THE RAINBOW FLAME WAR – OLD ENEMIES
Above the Battlefield
The battle rages on between the Mafia and the Yakuza, two forces of enormous size, one of the enslaved, one of the free doing battle to decide the fate of the planet. The smell of blood is strong in the air to those who could detect it, the sense of bloodlust even stronger can be felt by everyone in the area.
Above the battlefield floats the observer, Kara of the Yakuza. The young tattooed woman's eyes dart about as she takes aboard all the little battles that are happening, all of the small encounters between those of mediocre strength and those of small strength. She searches for opportunities to attack small weak groups but finds none, the rebels are too well mixed in with the Yakuza slaves. Kara finds this organisation to be too supreme and almost familiar to her.
Kara continues to scan the warzone, looking for the opportunity to strike someone strong, someone that she could defeat in one hit. Then her eyes come to rest on the strongest person in that category, Hibari Kyoya, the strongest member of the Japanese resistance. Hibari has been a thorn in the side of the Yakuza for many years, it would be very useful if she could dispose of him now.
Kara holds a blade in her hand, it isn't Clarent but it is more than enough to kill Hibari. She slices vertically through the air, creating two strands of light which launch towards Hibari. Two flying sabre attacks.
Two shadowy figures fly through the air. The shadowy figures appear before the two separate swords of light. Kara struggles to make out their identity, the figures were moving so fast. Bang, she hears as the two figures seem to clap their hands together, causing the attack to dissipate.
These two shadowy figures are the last members of the Millefiore family.
Yamamoto and Byakuran.
The duo had used white applause to stop the two attacks. It seems to Kara that not only has the Millefiore boss not lost his talent over recent years he has also acquired a friend of equal talent. In her mind she believes that perhaps Byakuran can be put ahead of Hibari as the strongest outside the great seven mafioso.
Kara frowns at the appearance of King Arthur's successor. "You are back again after all these years".
"Tell me" she continues, "Have you remade Excalibur, do you actually believe that would make something change".
"I have remade Excalibur" nods the rain guardian, maintaining a smile that shows of his fighting spirit as he looks his opponent dead in the eye.
"You're right about something else as well" Byakuran notes as his body gradually undergoes a metamorphosis. This is something that Kara has never seen before, a person, right before her eyes is becoming a sword.
Yamamoto takes a firm hold of the blade known as Excalibur, now personified by his partner Byakuran. "Everything has changed".
Seeing the newly created Excalibur before her Kara wastes no time, quickly bringing Clarent to her hand, she dismisses any notion that the man before her could have made progress with his power. "Nothing has changed".
The blonde haired Yakuza raises the sabre into the air and launches a flying sabre attack straight at Yamamoto. This attack encapsulates the same dark energy as the one that destroyed the old Excalibur in their original battle.
The baseball star raises his sword into the air and waits for the flying attack to approach him. As it gets close he swings Excalibur down as hard as he can, the blade of the legendary sword connecting with the light of its arch-nemesis. The struggle lasts for a few seconds and causes Yamamoto to clench all of his muscles tightly, however, the result is quickly determined.
Together, the Millefiore pair overcame the attack.
The raven-haired mafioso shows a wry smile towards his opponent. "What did I tell you? Everything has changed".
Kara frowns. 'The Yamamoto Takeshi of that last battle would never have been able to block that attack. Is it because of the newly forged Excalibur, or has something changed with the man himself'.
"So the sword got a little bit stronger" she nonchalantly yells to the mafioso, "Swords always have been and always will be inferior to sabres".
"Would you care to test that out" Yamamoto retorts as he beckons for Kara to attack him. "Let's do it once more, your sabre against my sword".
One of the most loyal Yakuza, a woman who is seen to hardly smile when doing anything other than carrying out gods will, is facing her exact opposite. A man who just wants to enjoy the world for what it is, who wants to find something interesting in everything he does and who is constantly wearing a smile.
Yamamoto's smile proves infectious as Kara begins to smile as well. "You truly are a persistent one… very well, let me take you up on that offer. LET'S TEST IT".
Kara dashes from her starting position, moving so quickly that Yamamoto loses sight of her. As the fair haired Yakuza appears in his blind spot she swings her sword down towards his head. This is a moved that Yamamoto tried years ago, when they fought last he attacked from this position, arguing that she didn't have the strength of arm to block it.
The result of the attack this time… is exactly the same.
Yamamoto blocks the attack with his arm uncomfortably arched behind his back.
"It seems you are making the mistake I made last time" he observes, "You are underestimating me".
Elsewhere Above the Battlefield
Here two of the mafia's strongest float above the battle, watching eagerly, not at the proceedings below but the Yakuza base before them. It has become clear to the truly strong now that what matters is not battle below, it's the battle above.
As it stands the Mafia's force of a million outnumbers the Yakuza's force, it has stronger officers such as Hibari and Lancia and it has far greater morale. Yet despite these factors, the victory below would mean nothing if not accompanied by a victory from above, a victory of the generals.
As such floating above the battlefield are the two remaining members of the great seven mafioso, two people who have been redeemed by Sawada Tsunayoshi, two people who would happily lay down their lives for Sawada Tsunayoshi.
Floating above the battlefield are Vongola Bana, the son of the 1st, and Xanxus, the son of the 9th.
"When he comes Gon is mine to fight" Bana proclaims without looking away from the base.
"Of course" Xanxus replies. He looks at the base to faintly see a wall break, a crazed man with several weight balls emerges. It is the Mafia's insane fighter, Varon. "I already have my opponent".
Varon launches from his standing position towards Xanxus, the mafia he remembers fighting once before, sometime in the past. Varon approaches Xanxus and the Varia leader replies with strategically placed gun shots, driving his crazed opponent to the side. What Xanxus knows very clearly is that he is not on Bana's level, he needs to keep out of his way.
Bana looks at the spot Varon emerged from, only one of the Yakuza leaders could possibly have ordered his release. That said Yakuza leader emerged from the same hole in the wall, it is the loyal one who fought Primo so long ago, Gon.
Gon spots Bana, the only one flying in the air without an opponent and immediately launches a dart towards him, a dart that is considered the greatest ranged weapon attack in the world.
Bana stares at the dart heading towards him and quickly fires an arrow. The two projectiles hit each other in mid-air, cancelling one another's momentum before tumbling down towards the floor.
Seeing his attack deflected, Gon slowly flies towards Bana. The duo fires no shots between themselves, it is if they have subconsciously agreed to a ceasefire as the distance closes. The distance closes, and closes, until the ocean becomes a lake, they are right in front of one another.
"You shouldn't have come back" Gon sighs, "But you are a descendant of Primo".
"You misunderstand the situation Gon" smiles Bana, "This time the Yakuza will die".
"The outcome of this war is unimportant right now, what matters to me is the outcome of this battle".
"I know" the clone nods, "I have already worked out how to beat you".
Gon starts at the bold proclamation from Bana. He would question it but the blonde clone slowly begins to float backwards, creating a distance between the pair that couldn't be spoken across without using voice manipulation like Tsuna did earlier.
"What is he talking about" Gon questions aloud, "Beating me for him… that can't be… the dart fundamentally has more control than the arrow".
Gon decides not to waste time postulating the cause of his opponents new found confidence, he throws a full speed arrow towards Bana, probing to see this improved strength.
Bana spots the dart coming towards him, his supreme eyesight the only reason he is able to see such a tiny weapon. He pulls his bowstring back and fires an arrow to meet the dart. The arrow is not fired with any improved power; the strength is exactly the same as it was in their former fight.
Yet things go differently this time.
Kyoko looks into the sky with fear on her face, her husband is fighting the one man who seemed to be able to defeat him totally and utterly. 'Gon's technique allows him to deflect his darts off of Bana's and hit the boss afterwards. Is my husband going to die in the same way he lost last time'?
The two ranged weapons collide in mid-air but as once mentioned already, things go differently this time.
The weapons fly in their different directions, the dart up into the sky, the arrow straight ahead, its destination Gon's head. The situation has been reversed, now Bana is controlling the outcome of the collision, despite Gon's technique.
Gon starts and quickly throws a second dart which successfully cancels out the attack.
Bana smiles lightly, 'my strategy worked, Gon, there is far less to you than there seems to be'.
"How can that be" the elderly Yakuza questions, "The dart has more control than the arrow does it not".
"I have already told you" the mafia's chief policeman begins, "I have already worked out how to beat you".
"I just need to be true to myself".
Enma vs Lucy
The fight between Enma and Lucy, rages on. It's clear that each and every one of their attacks contains true venom. Neither have ever been in a battle where their opponent reeks so strongly of bloodlust, of killing intent. Neither has ever been in such a brutal battle before.
It is fair to say that the pair represents the individual on each side of the conflict who has suffered the most as a result of the war. The raven haired Yakuza, eternally suffering under the threat of being subjected to torture, her mind pushed so far that she has lost a sensible grasp on what is going on. The red haired Mafioso, who has been forced to watch so many of his close friends die before him, his family, Reborn, Basil, the Arcobaleno.
Lucy launches a long thick beam of glass towards Enma, causing the Shimon boss to jump up slightly from the ground. Enma does not use his power to fly, he lands atop the beam and uses it as a running platform as he makes ground towards Lucy. His speed on foot is superior to what it could ever be in the air.
Lucy waves her hands in a splitting motion. Halfway down the beam, just ahead of Enma's running position, part of the glass splinters from the main structure, piercing Enma's weapon wielding hand.
The Shimon boss cannot help but drop the weapon before he catches it with the other hand. Despite using his weaker hand, Enma is still one of the most skilled warriors alive, he quickly uses the hammer to smash the glass piercing his hand before he throws it straight towards Lucy.
Against Enma's expectations, Lucy cleverly forms a pane of angled glass before her, placing it perfectly so that the heavy weapon flies up into the sky. This leaves him defenceless, seeing this he quickly flies into the sky to reclaim his weapon, however, it is too late.
Enma is knocked from the sky by thousands of glass shards. He lands hard on the ground covered in a colour not too dissimilar to his hair. He is covered in the crimson colour of his own blood.
"KILL ENMA KILL ENMA KILL ENMA" Lucy chants as she launches herself towards the injured mafioso.
Enma closes his eyes tightly. 'Dammit, wasn't I supposed to come here and get Reborn's revenge, Basil's revenge… EVERYONE'S REVENGE'.
The boss of the Shimon family is not filled by fear or sadness but is filled with regret. Unending regret.
He expects to die any second, his opponent too much for him to handle but the sounds of his body being pierced by glass never come, what comes instead is a great thud.
Enma opens his eyes and sees that somebody has knocked Lucy back through the air.
Somebody has saved Enma.
It is Yaru. Kosuke Yaru.
It is Lucy's brother.
"It looks like I made it in time for the party" the green haired man jests. Despite his jests he has no smile on his face, he wears a glum expression as he looks at his own murderous sister.
"What on earth have they done to you Lucy?".
"Lucy…?" the Yakuza mutters, as if she has never heard the word before.
Yaru sighs as he hears how she says the word. It reminds him of the way Varon spoke Kara's name before the last war, she is quickly losing her own sanity.
"Don't you remember me, I'm your brother".
"It's too late Yaru" a teenage girl with striking blonde hair comments as she arrives next to the young man.
This girl clearly has a set of musical instruments on her and that striking blonde hair is something that Enma could never forget, this is the only Yakuza leader to have lost on that day. Reborn's opponent, the musical girl Sakura.
She has grown up.
"She be forever lost to insanity now" the teenager coldly notes.
Yaru nods gently, "It's too late to get her back but it's not too late to save her, wouldn't you agree Sakura?".
"Yes".
Yaru smiles as he hears Sakura's reply. For the last several years these two who betrayed the man proclaiming to be god, they have only had one another to rely upon. They have not been part of any resistance movements, any great rebellions or any such similar thing. They have been running, with only the comfort of one other person.
"Why don't you play a cheerful tune for our friend over there" Yaru begins as he punches his own palm, "I'm going to reacquaint myself with my sister".