Yep, I'm back. After three weeks. Without an excuse. It's just this thing called procrastination, you know? Yeah. I'm REALLY sorry. ...Don't kill me?

On a more cheerful note, 89 REVIEWS! 11 TO THE 100 MARK! YAY! You guys are awesome, and thanks SO MUCH for reviewing! :D It makes me feel bad I took such a long time to update...

Also, the poll is still going. Desperate Mafia-wives is winning, at this point... So VOTE! (If you haven't already)...

Don't forget to click the glorious blue button at the bottom! And happy Hunger Games! (The plot was really cliche, though. Look up the Wikipedia summary for the book Battle Royale, fans.)

Chapter 9: Over The River And Through The Woods

"NOOOOOOOOO! MY BEAUTIFUL- GAH!" Before he could finish is scentence, the Founder of the Vongola Family was crushed under a huge green hammer... called Leon. Nice naming skills, Reborn. Don't kill me. Anyhow, back to the story.

"LOSER GIOTTO! DO YOU WANT THEM TO FIND US! DON'T SCREAM LIKE THAT!" roared Rinato.

"Hypocrite..." Giotto mumbled from under said hammer. With an impressive display of (very) rare strength (Yay! His training paid off!), he heaved the offending object/chameleon of of him and shot to his feet. "RUNNNNN!"

"That was a pretty quick mood change," muttered Tsuna. Of course, that he didn't mean he didn't follow his ancestor's advice. Contrary to public belief, he wasn't that stupid yet. And so off the two most powerful generations of the most powerful mafia family went, running through a forest screaming bloody murder. Forget the Fiancato finding them, they just wanted to get the hell away.

Reborn and Rinato watched proudly as their students displayed feats of running worthy of the Olympics.

"Good job, Dame-Tsuna. I'm glad you got faster," commented you-know-who (No, not Moldywart. And Pigpimples isn't anywhere near this area, either.) His companion nodded.

"That just proves what wonderful tutors we are," agreed Rinato. Without further ado, Leon transformed into a sports car and off they went, zooming through the trees without a care in the world.

About half an hour later, all fourteen Guardians except Hibari and Alaude were panting - including the Sun and Rain Guardians. After all, the Clouds were too badass to pant. Plus the lovely authoress is a fangirl... but that's beside the point.

So, imagine Tsuna's face when he saw the Devil Pair happily park their luxury, auto-controlled car while playing a (not so) friendly game of cards.

"HIEEEEEEEEEEE! Reborn! You could have just driven us here!" he screamed indignantly.

"But I didn't," the hitman replied smugly, cute little eyes twinkling evilly. "Anyways, Dame-Tsuna, now where do we go?"

"...I don't know...?"

"Come with me," a voice from behind the trees croaked.

"Stranger Danger! I'm not going anywhere with you, unless you have candy!" Giotto picked that moment to come out of he pile of misery position. OTL (See the depressed person?)

"GAHAHAHA! Give Lambo-sama candy! Gimme! Gimme!" screamed Lambo, waking up to the sound of the word candy.

Tsuna could almost see whoever it was sweatdropping. That thought, however, quickly fled as a dark shape began to emerge mysteriously from the shadows. Being the epic loser he still was, the poor fish fell on his butt and shivered in pure terror. Obviously, he had forgotten that he was the superhero who had saved the world from total destruction. Yeah.

While our favorite Mafia Boss (other that Giotto) was having an epileptic fit, a middle-aged man holding a cane and bearing an unbearably shiny head appeared and beckoned for Giotto to follow.

"Who the hell are you," asked the Primo rudely. Forget politeness! What are you going to do, invite the old bald dude trying to rape you to a cup of tea? ...Actually, the last part was a figment of Giotto's imagination. How is it even possible for GUY to get raped? Wait, no, scratch that. Giotto definately didn't want to know. Nope, nope. Protect the innocent mind of a Mafioso.

Back on track.

"The question is, who are you?" Said old bald man leaned close to Giotto, adopting what he probably hoped was a mysterious air.

"What?"

Annoyed, the weirdo stomped his foot and whipped off his bald cap, revealing perfectly abundant, non-descript (though still shiny) brown hair. "Hn, you people aren't any fun. I'm Talbot, inventor extraordinaire, and chief technician of the new underground Vongola base that was commissioned last year!"

Giotto blinked. "What Vongola base?"

"Yours! Come with me, and I'll show you!"

"Only if you give me candy!"

"GAHAHAHAHA! Lambo-sama wants candy!"

And the whole escipade started all over again...

Five minutes later, Rinato finally intervened with a "Loser Giotto, go with him. I had him build the base in case something like this happened".

Giotto blinked again, and grumbled, "You could have told me earlier... OK, let's go!"

"LAMBO-SAMA WANTS CANDY!" wailed Lambo, adorably, annoyingly furious that nobody was paying attention to him whatsoever. He was still ignored-especially since everyone other than Tsuna, Giotto, Reborn, and Rinato had gone to sleep from the pure exertion of sprinting ten miles through a forest. Not that his loud cry didn't wake them up.

"Don't disturb me when I'm sleeping, retarded cow," grumbled Hibari.

"What's retarded? Lambo-sama isn't retarded! Scary tonfa man is retarded! GAHAHAHA! RETARDED TONFA MAN! RETARDED TONFA MAN!" sung Lambo, dancing around crazily.

"..." The only natural reaction for Hibari was to silence the stupid herbivore. By smashing his face with a brutal tonfa made to smash herbivores' faces. "Herbivore. Let's go."

Unperturbed by the slaughter of an innocent (OK, not-so-innocent) cow, Talbot grinned crazily. "Yep! The base is over that river the through that patch of woods!"

"Really? Over the river and through the woods?" mumbled Tsuna. Like Lambo, he was ignored as the group trudged through the forest once again.

An hour later (it tuned out that the "patch of woods" was a very large patch of woods), they had finally made it to the base... which turned out to be a trapdoor shabbily hidden under a square of dirt. Compared the the high-tech, Giannini-designed future Vongola Base, a trapdoor was totally unimpressive. But hey, this was the 1600's! People were stupid, back then!

Down they went, all seventeen of them, climbing down the rope ladder that was the era's most advanced technology.

"Che, this is stupid. The Fiancata will definately find this base," compained Gokudera, voicing everyone's thoughts.

"Hehehe, you won't be saying that when you find the real entrance!" Really, Talbot's laugh was beginning to freak Tsuna out. It should be banned. Besides, what did he mean by 'real entrance'? Wasn't the trapdoor the entrance? What the heck?

Finally, they reached the bottom of the latter. Tsuna's mouth practically touched the ground as he gaped at the wreckage.

"HIEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Yep, that probably summarized everyone's feelings now.

That's all for today! And, lo and behold, another cliffhanger!

And remember! VOTE WITH YOUR DYING WILL!

:D

~ TheAloofBunny~~~!