THE NEW WORLD – HUMAN HABIT
A Short Distance from the Himalayas HQ
The wind is cool here atop the mountains as Vongola Bana looks down over the edge of the cliff-face. This is the best vantage point he could find for his use of the bow, the great height advantage and relatively low wind speed make for great shooting conditions. A line can be seen on the nearby peaks where the surface changes from snow to stone, a beautiful scene.
The beauty of the surroundings is calming and Bana is grateful for this because he knows there is a good chance this will be the resting place for he and the men and women of the mafia police. Their objective is to attack Honda head on.
'This plan is suicidal' Kyoko decides, 'It's only because of Bana's belief in Tsuna that I am willing to go along with it'.
Haru doesn't share her friend's pessimism. 'Bana, Tsuna… my bosses, I have full faith in both of you'.
The breeze gently pushes the hair of the police sideways as they stare down to the ground below. Despite the inherent danger of the situation they all maintain a cool, calm and collected look. This may be the end for them but they are prepared to sacrifice themselves, especially if it is to fight the man who would enslave the world.
"If Tsuna's plan goes horribly wrong and Honda just kill us…" Bana begins.
The chief policeman is interrupted by the arrival of a Yakuza army. Appearing in the distance but moving towards them at an alarming right, a mighty army that consists of well-armed enforcement officers and Yakuza members alike. The speed with which the army moves is not like anything seen in history, it is supernatural and it wouldn't be wrong to call it scary.
Bana opens his mouth for a few seconds before his next words come out in a rush. "I want you to know, I want you to know, it's been an honour working with you all".
Even Bana is intimidated, the second strongest man in the mafia. Should Tsuna be put in this situation it is likely he would be intimidated too, no matter how strong you become sheer numbers like this would be enough to make you think twice about fighting.
Seeing the fear on his comrades faces, the experienced Lancia consoles them. "It will be fine, we will go to the meeting point that Sawada specified, they will get everything done in time".
Upon Lancia finishing his sentence the members of the mafia police see a floating man above the army. Though they have never seen him before they can tell from the aura of strength that follows him, this man is Honda.
"It's time" Bana resolutely declares as he draws his bow. "When they get close to you attack, Tokata, when they get within your range, you attack".
"Everyone, remember what Tsuna said, hold them back like your life depends on it" the clone furthers.
He focuses his ultimate dying will flame on his eye and works in conjunction with his scope. Looking into the distance he has a perfect chance to fire at Honda so he decides to give it his best shot.
Flames gather on the arrow that Bana has prepared, ultimate dying will flame, the strongest flames that he has. The arrow burns so intensely that the edges of his clothes start to burn and then he releases the string.
The arrow launches towards Honda with a speed unrivalled before it hits him head on. Bana's strongest attack has succeeded. At least it succeeded in hitting the Yakuza boss.
Honda emerges from the sea of flame dishevelled but unharmed. He is prepared for a fight today, to eliminate the mafia at all costs, that's why he has brought the strongest men and women from several of the nearest cities. That's why there is such a concentration of Yakuza strength in one area.
'That guy is strong; it might be worth taking him down. After all that shot made it clear that he is ready to fight me to the death'. Honda deduces this after one attack from Bana, though the self-proclaimed god has never met the clone before he did order his creation. The Yakuza knows the limits of the mafioso and they were just surpassed.
'No, he can't become a threat in the future without me sensing it, I need to go straight to the base, I need to kill Tsuna as quickly as possible'. This decision is what Honda settles on and the logic is not wrong. Sawada Tsunayoshi is his greatest threat and therefore the sooner he is eliminated the more certain it is that Honda will become universally recognised as god.
"IGNORE THEM, EVERYONE CHARGE, TOWARDS THE BASE" Honda shouts to the violent bunch below him.
The crowd follows the orders of their god, their bloodlust is so strong that it can be felt even upon the cliff yet they hold themselves back and march on the headquarters. Such is the will of their god.
"Just like Tsuna thought, they are just walking past us… but why…" Bana questions.
Tokata gasps as the crowd walks off. "Perhaps this is the human habit he talked about".
Bana shakes his head so as to snap himself out of his state of stupor. Right now he needs to keep to the plan and believe in his boss. "Let's go, we're going to the meeting point right now".
"But we didn't hold them off at all, there's no way they will have finished" Sorata argues as he looks at the army travelling towards their hiding spot.
"We will keep to Tsuna's plan and believe in him" Bana orders as he looks into Sorata's eyes, "Come, we are heading to the meeting point".
The Meeting Point
The meeting point is several miles away from the cliff-edge where Bana decided to take his one shot at his creator. It is just far enough to be classed as safe and yet close enough so the mafia police could get there quickly. It should be understood that the mafia police are an elite group who are all capable of travelling at great speeds.
When the mafia police arrive at the meeting point they are greeted by a trio of people and a duo of cars. The cars are hefty, off-road vehicles which it seems they are going to be using to get away, towards the next camp location.
The trio of people consists of the Mafia's leader, Sawada Tsunayoshi and the two stood either side of him, his resistance manager Ellen and the Varia's mist officer Mammon.
"Why are you two here" Bana asks curiously, "I thought only you were supposed to be meeting us Tsuna".
"I'm here to drive" Ellen comments.
"Me too" adds Mammon.
Lancia sweatdrops, "Your body is that of a young adult you know, are you even qualified to drive?".
The Himalayas HQ
Work is still going on as Gokudera frantically shouts at the engineers around him. Desperation is written all over his face as his orders become more and more erratic and his hand gestures more over-the-top.
The work is no longer an effective and organised effort, it's a mess, a last minute panic. This is something that is truly of detriment as something catches Gokudera's eye.
"EVERYONE RUN, IT'S HONDA".
That same moment the Yakuza boss floats into view, he sees the base below him, the scurrying workers running in all directions. 'That is the base, I have to attack now, kill Tsuna at all costs'.
After realising that he must attack to avoid Tsuna escaping, Honda punches the air just like he did in his fight against Tsuna all those years ago. Flame gathers on his arm and is sent flying towards the base like a missile. The moment that flame and mountain collide a huge explosion ensues, there is no way that anyone, not Tsuna nor Bana could survive that blow.
The Meeting Point
Bana drops his bow's scope from his eye and reveals an expression of horror to his fellow mafioso. "Everyone… in the HQ… they all died".
Tsuna gently puts his hand on Mammon's shoulder. "Just as planned".
Kyoko whips her head towards her ex, "What do you mean Tsuna?".
The Himalayas HQ
Honda looks down contently at the HQ, aflame, ablaze, burning beneath the flames of the self-proclaimed god. Then this image of death, this image that he considers to be perfect is blocked off by an apparition. A huge face, a smiling face belong to Sawada Tsunayoshi.
"SAWADA… WAS THIS ALL AN ILLUSION?".
The giant head nods slightly. "Bana was real so he convinced you that you were on the right track but you did what I thought you would do, you moved to kill me as quickly as possible. You moved to the base".
"Bana was the distraction while the Varia and I escorted the resistance to a safe location and if not for him convincing you then you might have spotted us".
The head chuckles, "Perhaps you would have noticed if you were a bit more patient but it's like I said, that's human habit. You were so desperate so you decided to ignore Bana".
"So this is all not real" Honda snarls.
"Actually some of it is, the base really is there and you made the right decision to attack, you have destroyed our satellite equipment instead of our people".
"Then this is still my victory" the 'god' proclaims.
The head laughs even louder this time. "Are you stupid?".
"Huh?".
"I must say it was awfully nice of you to attack the base with the strongest Yakuza from the nearby cities".
"What's that supposed to mean" Honda asks as his facial features tighten and his teeth grind together.
"Those cities had satellite stations completely unguarded, they were very easy to take over".
Honda cackles as he shakes his head, "You nearly had me fooled, the satellite controller equipment you guys clearly possess. There is no way you could set it up to move them in time".
"We didn't even need the equipment, we had no need to retreat from the stations as they had no guards, you gave us all the time in the world to move those satellites".
"Now we have 10 satellites, enough for a worldwide resistance movement and we are setting up a new HQ. We will have HQ's in two continents".
"Do you know what put you in checkmate? It's ironic really for someone who claims to have transcended humanity".
"Human Habit".
"Bye" Tsuna casually offers as his giant face disappears from the sky.
He has completely outsmarted his rival.
Honda screams as he punches the air repeatedly, savagely killing all of the Yakuza officers and enforcement officers who have come here with him.
"You think I will be merciful Sawada; I'm not going to let sentimentality stop me from achieving my true status as a god".
"Everyone who doesn't believe in me, will die".
3 Months Later, Egypt
Arabic is a strange language, very difficult to learn for many yet Tsuna is capable of speaking it. Squalo and Ellen also share this trait, they have all experienced the language training of one of the two great organisations, the mafia or the Yakuza.
Despite being in an Egyptian resistance camp Tsuna speaks his native Japanese on the phone in a three way call between himself, the mafia police and the Varia.
"Boss, are you close to another breakthrough" Squalo asks with a smile.
"Yes, I think so, so far I have powered up my sun and thunder elements so I guess the storm will be next" the 10th replies.
"Do you feel much stronger" Haru asks through the phone, still speaking from the Varia HQ despite being a member of the mafia police.
"Not a great deal" Tsuna honestly replies, "But I feel like I am a bit stronger and it feels like my power-ups increase in significance each time".
The various mafioso in on the call all express the heartfelt congratulations. Even should they despise Tsuna they would still be grateful that he is close to making a breakthrough because his strength determines the destiny of all of them.
"It's been a while since I have heard your local reports" Tsuna brings up, "Tell me how you guys are doing".
"We have to be subtle to avoid detection since the Himalayas are on notice" Xanxus answers, "However, we have improved our protocol for hiring people and shared it with the mafia police, we are well entrenched for the long run".
"Good, Bana how about you?".
"We have got a similar setup here but we have less need for subtlety, especially with the wonderful protocols we are getting from our Varia counterparts".
Kyoko adds to her husband's good news. "What's more some of our engineers think they will be able to incorporate video technology into these calls".
"Yes, in a few weeks we will send a prototype to your resistance camp and we will be all set" Bana continues, "We will be able to seriously start preparing for our final assault on Japan".
'An assault on Japan' Tsuna thinks to himself. 'These wonderful people, all the work they have put in just so that I could train to beat Honda…'.
'I won't let them down, no matter what, so just like they say. I'm going to start thinking about our final assault'.
'Dino and his group will have gone back to Japan, I've heard whispers that the resistance movement there is fighting harder than anywhere else in the world'.
'Hang on guys, mafia everywhere, people everywhere, I'm coming to save you'.