THE NEW WORLD – THE REVIVAL
Pakistan, The Mountains
It is evening in this part of Asia and the sun is setting. The great peaks and troughs of the mountains are reflected in the craggy edged shadow as it progresses along the surrounding slopes.
The group of five have been waiting here for many hours, there is nothing. There is no resistance base, there is nobody here to meet them. The sun falling over the horizon, the fading light represents their fading hope.
Ellen has spent the last few minutes scanning the surroundings through her binoculars, she approaches Tsuna with a solemn look on her face.
"I'm sorry sir, there's nothing on the horizon" she offers.
Gokudera looks towards Haru. "I was so sure, you know, I just really believed that someone was going to meet us here".
"It must have been an old trap, automated responses, a recording something" Ellen suggests.
"It can't have been" Gokudera retorts, "I was so sure that I was talking to a real person".
"It can only have been an old trap" Ellen explains, "Any resistance members would be only too happy to receive us and there is no way they wouldn't even have a description of Sawada Tsunayoshi".
"Perhaps they are a group without contact to the outside world" Gokudera suggests as he grasps at straws.
Everyone shakes their heads at the suggestion though. There is no way a group like that would have the passcode and there is no way the resistance members wouldn't come here to pick them up, this can only have been a trap.
"Hayato" Haru says as she grabs Gokudera's hand, "Don't beat yourself up about this, it could have happened to anybody, anyone could make the same mistake".
The storm guardian sighs, "yeah".
Gokudera looks towards Tsuna. The boss isn't looking around at the horizon, he's not searching for any places a trap could be hidden. The boss is looking into the sky that connects all Vongola, just as he always does.
Being Tsuna's closest friend means that Gokudera can sense his despair. This had been a rare ray of light in a sea of darkness that has been consuming the world. There was a real possibility that other Vongola would be out there fighting, that they had survived.
The white haired man touches his friend's shoulder, "Come on 10th, we've got to go, if we stay any longer an enforcement squad may find us".
The group begins to walk away but the leader doesn't move. Seeing this they all turn around.
"What are you doing 10th".
Unexpectedly Tsuna lights a dying will flame on his right hand. He raises the hand into the air and begins to perform the zero-point breakthrough with that hand.
"Tsuna" Haru shouts, "You can't do that, you will be seen".
"My hyper intuition is guiding me" Tsuna replies, "We're not going anywhere".
"You can't be serious" Ellen shouts, "We are all in danger if you do that boss".
"Tsuna, I know that breakthrough, that's the serenity edition that you created" Haru recalls, "It creates a sea of flames which act as a shield, if you use that there is no way you won't be seen".
Tsuna continues to move between the plus and zero states, unperturbed by his followers attempts to discourage him.
"Let him do it" Gokudera suggests.
"Hayato…" Haru turns to Juu's father.
"I believe in the boss and his hyper intuition" he continues, "So let him do it".
Haru's face still has reluctance written all over it and Ellen refuses to accept intangible belief as justification for any actions made in war.
Tsuna moves from the plus state to the state slowly, this time he is going to go into the minus, the flames will manifest themselves.
Ellen steps forward to stop her boss, but she is stopped when hears a voice.
"Please stop" a male voice calls from behind Tsuna.
The 10th Vongola boss immediately stops and turns to the source of the sound, is it friend or foe he wonders.
He lays eyes on the caller for the first time and is shocked at what he sees. He knows this man.
"It's me, boss is that… is that really you… is this really real" the man asks.
This man is someone that Gokudera has fought in the past. Back then both he and the storm guardian were far weaker than they are now, they have come a long way both physically and mentally since then.
This man is the user of the parabolas, the Varia's thunder officer, Levi.
"My friend, Levi, it really is me" the boss smiles at his subordinate.
"I can't believe it" the thunder officer smiles before shaking his head firmly, "No, I have to be sure, give me the passcode, one more time".
"Crib means frozen, it refers to the 9th freezing Xanxus using the zero-point breakthrough" Tsuna explains.
"Back then I destroyed your parabolas" Gokudera furthers the explanation, "It really is us Levi".
Levi's entire body relaxes as if he has not relaxed in many years. "Boss, thank god it's you, I can't believe it even now, you really are alive".
The electricity user keeps going, "This is hope, hope in the purest form. This is enough to make anyone believe that we really can win this war".
"Hold on to that hope Levi, cling to it like it's the only thing left in the world" the 10th requests.
"I will boss; I won't let go of that hope no matter what".
Tsuna nods, content with this reply, "Take us to your HQ, let's see how you are getting on".
Levi's body tenses up again as he remembers he still has a job to do.
"Yes sir". Levi salutes. "Follow me, I will take you there".
The Varia Himalayas HQ
Xanxus and Squalo wait impatiently at a table by the door. Xanxus repeatedly taps the bottom of his gun on the metallic surface of the table. A repeating three taps, the taps are repeated for nearly an hour.
"VOI, cut it out, you're driving me mad boss" Squalo shouts at his friend as he rises to his feet.
"Well go and wait somewhere else trashy shark" Xanxus replies as he also gets to his feet by pressing on the table.
The door to the outside world flies open, breaking up the argument. A silhouette steps inside, a tall man with a muscular build. Levi is back.
"Levi" Xanxus begins, "Have you got something, was anybody there".
The thunder officer laughs deeply, "Not just somebody, the most important person in the world, that's who I found out there".
"Don't just leave us in suspense, who is it" Lussuria asks.
"Even a genius like myself is eager to know" Belphegor adds.
Levi stands out of the way to reveal the man stood behind him. Sawada Tsunayoshi enters to a great cheer from the resistance members, to the great relief of the Varia.
"You're all OK" Tsuna says, a smile plastered on his face, "Xanxus, it really is you".
"Boss". Xanxus cannot hold himself back, he embraces his friend tightly and pats him on the back a few times. "It's been too long boss".
The rain officer smiles, his emotions written on his face for all to see. Squalo turns to the resistance members.
"VOI, I told you lot that Sawada Tsunayoshi would be here, get in order".
Tsuna pays no attention to the resistance members as they shuffle their feet. They may have been waiting a long time for his arrival but it has also been a long time since the boss spoke to his assassination squad, the Varia. He moves between them and greets each one of them individually.
After speaking to the Varia members Tsuna returns to Xanxus.
"What are you waiting for" the Varia leader says as he tips his head towards the assembled men and women, "They have been waiting years for you to speak to them".
The 10th Vongola boss turns the resistance fighters to make a speech.
"Everyone I…" he stops upon seeing them.
Each and every gathered member of the resistance is saluting him. There are no exceptions, even the children are stood perfectly still as they demonstrate their respect for the world's hope. A large proportion have tears in their eyes, the eyes that have been waiting for years to rest on the image of Sawada Tsunayoshi.
Seeing the group before him Tsuna also becomes emotional. The leader of the 10th generation lowers his head, holding it with a palm across his eyes.
'Everyone, all sorts of people, all around the world, they are all working so hard' he realises, 'They must have all been wishing for a day like this when they would see me arrive, it's too much weight on my shoulders'.
Seeing his friend get so emotional caused Gokudera to smile. In his mind Sawada Tsunayoshi should never forget his importance, the importance all these people are placing on the 10th is the importance the storm guardian has placed on him since day one.
"Thank you for all your hard work" Tsuna yells with a cracking voice, "All of you are… you are…".
"You are all the true heroes of humanity".
A Meeting Room, the Himalayas HQ
This small room has been set aside for meetings that must not be overheard by the Varia. It is very dull with no unique traits. The only thing in the room is one small table and a couple of metallic chairs.
Xanxus and Tsuna take the chairs while their remaining comrades stand around the table, rubbing shoulders as they cram themselves into the tight space.
"So boss, why don't you make it clear to us what you have been doing for so long" Xanxus asks.
"Do you have a plan to beat Honda". Evidently not even the 'genius' Belphegor has done that.
"Before it wasn't very hopeful but things are looking up" replies the chestnut haired Sawada, "I have been on the run with Gokudera, Haru and my resistance manager Ellen".
"Ellen, this is the Varia, that's Xanxus, Squalo, Mammon, Belphegor, you've met Levi and that last one is Lussuria".
"I have heard about all of you in great detail" Ellen comments, "It's an honour to finally meet you".
"Thank you for taking care of our boss for so long" Mammon replies.
"So we were jumping from place to place, hiding as Ellen went into town and recruited for a local resistance.
"Each time they created a hideout, every time for a short while I would go into my ultimate mode and practice on improving my zero-point breakthrough" explains the boss.
"I discovered a unique aspect to the zero-point breakthrough some time ago" recalls Gokudera. Thinking back to the days before the battle for Italy, "The ability the 10th has is to widen the x-axis, he's been practicing that each time".
"Unfortunately every time I go into my ultimate form Honda detects me, so I have about ten minutes to train before we have to run" Tsuna finishes.
"The training has been rather slow" remarks Haru.
Lussuria smiles at his boss, "You made a breakthrough in the sun element of the flame didn't you".
Tsuna returns the smile as he brings out a dying will flame, "Exactly, I expect that only Lussuria and Xanxus will sense it".
"Still this flame is slightly biased towards the sun element and that is a weakness. So I will fight Honda when I have strengthened every element if that is possible".
"This presents a new problem" Ellen sighs.
"What's that" Squalo calmly asks.
"This is a permanent setup in a strong location, if the boss is going to train we can't stop here".
Xanxus puts his feet up on the table, "In that case we need to have a long hard think about where to go from here".
South America, The Millefiore Hideout
It is humid as always in the hideout. Ganma runs into the flimsy shelter as the rain hammers down. He runs in to find Yuni standing a yard behind Yamamoto. The Arcobaleno leader watchers the Millefiore leader as he sits in a meditative position before the sword of Excalibur.
Ganma sighs, "I can't believe he is still doing that after so long".
Yuni shakes her head in disbelief, "He is just, staring, staring at Excalibur".
Yamamoto leaps back between the two in an aggressive motion, his movement so fast that the duo fail to see him coming.
"Careful" he yells, "Something is happening".
"What is going on" Ganma questions as he spots what Yamamoto is talking about.
Around the sword of Excalibur gathers smoke. The amount of smoke increases, it thickens further and further causing the trio to lose sight of the great sword.
The thick smoke is then accompanied by an ear piercing scream. The trio hold their ears as if to prevent themselves losing their sight altogether. A human scream shouldn't be loud enough to frighten them. This threesome had all been witnesses to a great naval battle and had been fine. Who could possible cream so loud.
"What is this enormous power I feel coming from the sword" Yuni asks.
"Could the sword actually be alive" Ganma questions.
Yamamoto shakes his head, "It would have died when it faced Clarent".
The smoke slowly begins to clear. Yamamoto slowly steps forward as the space before him increases in visibility. He can faintly make out an outline in the smoke, a human outline. This person must be the one who screamed.
Frustrated about his inability to see Yamamoto swings his hand to the side as if it were a sword. The air currents from his sudden movement clear the smoke in an instant, blowing it away as if it were the easiest thing in the world.
A white haired man is standing where the sword once stood, that man is the former Millefiore boss.
That man is Byakuran.
"After all these years of staring at the sword, I couldn't help but think to myself that it looked dead" smiles Byakuran, "So I tried my luck and look what happened, a dead body finally showed up so I was able to use it to facilitate my rebirth".
Yamamoto gawks at Byakuran. For years the pair have been looking for a suitable dead body into which the former Millefiore boss could be reborn. Never did the swordsman imagine that dead body would be his own shattered sword.
"Observe" Byakuran instructs his student as his body undergoes a metamorphosis. His new form is a sword; he transforms into the sword of Excalibur.
"I will be your sword, Yamamoto".
The Vongola rain guardian behold the sword before him. He takes a deep breath and firmly grabs a hold of the hilt. This causes an enormous power to surge through him as blue rain flames and orange sky flames dance around his body.
Byakuran quickly turns back into his human form and leaps away from his friend. "Sorry, that might take a little while to get used to… I've never been a sword before".
"Yeah" Yamamoto curves his lips, "But what's most important is that you are back with us and the sword is stronger than ever".
"Perhaps" Yuni begins, drawing everyone's eyes.
"Perhaps that technique I showed you before you died was created for this very purpose, perhaps destiny has linked the Millefiore family to Excalibur".
"I think you're wrong" Ganma retorts, "I think that destiny has linked Byakuran with Yamamoto. And I think it has linked the Millefiore family to the death of the Yakuza".