BATTLE OF THE SUCCESSORS – WHICH DO I HIT FIRST?
The Sky Battlefield
The two teams had yet to arrive at the battlefield, the two captains had been giving instructions to their teams, talking strategy. The observers had arrived though, Tsuna's friends, the Varia, the CEDEF and the 9th. Some eagerly awaited the match while some were highly irritable because they knew how important this match was.
Their irritation wasn't helped by their setting, the sky battlefield was the beach at the front of the island, the sand was coarse and was another distracting factor they didn't want to deal with. Looking into the sky though, the weather was beautiful, at least on this part of the island.
The scheduled time for the match was fast approaching and Bana and his team were the first to arrive. Bana walked with a relaxed posture, flanked by Kyoko, Tokata, Haru, Sorata, Mukuro, Chrome and Lancia.
This line-up brought out mixed feelings in the attendants. Tokata, Sorata and Lancia were OK, they had no previous allegiances with the Vongola family. However, Kyoko and Haru were previously in relationships with the 10th boss and his right hand man. The same went for Chrome, Tsuna proposed to her before coming here and had his feelings trampled over. Lastly Rokudo Mukuro, he had always seemed suspicious to the likes of Xanxus and Basil but Iemitsu had judged him a good, loyal man; seeing this judgement proven wrong was painful for them.
The 9th was slightly concerned about the timings, "Xanxus, do you know where Tsuna is?" he asks.
"Don't tell me that guy has backed down" taunts Bana, knowing that Xanxus is the one here who wants Tsuna to win the most.
Xanxus response surprised all but the Varia though, he laughed. "Let me tell you something, for people like you who prey on the weak, who steal power they haven't earned, for people like you he reserves his greatest hatred".
"Steal other people's power, what do you mean?" questions Iemitsu of the Varia leader.
"No point hiding it anymore" Xanxus comments to himself. "That guy got so strong s fast by stealing the dying will of dying people" accuses the pistol wielder. This remark causes a dramatic reaction from everyone present, of course it is a monstorous and immoral act. Two people are an exception to this though, Bana himself just smiles and Mukuro closes his eyes as he lowers his head.
"That's nonsense, you are always fabricating stuff Xanxus" declares Kyoko in defence of her leader. This man had saved her and Haru when they had been kidnapped, in her mind there was no way he was capable of such an evil act. Xanxus, someone who tried to arrange for her death once before accusing this hero stood next to her was laughable in her mind.
"That's enough Kyoko" Bana intervenes, "They are free to believe what they want, it won't matter after this match anyway" he explains. That is a threat, everyone here realises it. If this man is able to defeat Sawada Tsunayoshi then truly nobody here could stop him, it doesn't matter what they say and it doesn't matter what they do.
The 9th sighs at these developments, "I was really hoping for a succession contest with no controversy, but now that I look at the evidence…" he begins.
"There really is no doubt is there" concurs Iemitsu, focusing his gaze on the now much scarier Vongola Bana.
"You bastard, were you really pulling the wool over my eyes" yells Enma, furious at himself for being so ignorant to the danger before him.
"Right now that is not important" begins Bana as he turns to the nearest Cervello, "how much longer must we wait for Sawada before he is disq…".
"You don't have to worry about that" smiles Xanxus, "The boss definitely be here" promises the leader of the Varia.
Mammon backs up his leader, "The guy who can subordinate the Varia will definitely not cower from the likes of you" he concurs.
"He will be here; he's going to kick your ass wherever you go on this island" states Squalo.
Reborn brings his signature smile to his child like face, "He's here" he says causing everyone to look to the other side of the beach.
Tsuna is walking down the beach with some familiar faces. He is flanked by Sasagawa Ryohei, Sawada Lambo, Gokudera Hayato, Yamamoto Takeshi and Hibari Kyoya, all men who had become legendary mafioso the world over.
"The cat's out the bag about what he has done boss" Xanxus informs Tsuna with a blasé attitude not befitting of the danger currently present.
"It makes no difference anymore; our match is set in stone". Tsuna takes a moment to look at Chrome, a woman he believed himself to be in love with before he concentrates his gaze on Bana, his opponent. "Cervello, which of them do I hit first?" he asks.
A few moments pass without any conversation, the only communication was performed with glares, glares between the two opposing sides. The only sound to be heard was the gentle wind rustling the sand beneath the feat of the guardians.
"Allow me to explain the rules" begins the Cervello, "In this sky match all of the guardians will be kept in cages". This is not dis-similar to the poison used in the match between Tsuna and Xanxus. "Naturally the cages will be reinforced so there will be no escaping unless you are released by your boss".
"How do we release them" asks Tsuna, his eyes not moving from the Primo look-a-like stood a few metres in front of him.
"The rings will be stored nearby to their cages" explains the Cervello, "By inserting the rings into the releases at the side of their cages, only then will they be released".
"Sounds good" comments Bana, also sharing Tsuna's staring stubbornness, not shifting his head an inch from his opponent.
'This is a lot less dangerous than our match was' recalls Xanxus, 'Hopefully Sawada will be able to focus'.
The Cervello continues her explanation, "Both mist guardians for team Bana will be locked in the same cage and everybody's rings shall be kept twenty metres from their cage. The cages are located at your respective battlefields, please make your way to them now, we will make sure nobody cheats and that everybody is locked in".
As the Cervello take everyone to their respective cages Tsuna and Bana are left facing each other, waiting for the go ahead for their fight. Squalo takes the opportunity to ask Xanxus a question.
"Xanxus" Squalo loudly begins, "you're the only one here to have seen first-hand, just how strong is this Bana" he asks.
"His maximum… it's higher than I've ever seen Sawada go" comments Xanxus with a slightly depressed undertone.
"Higher than Tsuna?" says the 9th, the shock evident in his voice.
"So if he wins and what you say is true…" begins Reborn.
"We won't have any way of stopping any of his plans" Colonello finishes his rivals statement of fact.
"I'm sure Tsuna realises that more than anyone" Enma says in an attempt to calm down his friends. Of all those here Enma can claim to have given Tsuna the toughest fight of his life, second only to Bermuda. Bana seems to be much stronger in his estimation though.
Reborn nods, "The boss has never let us down before, this time won't be any different" he says without smiling. He always does his best to lighten the mood, not even Reborn can be of comfort in this situation. This battle is on too high a level; the result is far too important.
"Your friends seem to believe in you" observes Bana, "We both know the truth though, I am the true descendent of Vongola Primo" he boasts.
"I don't care about anything like that" says Tsuna much to the surprise of Bana and everyone present. "I'm going to beat you to the position of Vongola 10th not Vongola 1st".
"Let's do it then" smiles Bana, excited that his fight with his nemesis is finally about to begin. "The two glove users, let's see which one of us can go further than the other".
In that moment Tsuna and Bana shared their emotions, shared their expressions and shared their intensities. Suddenly from a motionless pose they both force the appearance of a triangle shaped dying will flame on their foreheads, the hyper dying will flame.
Bana is the first to attack upon entering hyper dying will mode, launching himself towards Tsuna he seeks to quickly put away his opponent. Tsuna reacts quickly too however, he holds his fist back behind him when a gauntlet appears on it. 'Burning Axle' he says to himself as he fires a ball of condensed dying will energy towards Bana.
Bana has a fighting style taken directly from Vongola Primo, the same man who entrusted that fighting style to Tsuna, their move-sets are near identical. This is proven when Bana swings his arm, a long black cloak appearing to deflect the burning axle that Tsuna had just launched.
In the time taken for Bana to conjure the cloak Tsuna closes the distance between himself and Bana and throws a punch towards his opponent's head. Bana blocks the attack with his forearm, using the connection point between the fighters as a pivot he spins and kicks Tsuna on the underside of his chin, sending the young Sawada flying upwards into the sky.
As Bana uses his dying will flame to propel himself upwards after Tsuna, he is quickly blinded as Tsuna discards some dying will flame towards his opponent's eyes. While Bana is shielding himself from these flames it gives Tsuna an opening, the chestnut haired man throws several light punches and a heavy punch in quick succession.
As Bana hits the ground at an alarming speed he has no time to think of recovery as his opponent is instantly on top of him. Tsuna's dying will flame is gone, completely vanished as he enters the minus state. As Bana's nemesis reaches for him he avoids becoming frozen by entering the same minus state himself and delivering a swift kick to his nemesis' chest, creating some separation between the two.
The blonde quickly gets to his feet and uses burning axle to attack Tsuna. As Tsuna uses the zero-point breakthrough custom to absorb the flames, he returns the same attack, the burning axle, back to Bana. Copying Tsuna's actions in a way that befits their common combat technique, Bana cups his hands together and uses custom to absorb the flames that he originally attacked with.
"I must admit, you certainly are strong Sawada Tsunayoshi" smiles Bana, the clone of Primo not even struggling for breath despite the amazing display of power he just participated in.
Tsuna shares the condition of his rival, "Yeah… you're not too bad either, it's just a shame, a shame that you used such dark methods to obtain this power". In Tsuna's mind despite everything that Bana has done to him and his friends, the two of them should still be friends. They share a common philosophy and attitude towards their subordinates it seems. It made him wonder just what caused Bana to turn so evil.
"I… I don't think I've seen a fight quite like this before" comments Basil, awe-struck by the power he has just witnessed.
"Yeah, they are evenly matched" agrees Lal Mirch.
"Can anyone tell who's dying will is stronger" questions Iemitsu, anxious that his son should participate in such a dangerous battle while he sits on the side-lines.
"Of course it's Tsuna's" comments Reborn. Despite his air of confidence Reborn cannot actually tell who's dying will is stronger. Tsuna is one of his students though, someone who had matured to a level where Reborn now felt happy referring to him as boss. The possibility of Bana's dying will being stronger than Tsuna's was not a possibility the hitman was willing to entertain.
"All those years ago I hand picked him as my successor because I saw that will within him" the 9th informs everyone, "He will protect his friends, that is why he is here".
Dino backs up his seniors, "I don't believe that this time next year I will be answering to Bana, Tsuna is my leader, that will never change".
At that comment, all those present nod in agreement.
The Rain Battlefield
Byakuran floats around Yamamoto with a silly grin on his face. "Yamamoto… Yamamoto…" he repeats in a childish like song.
"What is it", asks Yamamoto using his thoughts.
"Are you going to start using your head soon, you have telekinesis if you haven't forgotten" the former Millefiore boss reminds his student.
"Oh yeah, I guess I forgot about that" Yamamoto says aloud as he laughs, drawing a strange look from Sorata.
Yamamoto's face drops, his eyes giving the impression to any who could see him that he was concentrating as hard as he could. Suddenly the ring lifted from behind it's platform and made its way towards the rain guardian in his cage.
Suddenly the ring is impaled by a long solid object, it was Sorata's staff. With the ring being displaced from behind its perch Sorata can now reach it with his staff, he immediately pulls it as hard as he can and releases himself.
"My apologies Yamamoto Takeshi, there was no way your telekinesis strength could match my physical strength" he consoles his closest rival. "As payment for releasing me, I shall set you free" he offers the baseball trainee.
"Really?" asks Yamamoto, surprised at the altruism his opponent is demonstrating, "You're not such a bad guy are you".
Yamamoto's pleasantries are interrupted as he is struck in the leg by Sorata's extending staff. He falls to the floor holding his leg but with so much fighting experience he already knows that it is broken.
"How dirty" curses Yamamoto as his opponent opens his cage.
"Feel free to help your boss, if you can" suggests Sorata as he walks towards the island, presumably with the intention of releasing another ally.
The Sky Battlefield
After a continuous period of exchanging blows with Tsuna, Bana decides he has had enough of such meaningless sparring.
"Then it seems I will have to take things up a notch" notes Bana as the dying will flame from his forehead expands to cover his whole body. This is no longer the hyper dying will flame, this is the ultimate dying will flame.
"What…" starts Tsuna, he is the only one to have used ultimate mode within his lifetime, this is his first time seeing it from the outside. Tsuna is capable of identifying the flame though, that is what caused him to be so terrified.
"I told you didn't I" begins Xanxus, "I've seen him go higher than I've ever seen Sawada reach" he comments on their level of power. Tsuna only once used the ultimate dying will flame and it was his first time. That was far from the refined power that Bana is demonstrating now, this is the highest they have seen anyone take the dying will flame.
"Wait a minute, Tsuna can't use the ultimate flame of his own volition" Enma reminds himself and the others. "Reborn you have to fire a bullet" he instructs of the young hitman.
"That would be against the rules, we will just have to believe in Tsuna" explains Reborn, ever faithful in the abilities of his boss.
The faith of Tsuna's followers rendered no benefits though as Bana appeared behind the man formerly known as no-good and hits him hard in the back, sending Tsuna crashing into one of the many rock formations that line the beach before launching a final attack, his x-burner.
The sand surrounding the rock formation flies into the air, obscuring everyone's vision of the inevitably dead man that had been embedded in the rocks just seconds ago. At least any normal person would be dead.
"It would seem that I win" comments Bana, "Time to collect the other rings". With that turns and begins to walk along the beach, seemingly oblivious of the horrified facial features of all those watching. That horror dissipated but a moment later though.
"Where do you think you're going" the voice of Tsuna calls after Bana as the man emerges from the vision obscuring sand. Not only was Tsuna unharmed by Bana's attack but he had somehow emerged from it better off. He now was also in ultimate dying will mode.
"He's alright" remarks Lal Mirch as she breathes a sigh of relief.
"Wonderful Tsunayoshi" offers the 9th in encouragement to his desired successor.
"Just how did he do it" asks Squalo.
"It's obvious when you think about it" comments Xanxus to his subordinate. "The zero-point breakthrough custom, he absorbed the ultimate flame and then made it his own" explains the leader of the Varia.
Mirroring the attack performed on him a few seconds ago, Tsuna appears before Bana and punches him forcefully into a nearby rock formation.
"Stand-up" orders the young Sawada, "This fight has a long way to go" he comments.
Bana follows the order and stands up, "Yeah" he replies, "This is just getting interesting". He had a childlike excitement that could be seen in his eyes as he said that, excited for the battle, the opportunity to overcome what he considered an evil stain on the Vongola family.
The two warriors fly into the sky using their respective ultimate flames and repeatedly fly into each other. A scene so dramatic that those on nearby islands mistook it for fireworks. This fight had only just begun but it was already on a level that nobody here had seen before.
As some of the watchers turn to a screen that has been set up for them, Squalo notices his former students struggles. "Yamamoto is down" he informs the others.
"This can't be good" comments Mammon.
The Rain Battlefield
"Hey are you alright" asks Byakuran with genuine concern laced in his voice.
"He broke my leg" explains Yamamoto. "But..." he begins as he gradually gets to his feet and starts to walk, "I still have to fight".
Byakuran takes a moment to smile at Yamamoto's determination before he turns his gaze in another direction. Something clearly weighs heavily on his mind.
"Something is bothering you isn't it" notes Yamamoto, "it's more than just my leg".
"I'm wondering… just where did that other guy head" questions the white haired mafioso.
The Thunder Battlefield
"About time" moans Tokata as his ally Sorata releases him.
"What happened to the cow" asks Sorata as he nods towards the seemingly unconscious Lambo.
"He fell asleep using his special technique" explains the knife enthusiast. Clearly Lambo attempted to use his blue lightning form to escape from the cage, an idiotic move but one that fits with Lambo's character.
Sorata smiles at the thunder guardian's childishness, "What an idiot, then we will take his ring so that he can't get out" he suggests. If the ring is taken away from the cage it will be near impossible for the current 10th generation to find it, a cunning move.
"There is an interesting person nearby too" says Tokata
"Oh you mean" begins Sorata before his smile gets even wider, "Lancia would change everything right now". Lancia, the strongest man in northern Italy and the second strongest their side had to offer. If the three of them were loose on the battlefield against only one of their opponents, they would have an enormous advantage.
"Indeed, he's right this way" gestures Tokata before leading his friend towards the cloud battlefield.
The Cloud Battlefield
"You feel that don't you" asks Lancia. "They are coming this way" he remarks as he senses the movements of the thunder and rain attributes.
"Do you think I am afraid of your allies" Hibari poses as a counter-question.
"You are in a cage with no way to defend yourself" explains Lancia. "You would have to be an idiot to think you can defend yourself".
"Are you stupid" questions Hibari shocking Lancia and the few who are watching him on screen. "Winning this fight isn't about defending myself, all that needs to happen for me to win is for the herbivore in the sky to win his match first… that is all".