THE NEW WORLD – YOU'RE THE PREY
The Himalayas HQ
The fateful conversation between the leader of the Varia and the Yakuza spy has just taken place. Xanxus is more irritated than he has been in ages, he could cope with pain, he could cope with agony and he could even cope with loss but what he could not cope with is his lack of ability to contribute anything to the effort of the resistance.
The men and women with the technical know-how move in all directions quickly, picking things up, putting them down, pulling wires out and putting new one's in. Yet this all means nothing to Xanxus.
"So how much longer is this going to take" he asks with his arms crossed.
"Best estimate is 7 days" Gokudera replies as he rips out some cables.
Gokudera pulls his head away from the equipment before him as he meaningfully looks Xanxus in the eye, "We have to dismantle the walls and carefully remove all of the equipment you know".
Gokudera has been making improvements to the headquarters constantly, embedding the hardware's wiring in the wall's as they the base improved and expanded. As time has gone on the technology has become more sophisticated and expansive, as a result, removing it all is a very slow and complicated process.
The Varia Leader pulls out a pair of guns. "I can help you with the walls".
Gokudera grabs Xanxus wrist as he pushes the gun into the sky. "DON'T… please don't Xanxus… that would destroy the equipment".
The 9th's son attempts to stare down the storm guardian, looking unwaveringly into his eyes to determine whether he was willing to back down. The aforementioned guardian doesn't blink, he's serious about this. Confronted with this seriousness, Xanxus gives a quick "tsk" before he puts his guns away once more.
Levi takes a deep sigh as the volatile situation is defused but Lussuria has further questions.
"How can it take 7 days" the sun officer asks.
"It's not just the equipment that needs to be salvaged, in fact that's relatively low priority. What's most important is the code. The code was stolen, we didn't write it originally, it was likely done by a genius engineer far superior to myself or any other member of the resistance. I need it all copied reliably".
"What about electronic storage" Levi questions.
The storm guardian rolls his eyes in his head, "Yes now that you mention it I think I saw two mp3 players somewhere".
Xanxus tries to think of alternative solutions. "Can't we just take the code stealthily from another satellite station".
"No, never mind how well guarded they would be but each code is unique to its satellite, we have to use this stuff".
The 9th's son continues to think. "In the worst case couldn't we do another raid and get another satellite?".
"They are likely to have increased the security on these places since last time, yes, they will be very well guarded" Gokudera decides, "Besides, I would rather not have to use that self-sacrifice bomb and lose so many people again… Belphegor didn't die for that".
Xanxus sighs. Gokudera is right, as the leader of the Varia, Xanxus should be the first one to try and honour the sacrifice Belphegor made. The storm officer will forever go down in the history of the mafia, in the history of the world as a hero.
"No he didn't" he answers, "Keep doing what you are doing, you can only do your best".
The storm guardian places a hand on Xanxus shoulder, "I promise I will work around the clock".
"XANXUS" a voice calls, "XANXUS".
The caller runs into the room with a baby in her arms, it's Haru.
"What is it?".
"Tsuna and the North American group are coming back here at full speed, they reckon they will be bringing a few engineers to help".
Xanxus considers if this will be of help. Logic dictates that there is no way the 10th could bring his group from New York to the Himalayas HQ before the traitor got from the Himalayas HQ to the nearest city. However, Tsuna and his group could travel the dangerous paths which save a lot of time and their supernatural abilities will make them faster still.
"How long do they reckon they will be" Gokudera asks.
"Three days".
"Maybe… just maybe it will be enough".
3 Days Later
Finally, Tsuna's elite group arrives, bringing a small team of engineers with them only adds to their aura as they walk through the newly-created main entrance to the HQ. Not only Sawada Tsunayoshi but Vongola Bana has also entered, the two strongest members of the resistance.
Without any hesitation, the sun policewoman Kyoko approaches her fellow policewoman Haru and hugs her from the side. "You have a baby" she notes.
"Yes, this little Juu, it's short for Juudaime, go figure" Haru replies with a smile.
"He's so cute".
"I know".
Haru and Kyoko are talking like they used to, it's enough cause for Gokudera and Tsuna to share a smile. Whether the pair of policewomen know it or not, they are back to how they used to be, they are truly members of the Vongola family again.
"It's good to see you Haru" Bana rolls his eyes at their exchange, "But we have more important things to deal with at the moment, don't you think?".
Kyoko puts on a mocking grumpy expression, as if she were a child who had just been scolded. "I have a husband, he's not so cute".
"HIM?" Haru shouts loud enough for the entire base to hear.
Kyoko switches her expression from grumpy to incredulous, "Says the one who married Gokudera".
"We're not married we just have a child".
"Well that's so much better".
Lancia approaches the duo and ruthlessly bangs their heads together.
As the pair rub their now bruised heads the cloud policeman speaks with a dull tone. "The boss says to focus so stop bickering about your partners".
"I'm going to speak with the prisoner" Tsuna declares.
"Why" Xanxus asks as he shakes his head.
"I like talking to the enemy, it satisfies my sense of self-righteousness".
Xanxus laughs as if he has heard the best joke in the world, "I can't believe you actually admitted it, I have got to see this".
With that, the duo walks into the interrogation room as it has now been titled. Xanxus truly is curious, what does Tsuna want to say.
The room is dark with only a few traces of light coming from some poorly powered bulbs. Tsuna deduces that these bulbs have been scavenged from the nearest town before he focuses on the true centrepiece of the room. Before the 10th, fastened firmly with chains is a tattooed man, the Yakuza spy.
A smile slowly comes to the face of the spy, "Wow, I'm impressed, you actually brought the head honcho into the equation".
The Yakuza spy gets two contradicting looks from his two interrogators. While Xanxus looks apathetic and dispassionate, Tsuna looks curious and interested as he gently smiles at the Yakuza. It's as if he is a young child testing his boundaries before the two giants of the mafia.
He chuckles slightly, "You must be running scared".
"Tell me then Yakuza, do I look even the slightest bit afraid".
The spy searches for fear on the face of his greatest enemy but can find none, it appears to him as if Tsuna really does find the whole situation amusing rather than troublesome. This causes a narrow bead of sweat to traverse the brow of the Yakuza officer's head.
"You're an idiot, you're your own worst enemy" Tsuna scolds him.
"How… how can you possibly be so confident?".
The spy deduces that his god should arrive before the mafia leave and history has proven that there is no way the mafia leader can overcome his Yakuza counterpart. Their death or the destruction of this base, one of the two is surely inevitable.
"You've idiotically driven yourself into a corner. I've said all along that human habit is our greatest weapon in this type of scenario".
"Let me tell you now" Tsuna continues, "Honda is a human not a god, I can tell exactly how he is going to act. Your leader is going to dance to my tune perfectly and the mafia is going to come out of this situation even better than we went in".
"Your bluffing".
"Do I look like I'm bluffing?".
"You can't beat our god; it's beyond you just like it was all those years ago Sawada".
Tsuna shakes his head. "Well last time I battled Honda in a contest of strength but this is a contest of wits, so I won't lose".
The 10th boss continues, "All this time you have been hunting us down, relying on the fact that you have superior strength to beat us. In that game we were the prey".
"The game has switched from strength to wits, now you are the prey, Yakuza".
The spy refuses to say any more words and just snarls at the mafia boss.
Tsuna smiles despite the hostile reaction of the captive, "Watch in despair Yakuza, the god you worship so much will fall to the ground, you will witness his defeat for the very first time".
Tsuna and Xanxus step out of the room and the Varia leader immediately turns to his boss.
"That was all a bluff right?".
"Bluff?" Tsuna looks questioningly at the man he has named his successor.
"Weren't you just blowing smoke up his ass" Xanxus asks as he spreads his arms out wide.
Tsuna laughs hysterically, "What a wonderful expression, no, no smoke from me Xanxus". The 10th then turns to his right-hand man, "Gokudera, are you ready to move the code from the satellite to the storage".
"I'm impressed with your knowledge boss" the engineering supervisor replies, "Thanks to your engineers I'm just about ready to begin".
Tsuna made sure to bring the best engineers he could find. It is important to note that the quality of engineering in New York, one of the world's largest cities, is vastly superior to what can be found in the lands surrounding the Himalayan mountains. That qualitative difference has given Gokudera the edge he needs.
"Don't bother" Tsuna says, shocking everyone.
"10th you can't be serious" the storm guardian shouts.
"I'm serious" the 10th replies, "Dismantle the wind turbine instead, the electricity is more valuable to us".
"You're a trashy boss" Xanxus insults the one man he answers to, "That can be set up again easily compared to the communications, we will just be making things more awkward for ourselves".
"Human habit, an easy trick to use, I wasn't blowing smoke Xanxus, remember that. I said I have a simple plan that would leave us in a better position than we stared in and I do".
Those surrounding the 10th watch him in awe, even more so than usual. Tsuna has never been the smartest, earning the moniker no-good in school yet right now he seems truly omniscient to them.
"OK, then I trust you 10th" smiles the right-hand man as he begins to move workers from the communications setup to the power system.
"Thank you Gokudera, now Bana, I have something really dangerous I'm going to ask of you".
Bana nods seriously, "You can ask anything of me Tsuna".
"Well it may seem a bit unconventional so bear with me".
"The mafia police, you are all going to attack Honda, you're going to attack him head on".
"YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS".