The Only Option Left

The men stood several yards away from Sukai and his guardians, holding them at gunpoint with their hands behind their heads.

Am I not strong enough to do anything? Sukai thought. He couldn't come up with anything to combat this threat. He was frozen with fear, not for just himself, but for his guardians, his family, as well. He was supposed to be the new "leader" of the second generation of the Neo Vongola, and here he was, powerless to do anything while he and friends become hostages to a deranged man who'd do anything. Some leader I'm turning out to be.

"Alright you brats, get over here and don't try anything funny," one of the men said, his deep voice echoing within Sukai's mind. The Vongola children weren't complying immediately, but when they saw Sukai slowly move forward, the others could do nothing but follow their leader and move forward with him. Sukai and Raiden were the only ones out of the seven teens who seemed worried and frightened, the others holding their faces in anger and disappointment for not being prepared for a situation such as this.

When they were close enough, one of the men moved a hand away from the trigger of the gun and held it in a "stop" position. The teens stopped, standing in place as the other assailant moved his gun downward, a motion that signaled them to the ground. Sukai didn't understand why they didn't just shoot them, but he complied with the men and slowly began moving toward the ground, Raiden following him. Sukai almost had a knee down when he heard a metallic thud from behind, frightening him and making the gunmen hold their guns firmly at the noise.

"What was that?" the taller, deep voiced man said, trying to pinpoint the location of the noise.

"Uhh, sorry, that was me," a meek voice replied. Everyone turned their attention to Raiden, a frightened grin on his face. "I, uh, dropped a marble."

"Stupid kid. Whatever. Just get on the ground." Raiden flinched a bit before nodding slowly and being the first one to fully reach the ground, lying flat on his stomach. However, as he placed his hips on the floor, the marbles inside the pouch that hung from his pants were squeezed against, the force becoming to great until they slowly rolled out of the pouch that held them, some one by one and some clustered, until the bag was almost emptied.

"What the hell kid? You don't think I'll shoot you, do you?" To prove that he wasn't lying, the man aimed his gun and shot near Raiden's foot, smoke rising as the concrete was now black and burnt. "Get those things away from you!"

"AHH! Okay, okay." Raiden reached an arm over to the marbles and brushed against them to get them to roll to the nearby grass. Some were away from his reach while others were close to his body, forcing him to adjust himself so that he could brush them away. What the assailants didn't know was that the marbles was his weapon. He didn't expect this to happen, but since the only other person who could fight cleanly without a weapon was Taiyō, it was unlikely that they were going to get another chance. When almost all of the marbles had been brushed away, some lay away from Raiden's current reach, so he inched himself close enough so that his hand would reach. He brushed against the majority expect for one, one that he swiped into the palm of his hand, hiding it, charging it. "Uh, that's all of them."

The men looked around Raiden, confirming what they saw to be true. They didn't respond verbally, but they shifted their aim to the others who were still standing, and motioned them to do what Raiden had already done. Slowly, Sukai continued his descent, Ame and Annalise following him. Norio, Arashi, and Taiyō were reluctant to do so, but they didn't want to risk harm to the others and slowly laid flat on the ground. With them all on the ground, they no longer had any way to fight against the men comfortable, save for Raiden. Raiden, his mind racing with the thought of fighting, the thought of losing that fight, the thought of losing his friends and family, the risks stacking themselves one by one in his mind. He didn't know what else to do, but he had to do something.

When the men were comfortable that the teens wouldn't do anything stupid, they slowly inched their way forward, guns still pointed at the Vongola children. However, their guard was down, that much Raiden could see.

They're not expecting anything. This is it. This is my one chance…I hope this doesn't get us killed.

Once the men took a few steps, Raiden, all thoughts aside, his marble charged, threw his weapon at the feet of the men, moments later the marble exploding, bringing clouds of smoke into the air and stopping the men in their tracks and blocking their view of the teens.

"What the hell?!" The men wasted no time shouting and diving into the smoke, running past it immediately, guns raised. What they didn't expect was Raiden with a handful of marbles.

"I don't like it when people mess with my family," Raiden said, his voice shaky, his body trembling. The two men weren't going to take the defiance.

"You know, our boss never said we had to bring you back unharmed. I think you deserve some pain for your stupidity." With that, the two men shot their guns only to be intercepted by a marble that exploded against the shot. The smoke from the explosion quickly cleared and Raiden stood, his body not trembling as much as a few moments ago.

"Do-don't take me lightly," he said, pounding a fist onto his chest. "I'm the Guardian of Lightning for Sukai Sawada, boss of the Second Generation! I won't lose to you guys!"

In the heat of the moment, Raiden began the counterattack with a large cluster of marbles, all charged to explode, all aimed for the two gunmen. The men didn't hesitated to fire before they were confronted with a chain of explosions from shooting a marble, a large cloud of smoke blocking their view of the teens.

"Everyone, get out of the way! I can't fight with you guys around," Raiden said, his voice taking a much more demanding tone than the others thought was possible. They froze for a moment, staring at the youngest of them all, the crybaby of the group, taking charge of a fight. Without a word, they ran to the grass, trying to get out of the way.

"Annalise, use your Flames to cover us. Oh, and help Raiden out with an illusion," Arashi said

Annalise nodded and covered them all with her flames, hoping to keep them safe. To help Raiden, she used her Flames to create an illusionary Taiyō, the only one who could fight without a weapon.

"Raiden!" Annalise shouted. The Taiyō illusion ran through the smoke, his silhouette appearing to the men on the other side. They shot at the illusion, but it dodged and emerged from the smoke, throwing a hook at the man on the left of him. As the punch came into contact, Raiden threw a marble that exploded near the man's face, bringing him down and knocking him unconscious. The other man jumped back to avoid an attack and shot at the illusion only to see it disappear.

"What where did he go?" the man yelled.

"He's not here anymore. None of them are. I'm your opponent." Raiden emerged from the smoke and threw more charged marbles at the man, the man shooting to only create a chain explosion. It didn't stop him this time though. The man figured that Raiden needed some time before he could attack again, charging through the smoke to get a clear sight of Raiden. However, what greeted him was a wall of marbles, all charged and ready to blow.

It was too late for the man to turn and back off, the marbles exploding and forcing him to cover his face with his arms. He wasn't saved from any damage that the explosions caused, his forehead bleeding and the sleeves of his suit tattered and burnt.

"My marbles aren't just for fun." Raiden spoke to the man, charging a marble within his hand. "Their my weapons. I charge them with Lightning Flames and they can explode. My marbles can absorb any flames, but they work best with Lightning, with me. There's one thing that's even better about the marbles. If I overload them with Lightning Flames…Actually, I'll show you." With his marble overloaded, Raiden ran toward the man, his fist clutching the marble. When he was within striking distance, Raiden crushed the marble in his hand, spreading the lightning that it absorbed to his arm. He swung at the man with a sloppy hook, but the lightning around his arm transferred over to the man, shocking him, knocking him out. Raiden stood over the man, breathing heavy as he put the marbles back into his pouch. "If I overload the marble," he continued, even though the man couldn't hear him, "I can use the lightning it stored up to power up my punch. I'm not that strong, but it doesn't matter when I have the lightning."

Once the battle finished, Raiden couldn't help but feel…accomplished but shaky. His legs were shaking and he couldn't help but sit down on the ground, trying his best to move away from the men he just defeated.

"Guys, it's alright. You can come out now," he said, a large smile on his face.