Chapter Text
The universe was on the verge of falling apart.
Ever since both Kawahira and Yuni vanished, the remaining holders of the Tri-ni-sette were no longer able to rebalance the flow of power needed to maintain the universe.
"Tsuna," Shouichi paused, peering worriedly at his boss over the top of his spectacles. "Are you certain that you want to go through with this? If it fails..." his voice drifted off.
Smiling wryly, Tsuna couldn't help but rub his palm over his tired eyes. It has been days - maybe even weeks since he had a proper sleep. "If it fails, at least we have tried," he paused, his mind flashing through the events which happened over the past month. "It is not as if we have any more to lose. Not after what happened to Lambo..."
No one expected that to happen and it took everyone by surprise to say the least.
It started off as a regular day - as regular as it could have been by Vongola's standards, and no one thought much about it when Lambo vanished in a puff of smoke. With the way his younger self used the bazooka every hour, the puff of smoke was a common occurrence whenever Lambo was in the room.
But when the younger Lambo failed to appear from the smoke cloud, a silver of worry crept into his heart. After 5 minutes, the worry only heightened when their Lambo never returned.
It has been 6 months since then.
Months of investigation and research only brought about the most worrying of results.
Kawahira and Yuni's disappearance had a greater than expected impact.
Especially since the Sky Pacifier was never found.
A month ago, his team of scientists presented to him their findings. While reading through the binder of testing results and theories, his eyes caught the final conclusion which the team agreed on.
Universe Entropy
In simpler terms, the universe itself was disintegrating and Lambo disappearance was merely a side-effect due to the underlying problem.
The Arcobeleno - when Tsuna reached out to Reborn for help, were also experiencing a rapid decline in terms of flame output and an increased aging. In the past 6 months, Tsuna estimated that the group have aged by at least a decade.
At this point, the machine in front of him was the only possible solution.
Powered by both the Mare and Vongola rings, Shouichi and his team created this device to send the holders of the rings back to a point in time where they would be able to prevent all of this from happening.
Vongola rings are needed to push the participants back through the generations.
Mare rings to allow the device to lock on the correct timeline.
"When will it be ready?"
Shouichi moved over to the console screen and tapped on the keyboard a couple of times before replying, "it should be ready by the end of the week. There is a couple of calculations which I would like to confirm before proceeding."
"Thank you," a tiny smile graced his face, Tsuna stood up and made his way towards the door. "I will be in the main wing, please let me know if anything comes up."
"Tsuunaa~" a chirpy voice sounded right next to his ear, "are you ready?"
Side eyeing the person who tormented him for most of his teenage years, Tsuna resisted the urge to sigh. "There isn't any other option, is there?"
"It has only been a week, but Reborn's condition has already detoriated to the point where he's nearly bedridden." He clenched his fist as the image of his mentor came to mind.
"We have to do something before it's too late."
"Hmm..." Byakuran glanced over to his fellow Tri-ni-sette holder, "have you ever thought...that it might already be too late?"
"...I'm not giving up."
"If there's still a chance to change things...I can't." Tsuna whispered. The burden of the recent events weighing heavily on him.
"Maaa... Well, that's what I'm here for." He slung his arm over Tsuna's shoulders. "We'll be here with you at every step of the way."
Shooting a grateful look towards Byakuran's for the uncharacteristic words of comfort, he tugged the arm off his shoulders and continued walking towards the labs.
Standing in front of the doors, Tsuna quickly keyed in the password and with a hiss, the doors opened, revealing the crowd of people who were inside.
Only the people who were involved in this plan were in the room. Unfortunately, apart from Lambo, Chrome was also not found amongst those currently in the room.
The plan that was designed by Shouichi and Byakuran requires the artifacts from the Tri-ni-sette - specifically, the Mare and Vongola rings.
Out of the two mist guardians, Mukuro was the one who ultimately made the decision to go. There was too much of a risk for Chrome to make the trip as the calculations done on the machine put the predicted landing date to be around the time of her accident and no one else in the group is proficient enough to re-create her organs using mist flames.
"Tsuna!" Came the chorus of greetings from his family.
Looking around at the faces of his friends - his family - for the greater part of the past decade, Tsuna was grateful that they still chose to believe in him and follow his lead...even when he made decisions like this.
"Everyone... Thank you for coming." Tsuna bowed to his family before him, and raised a hand to stop their protests before continuing, "This trip, regardless of whether it works, is likely to be a one way trip."
He looked at those who still had family that they regularly kept in contact with. "Takeshi, Ryouhei...even you Kyouya, this will be the only chance you get to back out. Are you sure?"
"Stop messing around omnivore. Do you think that anything here would survive if we did nothing?" Kyouya interrupted with a sharp retort.
"Tsuna," Ryouhei spoke up next, "sometimes we have to take some risks in order to create a better future."
Ryouhei's solemn eyes bored into his and Tsuna was abruptly reminded that he has been the one in charge of monitoring the Arcobeleno's condition.
Another arm came around his shoulders and tugged him into a tight hug, "Don't worry Tsuna, my dad understands." Takeshi's voice whispered into his ear before a grinning face appeared in front of him.
Not someone to be left out, Hayato quickly made his way over and drug Tsuna into another hug, "Tenth... Tsuna, we will always be there for you. You aren't alone in this, and we won't let you walk down this path alone."
Looking around at everyone's faces, he took in a shuddering breath, and smiled, "thank you... Thank you everyone."
Prying himself out of the hug, he turned over to Shouichi and nodded.
"Ahem..." Shouichi waved to the rest, getting their attention, "everyone, please make sure that your rings are securely on your finger as that will be the anchor for the device. If you lose it, I can't guarantee where or when you will end up."
Looking around at the seven people in front of him, he continued, "Hayato, out of everyone that's going, you are the only one who participated in the development of this device. Please make sure that you have a copy of the blueprints with you."
"Mukuro, we have Shamal on standby to take over the support for Chrome the moment the device is activated."
"If no one has any questions, please step into the device's unit." He gestured to the door of the device.
"Once everyone is ready," Shouichi paused, "good luck and may you have a safe journey." He whispered just loud enough for them to hear.
His palm hit the button before him and everyone within the unit felt a tugging sensation. The device started to drain their flames as it powered up.
The world before them begun to shatter before everything faded away.
From a distance, Tsuna vaguely heard the echo of someone yelling.
"I am Ironman!"
Before his vision exploded into white and he felt a force shoving him off to the side.