THE NEW WORLD – SHOOT TO KILL
The Himalayas HQ
Once more the leaders at the Himalayas HQ cramp themselves into the small meeting room. This time one of the chairs at the table is left empty, it is the chair that Belphegor sat in just yesterday. It would be more practical if someone was to sit in the chair, to make more space but nobody does. The chair belongs to a ghost, an invisible man and it has been left to him as a sign of respect.
"Gokudera, I understand you were working on something last night" Tsuna begins.
Despite his external enthusiasm for the meeting Tsuna is worrying on the inside. He is worrying for his storm guardian's state of mind. In spite of the constant arguments Gokudera shared with Belphegor the two were rather alike, they would have been great friends eventually. Yet right now Gokudera must have felt partly responsible and what's worse, he doesn't seem to be getting any sleep.
"Yes" the storm guardian replies as he rolls a schematic out on the table before them. "Now this won't be easy and you will have to rely on salvage but this is a design you can implement here".
Xanxus examines the schematic before him despite knowing he doesn't understand any of the symbols on the diagram, Levi's expertise should be circuits he tells himself.
"What is this design exactly" the Varia leader questions without looking away from the paper.
"This is a mobile phone, one that will only respond to the network we have setup" the storm guardian yawns as he explains.
"This work is fantastic" remarks Squalo, surprising the others with his understanding, "With this we will be able to communicate with you anywhere you go".
Gokudera nods gently, "Yeah that's right, there is a certain trick to manipulating this system though".
Everyone looks to their peers, nobody quite understanding what the storm guardian is getting at. A trick, is that something they will be able to implement, only a couple of people in the room have any understanding of this system.
"The trick is that we have to tell you where we are going in advance" explains Gokudera.
Levi leans forward onto the table, "Why is that bomb man?".
"We have to reposition the satellite to communicate, you will have to work out how to position it so as to talk to us in each country".
This is the problem with taking only one satellite. Normally worldwide communications are facilitated by an enormous array of satellites which combine to cover the surface of the entire world. The mafia don't have an entire array, obtaining one has been hard enough.
"Which one of you guys are most suited to this kind of work" Gokudera asks as he looks between the officers of the Varia.
Nobody answers.
The silence is broken by a sigh, the sigh of Sawada Tsunayoshi.
"Gokudera, you're the only one who can operate the satellite controls, you and Haru are staying here" explains the 10th.
"Me". The engineer appears more awake than he has been all day, "But 10th…".
"I need you here doing this" Tsuna smiles, "Besides, you can't raise Juu while being on the run".
Gokudera looks over to Haru holding their child close to her chest. In her arms Gokudera's son rests peacefully, more so than he had been at any point while they were on the run.
Gokudera shakes his head, "I could come by myself… I could teach Ellen to operate the satellite".
Tsuna places his hand on Gokudera's shoulder and looks him in the eye. "Ellen is only a beginner, you're the creator, the master of this technology. Also I need Ellen for her local organisational skills, you know I can't do this without them".
The storm guardian continues to shake his head, "This, this is not OK… it's not OK for me to just let you alone, not after all this time".
"Look at me" Tsuna places a hand on Gokudera's other shoulder as well, compounding his grip. "As long as one guardian is left alive I will never be alone; I have all of the mafia with me. All I need to do is look to the sky".
Tsuna releases his best friend and continues. "Hey, I'm not letting you off yet, one day the final battle will arrive and I will be expecting you and the Varia to come".
"Voi, of course we will be there" shouts Squalo. A huge sigh travels around the room as the emotional discussion is intruded by his overbearing mannerisms.
"I can guarantee you will be there Squalo because I am sending you with him" Xanxus casually remarks.
Squalo adopts a look of stupor and points to his head with his index finger. "Me… why me?".
"It seems the boss needs a new second-in-command. You are an over the top leader who never lets morale get low, you are strong enough to protect the boss when he is weak. In that sense you are the closest thing I have to Gokudera.".
"So we are just doing a little trade for a while" smirks the 10th Vongola boss.
"That's right… I'm entrusting this loud mouth to you" the Varia leader answers with a smirk of his own.
"I won't let any harm come to him, make sure you protect Gokudera and Haru in return".
"Anyone who flies the flag of Vongola is safe under my command" Xanxus answers with a reassuring tone.
Tsuna rises from his chair and positions himself between Ellen and Squalo. Suddenly, unbeknownst to the duo he swings his arms around their shoulders, pulling them close to him in a friendly manner.
"So guys, do you want to go to America?".
"Yes, let's kick some Yakuza ass" Squalo shouts as he punches his own palm.
"It's been a long time since I've been back to the country I swore to protect" Ellen declares, "Well, I guess it's finally time I kept that promise".
"I will make sure to stay in touch 10th" Gokudera says as he approaches his best friend and embraces him.
"I will speak to you soon Gokudera". Tsuna rescinds the hug.
The white haired guardian offers a small device to his boss. "It's the first mobile phone, I… I made it last night, it was supposed to just be a prototype but it works… I will have another one made before you get there".
Tsuna takes the phone gratefully. "Make sure you do, that's an order Gokudera".
"Yes sir".
An Abandoned House, The United States
Sat downstairs in the abandoned house are a group of men and women in their twenties and thirties. The clothes they are wearing have no co-ordination relative to each other and they are torn in many places. It could be easily determined by any who saw them that they have been sleeping rough for some time now.
Despite the state of the group they are cheerful and jovial. The source of that joy, of that cheer is one man who many years ago met the enemy who would change his life. The source of this group's joy is the son of Vongola Primo, Vongola Bana.
Bana scrapes the last few bits out of a tin of baked beans that he has been eating. "Look at this, your cooking gets better every day Kyoko".
The sun policewoman sneers, "It's not the wife's job to cook anymore, that sexist stereotype was ironed out… was gotten rid of ages ago".
Bana laughs hysterically, "I was just joking, just joking".
The clone looks around to see a faint smile on the faces of his followers, the only exception being Tokata, his thunder policeman who is keeping watch.
"Still tinned food has its own distinctive taste doesn't it".
"You can say that again" Sorata nods as he lifts some tinned food up and lets it dribble through his fork, back into the tin.
Footsteps come from the staircase, the group look to see the descending knife enthusiast, Tokata.
"Boss, there are some lights nearby" the thunder policeman explains.
Bana sighs, 'Here we go again'.
The chief policeman of the mafia gets up slowly, his stiff joints troubling him as if he were twice his true age. "Get ready to move to the next place" he orders as he picks up his modified bow and climbs the staircase from which Tokata descended.
"Do you think we will be doing this for the rest of our lives" Sorata questions as he throws his half-finished tin across the room.
"Bana will get us out of this eventually" Kyoko firmly declares.
"We will work out an escape plan" Lancia answers as if Kyoko hadn't already done so. "We will work out a route to victory too… eventually".
Tokata leans against the staircase. "Until then we keep doing as the boss says" he decides, matter-of-factly.
Upstairs Bana is looking from the bedroom window. The blonde focuses his dying will flames onto his eye as he gazes down the glass scope of his bow. He observes lights, just as Tokata told him there was. He refocuses, who is holding the lights.
The lights are being held by the enforcement officers of the Yakuza.
Twang. Twang. Twang.
Three quick shots are fired in succession, one for each enforcement officer seen by Bana, Three perfect strikes, death to the Yakuza.
Bana immediately heads downstairs and into the houses communal area. "Let's go" he says as he leads the mafia police from the abandoned house.
'Tsuna, I hope you are out there, I hope you are fighting for us somewhere'.
A Resistance Hideout, The United States
The Varia's rain officer crosses his arms as he admires the resistance work around him. "I must admit, I never thought your skill would be this good Ellen".
He walks over to inspect the communications setup. Despite the complexity of the system somehow this old soldier had rallied civilians and they built it as if it were nothing.
"This is impressive even by military standards" he continues.
"I've been doing this for several years now Squalo" Ellen smiles as she twiddles a few dials on the equipment, "I have gotten fairly good at it".
"I can see that".
Sawada Tsunayoshi is stood nearby, looking up at the sky through the opening he insists upon. The sky and unity are linked tightly together within his soul. Tsuna uses the rare moment of peace to practice the zero-point breakthrough in his standard dying will mode but is soon interrupted by a small girl.
"Mr Sawada" the girl shouts as she tugs on his shirt.
"Hello" Tsuna replies, kneeling down so that they are on the same level, "You can just call me Tsuna if you like, I'm not a very formal man".
"There was something I thought I should tell you" the girl continues to speak in her raised voice.
Tsuna smiles, admiring the enthusiasm of the young resistance member, "Anything you can say would be useful, I would like to hear it".
"I watch the guards go by each day, there have been a lot more in this area recently. Hope that's useful". As if she had not spoken at all, the young girl skips off into the resistance camp.
"It must be coincidence, it's not likely to affect us" Squalo calmly concludes.
"I agree, it's not worth investigating boss" Ellen concurs.
"I want to go see what they are looking at" Tsuna decides.
Ellen shakes her head with a wry smile, "Not this again…".
Squalo strokes his chin with his index finger. "The boss' hyper intuition can be wrong but it's always worth taking your chances with".
Ellen stretches her arms out wide. "Please hold on a moment, if they hear that Sawada Tsunayoshi has been around this area it's likely some of the strongest Yakuza members will come running".
The resistance organiser turns to the second-in-command, "Squalo, it would be best if you went to investigate".
"Leave it to me".