look, trying to guess his intentions. "You were not waking up like we asked."
"Well if you had just given me a moment, I couldn't get out of it until a physical connection between us had been made." Explains Shinichi, voice short. His face really hurt after that slap. Damn baby slaps hard.
Muninn hops closer to his partner checking to see if the other Raven was alright. After giving it the bird version of a pat on the back, it hops down Shinichi's arm and goes to inspect Shinichi's cut before rubbing it's head on Shinichi's chin. Shinichi smiled as the bird hopped about, although he could swear that he could hear the bird muttering. {Stupid Adult Babies, can't wait for a guy to wake up. Who does he think he is, slapping a man who's obviously in a trance? Humans just don't understand the finer details of life anymore. Humans never Look. And if he slaps Master once more I'm going to undo those bandages and show him that we really are carrion. No Zombie is going to scare me!}
This scared Shinichi slightly, although didn't Tsuna say something about being able to understand your own Box Weapon? He was sure Tsuna never meant it like this.
He's said it once and we was positive that he would say it again: Vongola with their Flames was the weirdest place on Earth.
SO there we go! I would like to thank RHK for their suggestion of the Mythical Ravens. I think I've explained a lot of my reasoning for choosing these animals in particular during the chapter. However I will explain a little more here.
Since the Funeral Wreaths had this whole Dinosaur theme, I wanted to give Shinichi and Kaito a theme too. At first I thought maybe nocturnal animals, although I though of a family of rabbits for Kaito at one point. Then I decided on something more exotic and ended up with spirits, demons, Gods and the like, hense the Myth theme. Vongola have a theme of mammals or birds, so I decided not to choose human like Gods for their Weapons.
Huginn and Muninn: The idea that they collect information fits perfectly with the attributes of the Star Flames. I also love the verse that is written above and I shall be introducing it's real meaning in a later chapter, although I'm sure you can guess. The three terms, Corvus, Sickle of Leo and Orion are all Stars, constellations or part of constellations. Corvus Connection represents the connection to the Ravens Shinichi has and just sounds cool, as does Orion's Offensive. Orion is known as the Hunter (Not to be mixed with Kaito's Hunter Moon), and since Police hunt criminals, I gave Shinichi a police baton and a chain. I could not give Shinichi handcuffs since Hibari already has them (curse him!). Sickle of Leo is part of the Leo constellation, and sickle is a type of knife/blade. This attack is basically creating blades of air to cut with, either as the sickle itself or as the claws of the Leo Lion. According to my source, Heimskringla stated that the God Odin gave them the ability to speak. In this fic, it's only going to be telepathically to Shinichi since none of the other Box Weapons can speak out loud.
Kit the Kitsune: I named the Kitsune Kit. Firstly taking a page out of Reborn's book, calling his Chameleon Leon. Secondly, it sounded good, and it seems like something Kaito would do to call a fox Kitty. Kit is a female since the legends say they most commonly appear as female or old men. As such She likes to transform into female versions of Kaito and KID. I thought it would be funny too for any of her transformations to be females. According to the myths, sometimes the Kitsune cannot hide their fox like features and that's how they are discovered. Due to being a spirit Kit can fly, but not through objects or walls. I chose a Kitsune for Kaito because they are tricksters. At first I was considering a Kitsune for Shinichi due to them being wise, but after reading about them it suited Kaito more. Apart from being tricksters, there was the bits about the lightning Fox fire and the energy sucking, which I could relate to two Flame types, suiting Kaito's Moon Flames. At the moment Kit has only one tail, but she will get more as she gets stronger and wiser in keeping with the legends. Kitsune are also supposed to be able to create highly accurate illusions, which translates into Mist Flames, coming later on in the fic. The first attack I named was Kaitou KID's Lunar Cycle to go with the transfomations. For a start the Lunar Cycle fits with the transformations of the Moon, aka Kaito. I called it Kaitou KID's because one it sounded good and two KID himself is a transformation and uses disguises (eg transformations from one character to another) to escape the police at heists. Next was Lightning Moon's Kitsune-bi. Kitsune-bi is literally translated as Fox fire and can be fire or Lightning, now appearing as Lightning Flames in the fic. I called it Lightning Moon to reflect the Lightning Flames, but also because Lightning Moon is the name of the Moon in August apparently. The last attack I created was Flame's Eclipse. An eclipse is seen from earth as the shrinking or disappearing of the moon, so I changed that to the disappearing of an enemy's Flames.
As you can see I put a lot of thought into these. It took me a whole afternoon to do the research and write up notes. I hope you like them. I'll admit I got most of this from Wiki since all the other sites I went to had the same information anyway, so feel free to read it yourselves and see where I got this inspiration from. Suggestions are open for their Cambio Forma's since I haven't created those yet. Although I won't need to decide until they meet their first generation counter parts.
And to some of you, I'm sorry for the small bit that could be seen as Shounen-Ai, but I wanted to show that Kitsune are tricksters and like playing pranks, as well as the fact that Kit was a woman.
I'll see you next time!
Phantom Hitman 1412
First Published 26 September 2012