Interlude II: The Flitting Lightning

Not only becoming the lightning that damages the enemies, the Lightning also accepts and destroys all damage towards the Family, like a lightning rod. That is the role of the Lightning Guardian.

The Bovino Family had always been looked down. They were nobodies, a speck of dust on a surface. Their great creations were laughed upon by larger and greater Families. The Vongola barely noticed they existed. Why, just the other day, they 'accidentally' bombed one of the Bovino's manors in their conflict with the Todd Famiglia.

They asked compensation, oh they did, but the Family just brushed aside their demands. Then they gave an ultimatum. Pay for all the damages to our properties, or else face war.

But they only laughed and ignored this. Or rather they had, so the Bovino assumed. Their spy network was rather useless as it had no mole in the greater Families.

But the Bovino had vowed to change that. They would wait and soon they would be recognized.

Some would say nonsensical experimentation. Others would boast revolutionary science. And many would laugh and scoff at them.

The Bovino continued on with their experiments and inventions. If only the other Families listened and looked, they'd see that the Bovino had surpassed reported scientific achievements and broken the laws of science. But they didn't and had been greatly underestimating this small Family.

They had surpassed the achievements of the esteemed Estraneo Famiglia and exceeded the creations of the Macchina Famiglia. No, they were above such plebeian and bloody techniques. They did not see the point in cutting open the skins of people and inserting heaps of metals and litres of unidentifiable chemicals into exposed bodies. They were simply pointless.

No, they did not involve themselves in such trivial things. What they did improve was their Family's weaponry.

Why did it matter if their grenades were painted pink? Or if their guns purple? All such things wouldn't matter if the explosion radius could take out an entire ship, or shoot a target through a bulletproof vest.

They even invented a way to instantly supply an operative with ammunition if that person ever found him- or herself depleted of bullets and grenades.

But apparently, the colour of their weapons did matter.

Six operatives were sent out to spy at the Estraneo. They were successful in gathering data from outside through their outlandishly yellow binoculars meant to see through walls. The operatives were already in the process of leaving when one of the patrolling guards caught sight of the pink hand grenades that stood out amidst their camouflages. Needless to say, it was a massacre.

The operatives were outnumbered and outgunned by the Estraneo who had brought out their latest 'invention' for a test drive and disseminated the operatives.

The Bovino were, of course, devastated. This would not have happened if they knew of what would happen. And thus, they invented and invented. Decades later, they finally created a revolutionary bazooka, the Ten-Year-Bazooka. Meant to swap a person with their future counterpart, this was the Bovino's way of knowing the paths of what ifs and what should not.

It worked. Truly it did, but their future was not what they'd expected.

They shot the bazooka at their meanest operative who had the sharpest memory amongst all. But what replaced the man was a soft-looking civilian who spoke of the fall of Bovino in the hands of the Macchina Famiglia. Five minutes passed and their operative returned shaken.

They tried the bazooka at every person in the Family, even at their beloved Boss, but the outcome was the same if the path different. The Bovino Famiglia fell, one way or the other. Be it through the Macchina, the Pesca, or simply through their own machinations, their name vanished.

They were simply gone, their properties in ruins and members scattered all over the world.

The Bovino were devastated. How could they not be? All their works had led them to nothing! Their dream of ruling, of being the best amongst the mafia, was ruined! But they weren't the type to give up. If there was one thing the Bovino's were famous for, it was their stubborn resilience in sticking to their plans. If they didn't, they'd be lost!

But the only bright spot in this otherwise bleak future was that the children of their operatives would no longer be exposed to the dangers that were known to every Mafioso. They would no longer know the bloody history and present of the continuous conflict.

A single operative was gleeful. Finally, her son, born out of wedlock, would not be an orphan like her. Her path was bloody and she was afraid that one day, she would be sent out in the field and return in a box. Now, that would no longer happen!

Lambo would have a bright future ahead of him.

She was spoiling her son, she knew, but she couldn't seem to stop. Lambo was a bright boy and he deserved only the best. It didn't matter if it was one in the morning; if he wanted grape milk, she would bloody well give him his milk.

But her bright vision for his future was instantly destroyed. She expected it, but somehow she didn't see it coming. Her death was something she completely forgot to plan for.

Three years later, when the Boss had deemed her son sufficient enough to be independent, he had sent her out on a field mission. This was a relatively simple mission. She and another man were sent to deliver a 'package' to their client. What the package contained, they were not privy to that information.

She could've refused, but the Boss's orders were absolute. Failure to obey would be insubordination and result in public disciplinarian action which was humiliating and would forever be marked down on her record. The Boss was not harsh to expel them from the Family, nor was he cold-hearted enough to kill his subordinates.

Besides, the order was easy enough to complete.

...

...

...

But, really, who expected things to go smoothly in the Underworld?

Age: 3 Years old

A child's cry rang through the rather small manor. The passing housekeepers kept walking as they gave the door, where the child's cry rang loudest, only a passing glance. Such a thing was a common occurrence in the otherwise quiet manor.

Even the Boss had taken to wearing earplugs at night when the annoying child's cries would suddenly break through the silence.

Usually, they would have waited until the child exhausted himself to sleep, but such a thing was not possible for today. Today, the Boss was beyond pissed and it was all because of the failure to deliver the package and the death of his two members.

Their orders were simple. They were to drop off that simple package in a restaurant in Florence and their contact would pick it up. Money was already deposited in their account and there were no problems.

However, the Macchina Famiglia had been tipped off about this meeting and attempted to steal the package before the client could arrive. Needless to say, there were gunshots and bloodshed involved.

A male operative was killed before backup could arrive. His partner, the female, had valiantly staved off the attackers, if only until backup arrived. But in the midst of the gun fight, she was shot near a major artery. Through sheer willpower, she only barely managed to hold on to consciousness and see the arrival of her comrades.

Severe blood loss and shock were what killed her. She didn't even make it to the Bovino's medical bay before she died.

There was a crack as the fountain pen the Boss was holding broke in the middle. He let go before the ink could stain his hand. The crying was infuriating and it only intensified by the hour.

"Ottavio," he addressed his secretary. "Where is that child's mother? What is she doing not calming that brat?"

"I believe she's in the morgue, sir," his prim secretary answered.

"And? Why isn't she with her kid?" The Boss pinched the bridge of his nose to stave off an incoming headache.

"She's dead, sir. Placing the child with his mother would only cause extreme distress for the child."

His hand slid down his face as his secretary answered his questions literally. Sometimes he wondered why he didn't just fire her. She was too literal and serious-minded. Then he would look at her and think,Oh, yeah. The rest of the applicants weren't as efficient and well-endowed as her.

"Well, do something about it! And prepare my car while you're at it. I'm going to the bar."

…

…

…

When he entered his car, it was to find the previously crying child facing him. He was dressed in a cow-printed jumpsuit and his hair was styled in a ridiculous afro. Oh, and he was staring open-mouthed at the Boss. The Boss could see a blank space where the upper and lower left canines should be.

The car was revved and driving before the Boss gathered his wits. Damn it, Ottavio.

"Do you want some…grapes?" he offered the first thing he saw. He could only thank his subordinates for preparing a fruit basket in his limousine.

The kid was an annoying chatterbox and took joy in telling the Boss what he did that day. Up to the last miniscule detail.

"-and then it came out as a big whoosh and my tummy don't hurt anymore and-"

Damn it, Ottavio. I'm demoting you when I get back.

That was how Lambo first entered a bar and gained his babysitter.

Age: 4 years old

"FIND THAT BRAT!"

The fuming Boss's order rang throughout the mansion. Every personnel, be it maid, butler, security and even the maintenance, scrambled to their feet and abandoned their posts.

The Boss's order was absolute and it had to be followed as soon as it was given. There was no question on which brat the Boss was talking about. There was only one child in the mansion and it was that child.

The double door of the Boss's door slammed open and the Boss strode out himself, looking quite murderous even with his glittery, pink hair.

Faintly, the voice of that annoying child echoed back to him, "Gwahahaha! You can't catch the Great Lambo."

A vein ticked and the Boss shouted at the top of his lungs, "CATCH THAT BRAT AND STRING HIM ALIVE! Use any means necessary! I want him in front of me before the day is up!"

All the members of his Famiglia, from the second highest, Capo bastone, to the Associates, scrambled away to hunt for the annoying kid. Everyone was fired up and they pulled out their aces in order to catch the brat. All were sure that the first person to actually find him would earn favours (and maybe even a promotion) from the Boss.

Lambo, meanwhile, was exploring the suddenly empty wing of the mansion. After walking the stretch of hallway and trying all doors (all locked), he quickly got bored.

With his hands behind his head, he remarked, "This is boring."

Then he spied upon an open door at the end of the hallway.

In another dimension, Ottavio was in the mansion and not away on a much needed vacation. Lambo's prank would not happen, and Ottavio's language lesson would be in session. Lambo would quickly annoy the Boss, and out of sheer annoyance, the Boss would send him away on a phony mission against the World's Greatest Hitman, Reborn. He would not know about Lambo's Electtrico Cuoio or his potential as a Lightning Flame User.

However, in this dimension, Ottavio was not present. She was not able to prevent Lambo's prank and thus, unable to prevent the young Bovino hitman from entering their deepest, darkest and most secret lab.

And so, Lambo entered the lab.

His eyes widened at the various assortments of shiny things. On one of the nearest shelves, he saw a yellow thing, and upon closer inspection, he recognized it as one of those pointy things the Boss's cows had on their heads. He took it and stuck it on his head.

But still, something felt wrong.

He saw another yellow thing on the other shelf and grinned wildly. He took it and stuck it on the other side.

"Gwahahaha! The awesome Lambo will now pierce you with his horns!" he guffawed as he struck a pose.

Then, his green eyes were drawn to the large, purple thing on one of the tables. He didn't know that this was his Boss's highly treasured lab, nor did he know that the large, purple thing was his Boss's highly treasured invention. All he knew was that that thing was shiny and awesome, so he had to see it up close.

He ran closer, but as his luck would have had it, he tripped and banged his head against the table's leg. The force shook the table lightly, and a small, pink thing rolled down and fell onto Lambo's head…

The Boss stalked angrily towards his highly secret lab. Only his best scientist could enter the lab, and that was only if they possessed the key card for that. The Boss made sure to personally check his workers' profiles before letting them enter.

Even the security detail was personally checked by him.

That was why he was alarmed to see that the hallway was devoid of any person. He picked up his pace.

He was about three doors near when he heard faint laughter—that brat—coming from the lab and a loud bang less than a minute later. Fearing for his lab, he ran the remaining distance.

The door was unlocked when he turned the handle, and he cursed.

He pushed the door and was about to loudly announce his presence when he heard an unfamiliar voice speaking in a foreign language.

"Yare, yare, where am I?"

The Boss slipped through and saw a teenager standing in the lab. His hand reached for the gun in his pocket. But, when his hand reached empty air, he cursed silently once again. He left his weapon on his desk!

The teenager's back was on him, and he had yet to see the Boss.

The Boss, meanwhile, was searching for a nearby weapon, and he saw an X26 Taser. Picking it up quietly, he aimed and fired.

The two nodes were released and pierced the teenager's neck. Electricity coursed from the wire and through the teenager. But, instead of falling and twitching on the ground, the teenager remained standing and even calmly plucked the wires from his skin, letting it fall on the ground.

Electricity danced across his skin like fairies dancing inside a circle. It was enchanting, mesmerizing, dangerous. It slowly dissipated, seemingly absorbed in his skin.

The Taser fell from the Boss's numb fingers. The stun gun was already deadly on its own. It had to be; his scientists had already modified it to produce over a billion volts with the highest current possible. That was also considering the average resistance of the body.

In short, the victim of this Taser should have been fried to dust.

"That hurts, you know," the teenager grumbled as he turned around. "I don't like pain that much."

The Boss had finally registered what language the teen was speaking. His Japanese was rusty, and he couldn't understand a word the black-haired teen was saying.

"Damn it!" the Boss cursed. "How the hell did you enter my lab? Which Family are you from?"

The Boss didn't achieve his position by being a coward.

The teenager's green eyes widened in surprise and they flitted left and right, taking in his surroundings. Finally, his eyes settled on the Boss.

"You're…" the teen began. "You're the Bovino Boss."

Now that the child was facing the Boss, he could see that he was unarmed. His thin cow-printed pajamas were easy to see through and there was no place to hide a gun unseen. The Boss relaxed.

"Indeed, I am," he replied, lifting his head proudly while subtly edging towards the gun. All intruders must be dispatched, even if it was a child in hideous nightclothes.

"And you are dead," the Boss finished. He grabbed the gun and fired before the child could even register his words.

Before the bullet could pierce the teen's head, there came a burst of pink smoke.

Smoke bomb, huh? The Boss thought as he scanned his surroundings. But he saw nothing and there was no movement within the smoke.

The pink smoke thinned and the Boss could see a hole on the opposite wall. He scowled.

The bullet had missed its target.

The smoke had now fully dissipated. The Boss blinked, perplexed.

Sitting on the floor was the annoying brat, who was sucking on a lollipop, as if it was his own bedroom.

Where the hell is that trespasser?! The Boss angrily thought as his eyes roamed the lab.

"Boss," the annoying brat's voice was grating on his ears. "Why is your head pink?"

The Boss looked down at him. Lambo blinked his green eyes innocently back.

Green eyes that was similar to the intruder's.

The Boss's eyes then saw the purple bazooka, which was innocently resting on the table, and its small, pink ammunitions that were almost near the edge of the table. His eyes flickered back and forth from the table to Lambo.

With every flicker, the Boss's eyes gained a maniacal glint. Then he began to laugh, first softly, and then it began to grow uproariously.

His look…it was the look of someone who had solved the mysteries of the universe. It was the face of success and open opportunities.

Lambo slowly edged away from the Boss.

Age: 5 ¼ years old

The Boss paced restlessly in front of the reinforced one-way mirror. Through the mirror, he could see a child, strapped on a metal table, with various wires attached to him.

The five-year old Lambo was crying as his skin glowed because of the electricity coursing through him. Gone was the hideous jumpsuit Ottavio forced him in and so was the ridiculous afro his secretary styled. The child's naturally wavy hair was standing on its ends and fizzled with energy.

"Ottavio," the Boss called his recently promoted secretary, "what's the status?"

"The energy output has been increased by 0.01%," Ottavio replied, briefly glancing at her clipboard. "Current energy output is on 7.36%."

"Just 0.01%?"

"Yes, sir," Ottavio replied. "Any attempt to raise energy levels was met with failure. The subject exhibited bleeding and internal injuries. Further trials will result in the depletion of our generated Sun flames."

"And of the subject?"

"The Ten-Year Bazooka had been revised and set to the maximum time possible. The subject is still loyal to this 'Tsuna-nii', but has shown an ability to manifest Lightning Flames when provoked. Furthermore, the insignia of a clam was found inside his pocket."

The Boss bit on the nail of his thumb in thought.

This experiment was resulting in failure, and the Boss was becoming frustrated. The current subject's durability was progressing slowly, and any positive results were unreachable. Although the future subject showed great potential, he was too stubborn and too much loyal to this 'Tsuna-nii' person. The added evidence was hard to ignore.

A clam. Only one Family used a clam in their insignia.

There were rumours—nothing concrete yet—that the successor of the Vongola was a young Japanese boy. The news of the death of the Nono's three sons had been widely discussed, and even a small Family as the Bovino had been informed.

Coincidentally, the head of CEDEF, which was obviously a branch of Vongola no matter how much they denied it, was last seen heading to the airport. There was no record of him leaving, but only a dumb person would not connect 'Raion Numata' to 'Iemitsu Sawada'.

Then again, the Boss only figured out this name pun when a bilingual operative spelled it out for him.*

But still, Raion Numata was recorded to be headed for Japan. The exact location was unknown.

If the Boss's thoughts were correct, then this 'Tsuna-nii' person was the successor of Vongola, and Lambo was proven extremely loyal to him. It didn't matter how much the Boss pampered the child; Lambo could not be persuaded to side with them. There was little hope for Lambo to be his insider in the Vongola.

He must be disposed.

"Ottavio," the Boss called. "The subject is of no use anymore. Dispose of him."

"Yes, Boss."

August 30, 19XX, Milan, Italy

Three days before Tsuna's awakening

Ottavio gazed indifferently at the slumbering child in front of her. The Boss had ordered this child's demise and so she would obey.

The Boss's order was absolute, and no one dared to question his orders. This was the mantra passed on to every operative in the Family and none had yet attempted to break it.

That was until Ottavio found herself questioning her recent orders.

The Boss's command was so sudden and so unlike him that she had trouble completing it. It would be terribly easy to end this child's life—she was a trained assassin and knew all the tricks of the trade—but never had the Boss stooped so low to order the death of innocent children.

The two grunts the Boss ordered to come with her shifted restlessly from behind her, and her indifferent face turned into a scowl.

For the past year, the Boss's orders were unpredictable and sometimes too heartless even for her taste. The experimentation with her charge, Lambo, was the last straw that broke the camel's back. When he rose to power, the Boss had pledged never to touch the subject of human experimentation, and he broke that pledge.

Ottavio had never been sentimental nor one who was easily emotionally involved, but somehow Lambo's annoying ways had wormed itself into her walled heart. It took all her training to maintain a cold façade as Lambo was subjected to pain (tooyoungfortoomuchpain).

A deep breath and all her thoughts were now tucked away in the recesses of her mind. It would do her no good to ponder on such thoughts.

She took the child's wrist and pulled up the sleeve.

It was too easy. Lambo was thin enough to be mistaken as a homeless child. The police would find the body some time and declare the cause of death as suicide. Many children had fallen to such devastating means when pushed from the brink of sanity. Too easy.

As she pulled out the sharp glass she prepared and hovered it over the child's wrist, two gasps rang from behind her and the sound of falling bodies—how well she was acquainted with it!—was heard.

And then, somebody spoke, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

She quickly turned around, the glass shard poised like a blade. Her eyes befell upon a young man, a teenager really, dressed mostly in white, with a purple tattoo under his left eye. All these she categorized in a second.

The teenager smiled and raised his hand in a placating manner as he calmly strode nearer as if Ottavio was merely pointing a lollipop at him instead of a potentially dangerous weapon.

"Stop," Ottavio ordered as she got into a fighting stance better suited with a knife.

"Oya, oya," the teenager was still walking, deliberately stepping on the two grunt's faces. "I'm harmless, see?"

Ottavio did see, but she knew full well that this stranger could have hidden some weapons.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"My name is of no import, but I've come to liberate you from that child," he answered, and suddenly he was kneeling beside Lambo, poking his cheeks and peeling an eyelid open. And Ottavio didn't even see him move.

"Get away from him!" she aimed a kick at the stranger's head.

Ottavio was never committed, but when she was, she was protective.

She didn't expect the kick to hit, and so followed up her attack with a forward lunge. The teenager simply caught her wrist and twisted.

"I didn't come here to fight," the youth was still smiling pleasantly at her. "I'd hope you'd extend to me the same courtesy."

Then she felt a sharp pain on her neck and all was darkness.

When she came to, she saw no teenager and no Lambo. When she returned to the mansion, the Boss questioned her sudden leave. When she opened Lambo's room, it was to find it devoid of any things. When she opened the file cabinet, there was no record of the previous year's experiments.

Lambo of the Bovino was gone. And there was no proof he had lived in the mansion.

And so we find out how Lambo ended up in Namimori. A subtle shift in the timeline, an absence of a person, could change everything. Oh yeah, and Byakuran.

A/N:

*Numata Raion:

Raion, when translated to English, is lion. The first name choice should be obvious. Young Lion of the Vongola and all that.

Numata has the kanjis 沼田 while Sawada has 沢 田. The first characters (Numa and Sawa) can be both translated as swamp. Second character remains the same.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

*Ottavio:

She's an actual character mentioned in the anime. There's no description of her, other than Lambo calls her Aunt Ottavio (see ep29).

Anyway, reviews are appreciated. They help me know what I should change, or improve, and if I portray the characters correctly.

To the guest reviewer who asked about my update sched: I update sporadically. The fastest I could do is two months. Or if I have a chapter already written. It really depends on my free time.

I might go on a temporary hiatus. School starts in a week and I won't have time to write. So yeah.