THE NEW WORLD – FOUR OF THE SEVEN
The Baseball Stadium, Las Vegas
The crowd is electric and roars its approval at the home run. Stories of Yamamoto Takeshi's success had little time to reach America before the world was taken by the Yakuza. Still now that they have witnessed it they are forced to believe in the ability of the Japanese star. It is not just because of the lower pitching quality; Yamamoto perhaps is the greatest batter in the world.
The dark haired Japanese batter walks slowly back to the dugout, waving politely at all the cheering fans. Never in Japan would a crowd cheer this loudly, it is a different culture, one of polite respectful applause and the other of thunderous euphoric applause.
Yamamoto sits down in the dugout and leans back with a relaxed posture, despite the speed with which he just ran he doesn't seem exhausted at all. The players all stare at him with awe, he just displayed such an impressive feat yet he is acting like it is nothing.
"Nice job, no wonder you made it big in Japan" the batter next to him compliments the star.
"Thanks" Yamamoto replies as he picks his bag up from the floor.
"What's in there, another bat" the batter asks with a suspicious look on his face.
The Millefiore boss smiles to his co-worker, "I always keep a spare".
What is actually inside the bag is as many who know Yamamoto would suspect. What is in the bag is his greatest weapon, the sword Excalibur.
"You know I'm not claustrophobic usually" the sword-human begins, "But I do object to being kept in a cheap gym bag".
Yamamoto laughs at Byakuran's protests drawing funny looks from his team as he does so. He apologises but continues to reflect on the situation. Currently in this cheap gym bag is the sword Excalibur which happens to be a person. That person is no ordinary person, that person is perhaps the strongest mafioso outside of the great seven. Yet such an important person, one of the great hopes of the world, is being ferried around as if he were a household object.
"Oh pipe down" Yamamoto finally replies to his mentor.
Suddenly Yamamoto's thoughts are interrupted, he doesn't know why his gaze is drawn to the stadium's roof but it is. It could be a change in the wind, it could have been some sixth sense or it could have been something Byakuran felt and warned him about subconsciously but to the roof is where he looks.
Upon looking to the roof the rain guardian spots the worst thing that could appear. It is one of the two Yakuza members he truly fears at this point, he recognises the energy and remembers it from the day of the war. This is the man who fought Vongola Bana.
Seeing Gon stood atop the roof of the stadium spurs Yamamoto to take action, he reaches into his gym bag and grabs Excalibur by the hilt, pulling it out and bringing a wonderful golden light with it.
'Just follow your orders' Gon says to himself before he throws a dart down towards Yamamoto with alarming speed. That is definitely the man that Kara pointed out, the one who wields Excalibur, the one who she fought that day.
Yamamoto replies to the attack by swinging his sword at the dart. The two collide mid-air and naturally the sword gets the better of the impact. Of course for people of such strength a melee weapon usually overcomes a ranged weapon. The victory is small however, the dart is deflected greatly but the sword is by a bit as well, this means that Byakuran slips from Yamamoto's hand.
Byakuran immediately begins to float back towards Yamamoto's hand when his momentum ceases and the Millefiore boss stretches his hand to reach the sword. It is too late though, Gon has already thrown another dart.
'We won't make it' the Millefiore couple conclude.
The dart bears down on them with alarming speed, Yamamoto and Byakuran put their all into reuniting as quickly as possible but it is impossible to defeat the speed of that ranged weapon. This is after all one of the Yakuza's strongest warriors.
Yamamoto waits a few moments and is stunned, the dart never hits him but he hears a huge bang. Finally, he grabs the hilt of Excalibur and turns around, slowly falling under the force of earth's gravity are two objects. One of them is a dart, the other an arrow.
Before the 10th generation rain guardian can process what is happening before him a familiar face appears next to him. It's the knife enthusiast from the battle of the successors, the man obsessed with strength who shares a flame with Lambo, Tokata of the mafia police.
Tokata grabs hold of Yamamoto's shoulders and places his hand on the blade of Excalibur. He uses his power of teleportation and disappears along with Yamamoto and Byakuran, he uses his power to escape.
Gon astonished with what has just happened before raises his head to look to the opposite side of the stadium. There facing him is the face that he thinks of every day, the face he is trying to prove something to, the face of Vongola Primo. This is Vongola Bana.
Bana and Gon's gazes intersect and they sense each other's power, they have both grown since that day all those years ago.
Gon not daring to waste time throws a dart towards Vongola Bana, if he could kill this opponent it would be an even greater coup for the Yakuza than killing Yamamoto Takeshi.
Before the dart can reach Bana the chief policeman of the mafia smiles and mouths something to Gon. The latter is confused for a moment before everything becomes clear. A smoke grenade explodes next to Bana. The dart that has already been launched flies into the smoke but seems to hit nothing, for when the smoke disappears Vongola Bana is gone.
The mafia police have made their escape.
"He got away? I didn't expect him to run from a rematch" Gon notes as he sits crossed leg on the roof of the stadium, "He is the sensible type, just like you Primo".
Gon raises his eyes to the sky, his wispy grey hair flowing with the wind. "I guess that makes this round my loss huh".
The New York Hideout
The various mafioso involved in the baseball stadium incident have all successfully returned. The plan was completely ridiculous in retrospect, actively appearing before the Yakuza was a very dangerous thing to do, tantamount to suicide in the eyes of some. Despite the impossible odds the plan has worked, nobody was harmed an everyone is back safely.
Byakuran finally turns back into his human form, drawing surprised looks from everyone but Yamamoto. The aforementioned Millefiore boss looks at his predecessor with an irritated expression.
Byakuran looks at Yamamoto for a few seconds, taking in the look of irritation on his face before he eventually closes his eyes and laughs. "Well at least the plan worked out well right".
Yamamoto can't help but smile as he shakes his head at the white-haired mafioso. 'Just because the plan worked out well doesn't necessarily mean it was a good idea, there must have been subtler ways to do all of this'.
Byakuran then takes his gaze away from Yamamoto and looks at the blonde haired leader of the mafia police. The two lock eyes for a good few moments, the latter confused about exactly why he is getting such a venomous look.
Then he remembers, "I uh… I am… I am very sorry for killing you Mr Byakuran".
Byakuran's frown persists. It is the death of Byakuran and the report from Xanxus that truly alerted Sawada Tsunayoshi and the Vongola guardians of the threat that Bana posed. Bana back then was supposed to keep the Mafia in Italy on behalf of the Yakuza, perhaps the world would have been better off if he did or perhaps his evil side would have taken over.
Byakuran decides there is no point holding a grudge or second guessing what happened, "Well I suppose it's a start, right Yamamoto".
"Right" the rain guardian nods, "Still I can't believe you're alive though, Bana, Kyoko, Sorata, Tokata, you're alive and well… and Lancia, you're here too".
"This is all fantastic".
"Is Yuni OK, is she safe" Kyoko asks. It is during the battle against Byakuran when Kyoko travelled to the future with the Vongola guardians, there she befriended Yuni and they became truly close with one another.
"She… she and Ganma didn't make it" Yamamoto answers.
"Yamamoto, Byakuran, I'm really sorry" Kyoko replies. Although she herself is upset about the loss of Yuni she realises it must be a lot harder for these two powerhouses. They would have felt a duty of care, a duty to protect Yuni and they would have failed.
"It's alright" Yamamoto holds his hand up to dismiss the sad tone of conversation, "We will make the Yakuza pay right".
Kyoko smiles at Yamamoto, he has always been the positive one in the Vongola family. She simply nods in agreement.
"I have some news that will truly put a smile on your face though" Bana promises as he places his arm around the shoulders of the Millefiore couple.
"What is it?" Byakuran asks.
"Please tell us" Yamamoto adds.
"We have contact with another resistance base in the Himalayas, as well as that we are in constant contact with another group that is constantly on the run, constantly improving a technique to use against the Yakuza".
"What technique" Byakuran asks, already filled with hopes that he knows the answer.
"The technique is the zero-point breakthrough" Bana begins, "It is as you expect Sawada Tsunayoshi is the master of the technique".
Yamamoto's breath quickens, "Do you mean… that after all this time he is really…".
"Yes, we have confirmed that both the Varia Leader Xanxus and the Vongola Boss Sawada Tsunayoshi are both alive".
Yamamoto and Byakuran both free themselves from Bana's grip and hug each other emotionally. It has been so long not knowing whether there was someone who could stand up to the Yakuza, now after so many years they have the news they wanted, Tsuna is alive.
"You know what this means right, I only felt Basil and Reborn die that die, that means that of the surviving five, we have gathered, Tsuna, Xanxus you and I, that's four of the seven" Bana works out.
"We can prepare for a serious attack on Japan" Bana raises his fist and clenches it.
"This is amazing, it's better than we ever dreamed in South America" Yamamoto concludes.
"To be able to tell people we are so nearly ready, that is a dream, if I died now I would die a happy man".
Cape Town, South Africa
Virgo and Enma are hidden in an old house, clearly abandoned for some years now. It is likely that it was abandoned just days before the war between Mafia and Yakuza, it seems the people of this household were religious and likely went to a place of worship.
Enma considers how terrible the loss of the war must have been for people such as these. Religious buildings and sites were destroyed following the war, nothing was to be allowed in opposition to 'god' as Honda was proclaiming himself. That was truly horrible, things like religion and culture are things that rulers should never be allowed to control.
Virgo messes with some dials on his electrical setup.
"Is this seriously the time to be playing around Mr Virgo" Enma asks respectfully.
"I am not playing around" Virgo snaps at the Shimon family boss, "I am monitoring communications traffic".
Enma starts and walks over to the Thunder Arcobaleno, "Are you hoping we can find some Yakuza secrets?".
"That would be good but it's not what I am hoping for" the scientist replies.
"What do you mean?".
Virgo swivels his chair around to face Enma, clearly preparing to deliver a long explanation.
"One thing I found out a while ago, several satellites moved out of position".
"It's strange and is unnecessary for the Yakuza, there is only one reason I could see for moving satellites. That is to disguise their location".
"Why would the Yakuza want to do that?" Virgo asks rhetorically.
"What are you getting at" Enma questions.
"What if it the Yakuza didn't move them at all, what if it was…" Virgo starts before he hits a button.
As the screen before the pair kicks into life a split screen appears before them. The screen is split vertically with one group on the left and another on the right. Enma's mouth drops open as the familiar faces of Xanxus and Bana come into view.
Virgo smiles. "It's the mafia".
Enma smiles widely as a third familiar face appears on the screen, the face he has been desperate to see. "It's them… it's really them… TSUNA".
"They can't hear you" Virgo shakes his head, "But I admit I share your elation, Sawada Tsunayoshi is really alive".
"Yamamoto, you're really alive, that's fantastic, I'm so happy" Tsuna smiles.
"I'm afraid I can't say the same for Yuni and Ganma" the rain guardian begins but a smiles soon comes to his face, "However there is some good news".
"BOO" Byakuran jumps into the picture, not willing to waste the ironic opportunity to claim people looked like they had seen a ghost.
The reaction disappoints him, "How the hell is that one alive?" Xanxus asks.
Byakuran laughs it off though, "IT's good to see you to Xanxus, I seem to recall you didn't help much when Bana killed me".
Xanxus doesn't know how to react to that. It is true that all those years ago he didn't assist Byakuran in the fight against Bana, though if he had it may have changed the fate of the world greatly.
"Yeah, there is no need to be rude Xanxus" Tsuna joins the American group in teasing the Varia leader.
"I would join them in reprimanding you but I am the last who should be doing so" Bana smiles wryly as he looks out the corner of his eyes away from Byakuran.
"That's right, you should be begging for forgiveness" Byakuran points out, "Get on your knees".
"We can do all that stuff later, Tsuna, is it true that you are improving the zero-point breakthrough?" Yamamoto asks, eager for confirmation that they may truly win this war they are fighting.
"It is, it's true and step by step I am powering up the different elements under the sky".
Xanxus finally lifts his head from his hands, "Oh boss, how far have you gotten".
Squalo leaps in from Tsuna's side, "Voi, can't you feel it, he only has the cloud flame left to go, after that we can focus on Japan".
Tsuna nods to the screen, "Rest assured Yamamoto, Byakuran, this really is happening".
"In that case I will prepare to move those who control the dying will flame to the Himalayas Base" Bana declares with crossed arms. He quickly determined it would be necessary to unite the four greatest warriors they have before fighting the most important battle in history.
"OK, I will master the cloud aspect of the sky flame then I will meet you all there. We will finally be able to focus on Japan".
After Tsuna finishes speaking the screen goes black, Virgo and Enma can no longer see the faces of their long lost allies. Still the duo is not disheartened, this is the greatest bit of news they have received in years.
"The Himalayas" Enma mutters, "Mr Virgo, is there any way you can find out more".
"It won't be easy" Virgo shows a concerned expression to Enma causing the latter to adopt one of his own. The Arcobaleno counters this by quickly smiling again, "But… well who do you think I am".
"I will provide you with anything you ask me to, do anything you ask me to, just get me there so that we can join the fight".
"Because this whole thing… it's reaching a climax".