I have had this idea for quite a while. I will admit, I like Skull because of the Potential. As a character with little screen time, he's in the perfect position to be written about by random fans. You can do anything with him, on a whim. You don't need to rethink the plot or make a likable character unlikable a whole lot, just start and see where you go.

:This is based on Katekyo Hitman Reborn, see end of page for MLA citation.

It was not a good week for Vongola. And that was putting it mildly.

After everything that had happened; the future, the Arcobaleno battles, Daemon Spade, etc., Tsuna had finally become the boss of Vongola. And it hadn't taken a month and a hole in security due to CEDEF incompetencies before he'd been kidnapped followed by every single one of his Guardians.

Even Reborn wouldn't fault the tenth generation, at least not very much. They should've been able to trust CEDEF to secure their own headquarters, especially when the Vongola boss came by to visit. And if they got out of this alive, Iemitsu would definitely be fired.

Because with Tsuna held hostage, the people who had taken him, some new famiglia, had managed to get both the Varia and Reborn to lay down their weapons when they had tried to mount a rescue. And then had managed to acquire Fon through a similar method, followed by both Lal and Colonello, then Verde. The ex-Arcobaleno, for they had all managed to grow to their previous age, had all been captured, along with the Varia and the Vongola.

Caring about their friends and allies, especially when they owed those people their lives, tends to make people irrational. With two Arcobaleno(Reborn and Mammon) already captured, and Vongola held hostage the rest had no choice but to surrender.

This left them with no allies who could or would be able to really do anything against such a well prepared force. Even the Cavallone wouldn't stand a chance. If Vongola had known about the new famiglia before, their strengths and weaknesses, they might have had a chance, but these guys were ghosts before they started kidnapping people.

And their boss was monologuing at them. Reborn was really unhappy about that. Because not only had they done everything to make certain that none of the elements could escape, including flame dampening cuffs, but they had also drugged both Sky's(Tsuna and Xanxus) up to their ears so as to better control the others. Which was worrying. And the monologue was really boring.

And none of them would try anything for fear of them messing with either Tsuna or Xanxus. Even Verde, Colonello, and Lal were terrified for the Sky's.

It was a bad situation, the enemy boss smug and knowing that he was home free. After all, he had captured Vongola, Varia, and Arcobaleno. There was no one left who could stop them.

Except for the former Cloud Arcobaleno.

But the guy was weak, everyone knew. Not even worth going after. The Boss doubted such an idiot would be able to do anything, if he even tried.

However, the mafia in general had made three mistakes in their dealing with the Cloud Arcobaleno. One, the guy was a former showman, and was used to giving people a show, what they expected to see, and they had all thought he was a weak civilian right off the bat. Two, Skull was an Inverted Cloud, which meant that he had different triggers and territory than the much more common Classic Cloud's such as Hibari Kyouya. And Three, just because he was considered the weakest Arcobaleno didn't mean that he wasn't the strongest Cloud.

And for all that none of the rest of the Arcobaleno seemed nice to him, that didn't mean that all of the former cursed didn't care and look out for each other, even if they'd never admit it. And Inverted Clouds had a tendency to see people as territory.

So, with everyone he considered his captured by an idiot with illusions of grandeur, the Cloud went into rage. He went on a Rampage. But not the hot rage that Clouds were known for, this was a cold anger that hunted down every part of everything involved, stole every bit of wealth and information, and generally destroyed any sort of communication between various bases for the sole purpose of making sure that the entire world of the one who'd angered them came crashing down. He burned and salted the earth, and every single person connected to what had pissed him off was going to regret it for what little time they lived.

The Boss didn't know this, that he was being destroyed and hunted so fervently, he didn't even think to check in with his men he was so busy gloating. This was his downfall.

And finally the Cloud made it to the last place, the stronghold of the enemy, and knocked ever so politely.

And waited.

Then.

He. Knocked.

Down.

The. Doors.

That.

Dared.

Stop. Him.

frOM.

REACHING.

HIS.

TERRITORY.

The new famiglia was dead. They just didn't know it yet. For while Inverted Clouds have a long fuse, when they finally blow nothing survives.

*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*

Reborn was angry, frustrated, annoyed. You could name a lot of the negative emotions he held, actually, and normally they were quite dangerous for the person they were pointed towards. Except this time he couldn't do what he wished and just kill that Bastardo that wouldn't shut up, because he held Tsuna captive. And Reborn wouldn't do anything to endanger his student(his sky, big enough for two suns, for him, he's so bright and encompassing).

If even Reborn couldn't take them out(It would have been easy without them having his dame student as a hostage), then no one not already captured stood a chance. Well, maybe Skull, Reborn admitted within his own mind. But, with how they had treated him Reborn would understand if Skull just stood back and laughed at their demise.

He hadn't meant to do what he had, but he hadn't wanted the Cloud to be killed. By the time he realized that he might have gone a bit too far in his attempts at training, his reaction to Skull was an ingrained reaction.

In his defense, he thought that the Cloud was strong enough to handle it. And he was, Physically. It was the insults and the unnecessary abuse that did it.

Plus, they'd never actually told Skull that they were training him.

Not their brightest idea ever.

So now the one hope to get out of this mess undoubtedly had just ignored them, for the reason of revenge against the rest of the Arcobaleno. Because like it or not, Skull was very good at what he did, they just hadn't realized it at first.

The man, even when he'd still been a stuntman first joining them, had been a world class getaway driver. Like seriously, he could drive, fly, steer, etc., anything with ridiculous amount of skill. Especially a motorcycle, which Reborn had once seen the guy dress up as a knight, hold a lance down in front of him, and charge at other vehicles when they were chasing down some idiots that had stolen some valuable jewelry and papers.

He'd later explained it as him having been headed to a medieval convention thing.

Either way, Reborn was certain that this was it for them. There was literally nothing he could do, and the reality of the situation was making his insides squirm because even the World's Greatest Hitman couldn't escape and defeat the enemies that had rendered them useless.

Reborn knew that it was likely that they would all die her-BANG!

Wait, that sounded like-BANG!

Someone was knocking on the massive steel door. A smile lit Reborn's face

Then… SCRAAANG! With a screech the metal literally crumpled and caved in, tearing off the hinges with force.

Standing there in the recently made opening, the Cloud Arcobaleno stood, eyes glowing and putting of an impressive aura of bloodthirst.

Amano, Akira. Katekyo Hitman Reborn. 2004. 42 vols.

Yeah, I might have rushed this one. Oh, well