The boss of the Vongola Famiglia and the boss of the Gesso Famiglia sat in tense silence inside Giotto's office. Reborn was leaning against the wall, a few feet from the two. His eyes, shadowed by his fedora, were trained on the man that the Gesso boss had brought along.

"I have tried negotiating with them," Gesso was saying, "But they didn't want to listen. I have even tried to buy him back, offering a good sum of money, and they still refused to give him back. They didn't even try saying that they wanted a larger amount than what I offered."

The purple-haired bodyguard had on a pokerface as he listened to the two bosses. He was probably the most trusted subordinate, thought Reborn, for it seemed that this piece of news was new even to him.

Reborn didn't know why he was here, playing bodyguard, when he could have been planning on how to break the little brats out of Estraneo. G or Asari would have been a better choice. They were close to Giotto, and they would put the Gesso boss more at ease, since he knew them to some extent.

But the greatest hitman?

He didn't know what Giotto was up to. He'd really rather just break into the Estraneo base and kick some idiots. But even he knew that the Estraneo was a dangerous bunch. They had the world's most cutting-edge technology and were not allied to any one Famiglia. If they ran into problems, there would be no one they could contact for help with diplomatic solutions.

"They must be hiding something big then, if they are doing that. They must be working on a project again." Giotto said.

"Yes," Gesso agreed. "But I can't imagine what they might be doing, if they are so insistent on keeping my son."

Reborn stared at the man with his onyx eyes. "Is there something he has that might be of crucial importance to them?"

The man thought for a while. Giotto waited patiently. Reborn almost started tapping his foot on the floor. Then the man paled.

"Could it be…the ring?"

XXX

"B-Byakuran! H-how far are we supposed to r-run?" Tsuna almost shrieked as he and his friend dodged nets and knives.

Not thirty minutes ago, they had busted out of their cell and split up. Mukuro, Nagi and Takeshi in one direction, and Tsuna and Byakuran in the other. That way, they decided, if one group got caught, then the other might be able to save them still.

The two sky users were regretting not getting to know the place's layout first before plowing through with this plan.

They knew, somewhere in the middle, the two opposite paths would intersect, and then there would be a third path from there which would lead to the holding cell for the normal children. The third path would be trickier to cross, since there were surveillance cameras and lots of doors. But they decided that the two illusionists could probably cover the up when needed.

The problem was, they weren't even halfway there yet and they were already lost! Even worse, some lower-ranking members had discovered them while doing rounds. Luckily for them, they were a bit on the idiotic side and did not notify anyone else, thinking they would be easy to deal with.

A large man behind them thundered after them angrily, his footsteps actually making the ground shake slightly. In his hand, he held three knives. Most of his others were already left behind when he tried and failed to hit them with it. Some others who were a bit on the bulky side as well were trying to catch them with nets but failing miserably due to the two jumping around and discreetly propelling themselves with flames.

"Let's turn that corner!" Byakuran yelled. He ducked a swipe from the large man who was gaining on them and abruptly skidded toward the next corner. Tsuna did the same. The large guy however, slid straight and smacked into the wall since he couldn't stop himself fast enough.

There were more doors along the corridor. Tsuna spotted a curtained section ahead and tugged Byakuran with him behind it. The two children squeezed in and stayed still as they waited for their pursuers to pass.

The older child put his hand over the brunet's mouth to cover his labored breathing. Even if they were hidden, it didn't mean the guards wouldn't be able to hear them. Byakuran coated them in a light layer of flame. He wasn't sure, but he thought he recalled his father tell him that his flames could confuse skilled assassins who were good at finding a person's presence.

Byakuran wondered how Mukuro, Nagi, and Takeshi were doing as heavy footsteps pounded past the curtains.

XXX

Takeshi and the two illusionists were bored out of their minds. They could hide themselves with Mukuro's illusions so there was literally nothing they had to do.

Nagi checked the map in her head again. It wasn't exactly complete, but she could decipher most of it just by the few times she managed to walk in the halls. She turned a corner and the two boys followed her. Her only weapon was a dagger swiped from a random guard, but if she ever lost it, she could just use illusions to fight.

Nagi jumped back when she saw a more official-looking man. His black hair had red streaks in it and he was wearing a pair of glasses. He was talking to some other guy who was carrying a box, looking pretty annoyed.

"Who's that?" Takeshi whispered.

Mukuro shrugged. "Beats me," the three children crept along the wall, careful not to alert the two adults of their presence. As they passed, they couldn't help but overhear the conversation.

"－need to have this built soon, the Vongola are probably planning to launch an attack already." The man said to the guy carrying the box. The guy just grunted.

"I'm saying we can't build this thing in one day. Why are you so insistent about it anyway?"

"Because we need to have put those flames into good use as soon as possible. It's not a one-day process you know."

The guy holding the box rolled his eyes. "But the only one you're going to use is that Vongola brat you kidnapped."

Takeshi stopped short at the word Vongola. Was Vongola brat referring to him? But he was sure that man wasn't the one who took him from the garden. He wouldn't know who he was. He inched closer to the two even as Mukuro and Nagi motioned frantically for him not to.

"No," the man corrected, "I have other plans for them." Now, even Mukuro and Nagi were listening at their mention. "Sawada Iemitsu's son plays the main role here. He has the purest flames out of those four. But it doesn't mean the other three won't be coming into play."

The guy he was talking to was annoyed. "What's your plan?"

The spectacled man shrugged. "Nothing special. The boss already knows, and he says to let you all in on the plan when you finish building those blueprints."

"Is that so? He must be getting anxious already."

"He's been itching to launch an attack for months."

The man smirked. "You've convinced me," he tapped the box lightly and Takeshi heard the sound of metal. "The smaller ones should be done within two days, and the robot within a week."

The man grinned. "The boss will be waiting."

XXX

Fifteen more minutes later, Tsuna and Byakuran finally arrived at the center section of the base which was their meeting place. The other three weren't anywhere visible, but both Sky flame users felt each child's presence.

"Mukuro?" Tsuna asked as he pointed to a spot on the wall. It seemed pretty normal if you discounted the slightly swelled look it had to it. As if on cue, three figures shimmered into the familiar bodies of Mukuro, Nagi and Takeshi.

"Kufufufu. You're very clever, Tsunayoshi, finding us so quickly."

"Were you guys here long?" Byakuran asked. Takeshi laughed. "Ahaha! Nope! We just got here!"

"We'd better be quiet or someone will find us." Nagi pointed out. The others nodded in agreement as they continued through the third corridor hidden beneath Mukuro and Nagi's illusions.

They could hear crying noises from the various rooms they walked past and couldn't help wondering what kind of experiments were being done to the children there. They didn't stop to do anything though. Once they destroyed the main laboratory, the rest of the Estraneo would be too panicked to do anything. Hopefully.

There was a door near the end that looked bigger compared to the rest so the group decided that it would be that room they went to. No one paid any heed to the cameras that swiveled around, guarding the place.

There wasn't anyone outside the door but there were more cameras pointed at it. The Estraneo would immediately become alert and suspicious if the door opened of its own accord. Fortunately for them, the two illusionists knew how to get them through without making the door open.

As soon as they got through the door, they heard heavy footsteps pounding across the linoleum floor outside. They made themselves visible just as the door behind them slammed open. As soon as the guards entered, everything went up in chaos.

"There they are!"

"Catch those little brats!"

"Don't let them get into the experimentation room!"

They dodged nets and people that lunged at them. Mukuro and Nagi casted illusions here and there to confuse the guards as they smacked into cages. Byakuran and Takeshi teamed up to take down the bigger ones as Tsuna tried to open the locked door.

The door opened and caused Tsuna to fall forward as a man stepped out. He had brown hair and grey eyes, and was wearing a face mask. He watched as the brunet tripped and picked him up by his collar.

Then he chuckled.

"Little boy, did you honestly think you could get past us?" he pointed at Tsuna's companions. "I will admit that we were taken by surprise. Of course we didn't think you'd attack us instead but it's nothing we can't handle. And we already knew what you were doing before you reached us. Illusions like theirs can't fool our security cameras."

Tsuna was busy trying to get away from the man's grip, but Mukuro had heard what he said. He flung some people to one side of the room as he neared the man.

"Kufufufu. What was that?" he asked dangerously. His eyes flashed angrily but the man stared back unflinchingly.

"Little kid, didn't you know that weak, pathetic illusions cannot fool cameras? Only real illusions can, and there only a handful of people with that ability. You're dreaming too big if you think you're going to get past us with flimsy magic tricks like yours." He tightened his grip on Tsuna who was beginning to kick and thrash around. His air was getting cut short by the way the man held him by the cuff of his shirt.

Mukuro took another step forward. "What do you mean by－" he was interrupted mid-sentence as a syringe plunged into his neck and released some kind of drug that made him feel so tired all of a sudden. He fought to stay awake as he watched Tsuna's eyes suddenly turn orange. The rest of them saw too.

He could see the rage and fury shimmering in those amber depths, and he could hear the rest of the team yelling Tsuna's name as they tried desperately to reach him.

All of them, even Takeshi, had felt the brunet's strength before without seeing it. It had been a bit hard to see at first when they first met each other. But when training started, all of them just knew.

He had power.

Power that was buried deep under, yes, but it was there nonetheless. And from what they felt, that power was near immeasurable. They couldn't sense the end of his strength.

The Estraneo must have seen it too, for the experiments they used on him were always aimed at strengthening his flames.

He'd gone far from where he started. He had grown a lot. Still, none of them could see the ends of his improvements just yet. He had boundless potential. There was no doubt that things would get messy if he unleashed his anger.

Mukuro was swaying around too much and was getting double vision. Nagi wobbled into his line of sight first. She was the weakest out of them all, but he trusted her.

When she was about ten steps away from Tsuna, Mukuro noticed a hand movement from behind her as a guy crept up.

He wanted to yell, wanted to warn, wanted to protect her. He wanted to be able to move, to do something. But he couldn't. The drug was doing a wonderful job.

The hand struck her solidly by the back of her head and she fell unconscious in an instant. Mukuro drowsily tried to reach out a hand towards her as he felt Tsuna's flame energy begin to pulse.

Byakuran and Takeshi were finally ten feet from reaching the three of them, but they knew just as well as Mukuro did that it was futile.

They had always worried that Tsuna might collapse if he used too much energy at once since it just didn't seem right for a boy with such a small body to carry so much strength without having to strain himself.

Tsuna had momentum now, and they all knew that they wouldn't be able to stop it. None of them could stop him.

They could see. They could hear. They could feel. But there was nothing they could do about it. They couldn't even scream.

All that Mukuro remembered before closing his eyes was a bright orange light, the man who still wouldn't let go of Tsuna, the panicked shouts of the Famiglia members and the child guinea pigs, and a large explosion that deafened and blinded all.

More words today :3 Hope you enjoyed? I was going to add more but I'm kinda running out of time. Not gonna be around for the next two months so yeah. I didn't want to go without at least updating something first. I'll try my best to write while I'm away so worry not!

Uhhh no idea what I'm going to do next chapter. Escape or be recaptured? I already have an idea of how I want it to go, but it's kind of difficult to put into words… but what would you guys like to see?