Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He is not going to deny anything, Lambo was a brat the moment he met Tsuna. Almost every person he met, he gave them either bad or degrading nicknames, more like insults, or would call them his subordinates. Whenever he didn’t get his way, he would throw a tantrum and then cause chaos and/or trouble for Tsuna and his friends. He had an ego the size of the moon, stating how he was the strongest and nothing can beat him, when in reality, the moment he gets hurt, even just a little bit, he pulls out the ten-year bazooka and jumps in, causing the him from ten years in the future to pop out.

Tsuna would tell him that there wasn’t much of a difference except his ego, thankfully, has gotten smaller, just a little bit though, he was extra lazy, and he was a coward.

So, what hope did anyone have of Lambo ever changing? Everyone assumed that the Lambo from ten years in the future, who was fifteen years old, was a part of a concrete future. That nothing else could happen and change that logic.

But time is a funny thing. It’s a bit like a giant spiderweb, each thread an event or another path. One small thing could lead to a bigger change than anyone could have ever predicted.

Then came the year he turned eight years old, near the beginning of the school year, I-Pin told him they couldn’t be friends anymore because his personality and bad manners kept pushing people away and making everyone not want to be their friends. She felt lonely despite the duo’s long friendship, it didn’t feel like enough to her. So, she left him to make friends of her own, leaving him with no one.

Not even a couple of days later, Mukuro bluntly, and harshly, told Lambo to shut up while he was ranting about I-Pin, his classmates, and school.

“Why do you think people don’t want to be with you? Keep leaving you?”, Mukuro snaps at the young boy after finally having enough, “You’re a annoying, selfish, stupid, cowardly crybaby. No one would want to hang around with some one that has at least two of those traits. You’re the very definition of abominable. Face it, stupid cow, no would ever want to be with you, much less your friend.”

The harsh words unsurprisingly got to Lambo, but surprisingly they hit them in a way Mukuro didn’t mean for them to, hitting Lambo hard with the realization that I-Pin and Mukuro were right. He was such an awful person, such an awful brat to everyone, that everyone avoids him now, never wanting to be the ones to be with him or, more accurately in their minds, babysit him. Even Mama looked weary whenever dealing with him.

It was a brutal awakening, especially for an eight-year-old, but it was needed in order for Lambo to grow. Because of this, Lambo matured quickly. He stopped carrying all of his weapons around in his afro, got a haircut and a different style of clothes, though kept the cow theme, even though it was more subtle than before. He became more polite, he studied diligently, he was quiet now, never disturbed class, and finally wore his uniform properly, his teachers where so surprised, they called Nana to make sure she had given them the right Lambo, then the school called Tsuna to double check and make sure Nana wasn’t confusing the boy with someone else instead..

For some reason, the two adults never thought much about it. Only thinking that Lambo was quieter since his break off with I-Pin was still pretty recent. They never thought much or looked into how school never called about Lambo getting into trouble during the years to come.

The school honestly never saw it coming. They don’t know what happen to instigate the change, but they didn’t care. They’re just glad it happened when it did so Lambo could have a bright future with his education if he continued on this new path he chose.

Lambo stopped looking at others as his subordinates, instead, he did everything he could to become a better person and for the guardians and those that live in the Vongola mansion to like him.

Yes, Lambo did mature faster than an eight-year-old should. But he’s been through more than any other child, along with Fuuta and I-Pin.

As months passed, Lambo knew that the others wouldn’t notice the change right away, much less accept it. Never thinking that the selfish, egotistical, cowardly, cry baby could make such a switch on his personality.

He learned patience.

He remembered all the time he has spent with Tsuna and all that time, the patience Tsuna needed to deal with Lambo as his adoptive older brother, while having to watch over and take care of I-Pin and Fuuta as well. How many times Tsuna and the others had to save the younger trio because Lambo kept dragging them into trouble.

With all this in mind, Lambo grew patience and waited for years, patience never wavering until he was eleven years old. Three years since he made the change. Yet no one has accepted the fact that he has changed. In fact, no one has even noticed except for a certain skylark, who has kept it to himself for his own reason, not even telling Lambo, the school itself, the adults not so much the kids, and a specific teacher that worked there when he first made the decision to change in the first place.

He realized this when he noticed that both I-Pin and Fuuta began their training. In fact, he found out that they were training without him when he was ten. Purposely keeping it a secret from him so they wouldn’t have to train Lambo as well, thinking him to be useless or to destroy the training area. It’s not like Hibari and/or Gokudera don’t do it every single day, as well as in every other room in the Vongola Mansion.

Don’t even get him started how they wouldn’t give Lambo his inheritance, the special box he received from the original Lightning Guardian, Lampow. One that showed he had the first Lightning Guardian’s approval. It didn’t seem like they saw it that way. Many, if not all, thought Lambo didn’t earn the box. So they took it.

A decision that wasn’t there’s to make.

They thought he was oblivious, that he was stupid, that he never realized what was going on. When in reality, he just pretended to not know. He knew that they would try to placate him with something stupid to try and stroke his no longer existent ego so he wouldn’t throw a tantrum.

So, he decided to wait until he was older, when they’ve seen when he has matured.

On the day of his eleventh birthday, Lambo thought it’d be a good idea to ask for mafia training so he could become a true Guardian, worthy of his title.

Birthdays are supposed to be happy.

Birthdays are supposed to be special.

Birthdays are one of the few days where you put your differences aside and celebrate another year you have lived, better yet, you have survived.

Especially when you live with a Mafia Famiglia. Even more so with the Vongola Famiglia.

But no one looked happy, the day didn’t feel all that special, and when they had a short mini party at the end of the day after dinner, when Lambo asked to start his training…

“I don’t fight with herbivores.”, Hibari grunted.

“You’re too weak to begin training, let’s wait until you're older.”, Yamamoto said in a reassuring, yet patronizing, tone.

“No one can train you idiot cow.”, Reborn says in his usual stoic voice.

“You're not EXTREME enough yet!”, Ryohei shouted.

Tsuna smiled softly, apologetically, but it just made Lambo’s stomach twist. He felt like throwing up.

“I’m sorry Lambo, I don’t think it’s time to train you.”, Tsuna said softly, “You’re no good right now.”

“Krufufufu…. If he’s too weak, shouldn’t we try to find a better Lighting Guardian? Everything would be so much easier.”

“Stupid Cow!” screams Gokudera, “Stop asking stupid questions! We don’t need you, you’ll just get in the way! Maybe we should find another guardian.”

The table broke into chatter about who could be a good replacement. Right in front of Lambo, no less. None seemed to care or were oblivious of the hurt Lambo was clearly feeling., And all on his birthday too, adding more salt to the wound.

But that wasn’t even the worst part.

Nope.

The worst part, was that Tsuna never objected, not even once, to replacing Lambo.

. . . he was weak in their eyes. He’ll never be strong like them.

With this thought, tears pricked the corners of Lambo’s eyes. But he quickly blinked them away, skillfully hiding them from sight. Then, without a single person noticing, he left to his room.

At least, that’s what he thought, oblivious to the curious predatory stare that watched as the boy left a party that was meant for him.

Ever since that day, Lambo refused to cry. Even when he’s by himself, he still doesn’t cry, too scared that others would unexpectedly pop in and see. If anyone were to see him crying, they’ll think he’s a cry baby or that he’s throwing another temper tantrum.

He became numb to his emotions, the only way he could find in order to successfully avoid crying. He was to not feel anything at all.

After Lambo’s eleventh birthday, he stopped trying to show Vongola how much he’s changed. They never noticed the change in the first place.

They never cared enough to notice. Even with his grades being mostly A’s with a couple of B’s, no one noticed. How could they when they all stopped checking his report cards. They all still thought him stupid, still thought he had barely passing grades.

Only to remind himself how far he’s come on his own, to encourage himself to not go back the way he was, Lambo places all his perfectly graded papers proudly in a box under his bed in his room. He’s even place little notes his teachers have started giving him, noticing how he has seemed more depress during class. So they would give him uplifting encouraging notes or small letters. Lambo took great care with these items, placing them with the rest of his graded papers under in the box under his bed.

Every day after school, Lambo would go through the papers and sort through the memories of the proud teachers he has met. Every single one of them proud of how grown he has become. He’d smile and continue through the rest of the day refreshed; mental walls stronger until he crashes in his bed for the night.

Lambo refuses to let the opinions of his Famiglia to cause him to turn back into the selfish brat he once was in his younger years. He’s a petty person, no one is perfect. Not even his Famiglia.

He would reason with himself that his Famiglia never truly mean their words as time passed on.

Everyday getting harder and harder to face, harder to get out of bed, harder to go to school. He just wanted to stay home so he wouldn’t have to continue facing the world.

But would you really call a place ‘Home’ when it feels as if no one there loves or even cares about you?

His shoulders began to hunch in on themselves in hopes to get through the day without being chased by a dynamite throwing maniac or hot-tempered skylark. In hopes of not having to hear their dispiriting words.

Only for it to be in vain, Tsuna, Reborn, and the other Guardians remained oblivious to how much their words hurt the youngest Guardian. Causing him to be slowly filled with depression throughout his days.

No longer hopeful for a future where people were to truly care for him. Where he could be strong, where he could be a protector and be of use to Tsuna.

Alas, it seems it wasn’t meant to be.

It wasn’t long after Lambo entered his depressive state, that he began to believe most of the words they’ve said.

He’s weak.

He doesn’t deserve to be the Lightning Guardian.

Everyone would be just better off without him.

It’d be easy to find a worthy candidate for the ring other than the stupid cow.

Nobody needs a weakling like him.

He’s nothing without his Dying Will Flames.

Flames that he can barely control, even at the age of fifteen. Once he reached that age, Lambo realized something, he officially made another change. From a hopeful child with a bright future ahead of him, determined to be better than his younger self and show his famiglia how good he became, to a depressed teenager with low self-esteem, and a bleak outlook on his life, seeing himself and his actions holding no worth to the world and the people around him.

But who would notice? No one, that’s who.

Then, that’s when someone finally did.

Chapter Text

Lambo scrubbed furiously at the community toilet, keeping his face in its normal bored expression. Trying to look as normal as possible, while taking his anger and hurt out on the germs and dirt that coated the toilets in the multiple bathrooms that were scattered all over the Vongola Mansion.  

Usually, Lambo just feels numb all over, despite how demeaning it is, Lambo has found that his daily chore, or “mission” as Tsuna keeps insisting on calling it as if he’s five years old still, a good way to get rid of all the stress and negative emotions that build up during the days.  

Lambo is a fifteen-year-old with tanned skin, unruly raven hair, green eyes, wearing a cow print button-up, most of the buttons undone, wearing suit jacket, khakis pants, a belt with a silver belt buckle with an image of a cow with big horns, sandals, twin-like bracelets wrapped around and hanging off of both arms, hidden underneath the sleeves of his shirt and jacket, hanging from his neck is a short necklace with a pendant shaped as large cow horns, and on his pointer finger on his right hand rested a special looking ring. His body is thin with small lean muscles.  

‘No thanks to any of them.’ , he thinks bitterly,  ‘I at least decided to stay in shape.’  

Pausing for a minute, Lambo shook his head and continued too vigorously clean. He receives all the unwanted jobs, just like him.  

After several more minutes of cleaning, Lambo put all the supplies away and entered the gym, a giant room used for all their guardians crazy training or the lessons/training they passed on to others in Vongola.  

It’s gotten easier for Lambo to remain unnoticed to the others, especially when sitting still all by himself several meters away from the others. Lambo uses this to his advantage and would usually watch the others spar and train, sometimes he would imagine himself doing a particular move that would catch his eye or wonder if a certain attack demonstrated would work well with his Lightning Flames.  

Today, Yamamoto and Ryohei were sparring with each other in hand-to hand combat. Immediately placing Ryohei at an advantage, because hand-to-hand combat was his specialty, especially as a boxer, while Yamamoto specializes with a sword.  

The two were already going at it with each other by the time Lambo got there and began to discreetly watch the spar.  

At one point, surprisingly, Yamamoto had Ryohei pinned in some sort of bear hug, one arm wrapped around his chest and arms, pinning them to his side, and the other wrapped around his neck, used as either a choke-hold or a headlock. Yamamoto was using a choke-hold in order to try and force Ryohei to tap out.  

Instead, Ryohei hooked his foot behind Yamamoto’s ankle, pulling it forward, along with Yamamoto, who loosened his grip in surprise. Taking advantage over Yamamoto’s surprise and unbalanced footing, Ryohei spun in place with his elbow out, slamming his elbow into Yamamoto’s face, sending him flying back a few feet. Managing to roll on the ground and stumble back to his feet, rubbing the spot on his jaw where Ryohei elbowed him.  

“Sorry about that Takeshi!”, Ryohei shouted in apology, “I may have made that move too EXTREME for our friendly spar!”  

“Maa~. Maa~. It’s alright, no harm done.”, Yamamoto waved his apology away, “I was also having so much fun that I got deeply into it. There was no need for the choke-hold, I could’ve just settled with the headlock instead.”  

With the spar now, seemingly, done. Lambo began to leave with a sigh.  

“Oi! As any of you seen the stupid cow!”, Gokudera enters the gym, shouting angrily at Ryohei and Yamamoto, “The Boss is looking for him.”  

The two Guardians shrugged, unsure where their youngest member could be.  

Lambo sighs again before calling attention to himself.  

“Yare yare.”, Lambo calls out wearily, “I’m right here Gokudera. I’ve been here for a while.”  

Gokudera growls before dragging Lambo to Tsuna’s office, while Lambo looked like he didn’t have a care in the world.  

“Stupid cow! Why are you here!”, Gokudera shouts, “There is no use for you to be in the training room. You’re useless in a fight!”  

Lambo hid his wince at Gokudera’s words, pretending they don’t bother him.  

It wasn’t long before Gokudera practically threw Lambo in the giant office of the Tenth Boss of Vongola, Sawada Tsunayoshi. Someone who Lambo used to see as an older brother. Standing next to Tsuna, who was sitting in his desk in the middle of a bunch of paperwork, was Tsuna’s advisor and tutor from hell himself, Reborn. Now free from the Arcobaleno curse.  

“Tenth! Reborn-san! You wouldn’t believe where I’ve found the stupid cow!”, Gokudera shouts some more.  

Sometimes Lambo wonders if Ryohei and Gokudera like to shout all the time.  

“I found him in the gym again.”, Gokudera lowered his voice in a growl.  

Tsuna sighs rubbing his head tiredly, “Again Lambo?”  

‘I’ve always been there.’ , Lambo thinks bitterly, ‘ None of you notice me there. And the last time any of you found me in there was several months ago.’  

But Lambo smartly decides to keep his mouth shut, knowing there was no winning for him.  

He receives a sharp blow to the back of his head, causing him to wince and rub the new sore spot on his head.  

“Answer when the Tenth is speaking to you!”, Gokudera shouts angrily.  

“I wasn’t doing anything.”, he mumbles, avoiding eye contact with everyone in the room, “I finished my chores and heard Ryohei and Yamamoto sparring. Thought I’d stick around and watch.”  

“Like I’d believe that!”, Gokudera shouts, fingering his dynamite, “What trouble are you up to now stupid cow!?”  

Lambo sighs, eyes averted, “Yare yare. I was just watching, okay? Thats all I was doing.”  

“Lambo.”, Tsuna interjects softly, “Were you trying to train?”  

Why can’t they just believe him? He hasn’t lied, exaggerated, or make any stories up for seven years now.  

SEVEN!  

And yet they think he’s lying? What kind of famiglia is this?  

Shouldn’t family give you a second chance? Or the benefit of doubt? So why isn’t his?  

Lambo stuffed his hands in his pants pockets to hide the tight fists his hands balled into.  

“I’m telling you, all I did was watch Ryohei and Yamamoto spar.”, Lambo says quietly, almost sounding meek, but no one noticed.  

A small flicker of courage filled Lambo’s chest. His eyes hardened as he glared bitterly down at the floor.  

“But even if I was, why would you be against that?”, Lambo asked, his tone dripping with bitterness, “I’m a guardian too, you know. I should be able to have the tools to protect you and Vongola too. Yet you all don’t think I can handle it.”  

“Lambo-”  

“Shouldn’t you know this best Boss?”, Lambo continues, eyes glaring holes into the rug beneath his feet, “You were once called Dame-Tsuna. Yet you were given a chance.”  

Tsuna slammed his hand hard on the desk, shaking the, supposedly, sturdy piece of furniture.  

“LAMBO THAT’S ENOUGH!”, Tsuna shouts angrily, eyes sharp and cold, burning with fury, “YOU CAN’T DO IT! YOU’RE NOT STRONG ENOUGH! IF YOU WANT TO TRAIN SO BADLY THEN TURN YOUR LIFE AROUND! ONLY GOD KNOWS HOW MUCH I HAVE TO DEAL WITH YOU!”  

“...so why can’t I?”, Lambo finished in a quiet whisper, somehow managing to hide the quiver of his voice and the welling of his tears.  

No one was able to make out his words.  

Lambo felt a harsh painful grip on his shoulder, but he refused to show the Hitman how much pain his grip is causing him.  

“Stupid cow.”, Reborn spoke coldly, his voice sounding demonic and unamused, “Shut up. Your Sky summoned you here for a reason. Quit trying to pick fights.”  

Lambo deflated, his bangs shadowing his eyes.  

There really is no wining for him. The one time he tried to speak his mind, and they just took it as him complaining or throwing a mini-tantrum. Not even mentioning how his chest feels like it’s being crushed and it’s feels hard to breath.  

With a silent deep breath, Lambo packed and shoved all those emotions away to the deepest darkest corners of his mind, to never be seen again. Filling his body with numbness once more.  

He doesn’t care that they don’t see the change anymore, but he won’t be showing them any of his tears or negative emotions. He won’t actively do something that will make him look outright like a crybaby or a brat. So, he has to lock the negative emotions that keep coming up, deep deep deep down, so they’ll never see the light of day again.  

Lambo lifted his head, the shadows cleared away to show bored looking eyes once again.  

Tsuna sighs, sitting back down in his office chair, Lambo didn’t even notice him standing up.  

“Look Lambo, I didn’t ask you here to fight.”, Tsuna says tiredly, “I’ve noticed something off with you lately, and thought it’d be a good idea to send you off on a vacation for a week or two.”  

Now?  

He’s noticed Lambo’s been off  now ? Lambo almost scoffed, his nails biting into the palms of his fists as they clenched tighter inside his pockets.  

“It’s a nice island were a single small-town rest.”, Tsuna says in reassuring tone, “My reports state there are no Marine bases for several miles and there is no reason for pirates to make port besides a quick supply run. No need for trouble. Just a nice and quiet vacation.”  

Seriously, Lambo wanted to laugh in his face. Laugh as he states the fact that he’s more worried about  Lambo  causing trouble for this  poor defenseless town . But hey! At least he won’t garner any attention from Marines and pirates. No need for them to go after Tsuna’s weakest Guardian.  

No, scratch that.  

Tsuna’s weakest  mafioso . Leaving no need for Tsuna and the others to rescue him instead of preparing for the gala.  

“Lambo?”  

“Hm?”, Lambo hums noncommittedly, afraid if he tries to use his voice, he’ll start screaming.  

“I’m sending you on a vacation for two weeks. How’s that sound?”, Tsuna asks with a gentle smile.  

Talking to Lambo as if he’s a five-year-old. He doesn’t do that unless he wants something from Lambo or wants him out of the way without throwing a fit.  

“Sure.”, Lambo shrugs uncaringly, “Whatever you want.”  

He turns and walks away from the door just as the rest of the other guardians entered the office, dressed in their usual suits.  

“Who cares what I want anyway.”  

Hibari Kyoya pauses, eyes narrowing upon the leaving herbivore. The stupid cow has gone quiet. He doesn’t speak unless spoken to.  

He doesn’t like it.  

Hibari thought that the young herbivore was getting better. (An image of Lambo sitting worryingly still on the bathroom floor, blood, Lambo’s blood, pooling around him on the floor.) But now it seems he has taken one step back.  

Hibari shakes his head and enters, standing farther away from the others, but still in front of Tsuna’s desk.  

He’ll try to find a minute to talk to him later, Tsuna keeps both of their schedules busy.  

Tsuna was rubbing at his eyes tiredly, things have been tensed with Lambo lately. His Hyper Intuition has been going off like alarm bells whenever Lambo is around. And for some reason, he can’t seem to figure out what its warning him about. All he knows is that Lambo is in the middle of it.  

“Ne~ Tsuna? Did I hear that correctly?”, Yamamoto asked curiously, scratching his cheek as he did so, “You giving Lambo a vacation?”  

Tsuna nods, resting his elbows on top of the desk, “Yeah, I figured he needed time to clear his head.”  

“What’s the  real  reason you’re sending him away.”, Reborn questions, “Spit it out.”  

Tsuna sighs, glancing away for a moment, thinking over his words, before speaking.  

“He just keeps getting in the way, and preparations are at an all-time high for the unity gala in two weeks.”, Tsuna explains with a tiny shrug, “I figured if I sent him off, he’d be least likely to destroy things or ruin anything until the gala itself.”  

“As expected from the great Tenth!”, Gokudera exclaims with a laugh, “Always has a plan for everything!”  

“Hn...”  

“It would be nice not having to worry about anything going wrong while he’s around.”, Yamamoto’s calm voice echoed from the out of the wide-open office doors.  

None of the room’s occupants knew about the eavesdropper, leaning against the wall next to the doorway, listening to every single one of their words. His bangs shadowing over his eyes, his lips were unresponsive. His expression unknown after hearing those words from his famiglia.  

“Would’ve been nice if you just said that to my face.”, he mumbled, voice almost inaudible as he walked away from the door.  

Heading to his room to pack for his ‘vacation’ Tsuna is sending him on.  

Oblivious of the continuation of the conversation behind him.  

Tsuna sighs again, leaning back against his chair, “But that’s only half the reason.”  

He paused to let his words sink in with the others before continuing.  

“The ten-year bazooka has finally made its appearance.”, he informed his friends.  

“The younger cow creates chaos to the EXTREME!”, Ryohei comments in his ‘inside’ voice.  

“But isn’t that connected to your initial reason?”, Yamamoto thinks out loud.  

“Not exactly.”, Tsuna’s eyebrows furrows as he leans forward, elbows on his desk, fingers intertwined in front of his mouth, “I’ve noticed something since the bazooka has been in effect, something different.”  

Mukuro’s eye’s narrowed as his smirk thinned, “Are you saying that there is some sort of malfunction with the time-traveling weapon?”  

“No, no, the bazooka is fine.”, Tsuna waved his worries away, “I’m talking about Lambo. Has anyone noticed anything different between our Lambo and the one from the past?”  

Silence filled the room as a tense atmosphere rose, threading itself around the room’s occupants. Because, no, they haven’t notices anything, in fact they didn’t even bother to look close enough to see.  

Except for one, and he’s known even before the ten-year bazooka came into play.  

“...Quiet.”, Vongola’s local carnivore spoke up for the first time.  

“Hah!?”, Gokudera exclaimed, “What are you talking about?”  

“The herbivore has gone quiet.”, Hibari states, “Never speaks to anyone unless spoken too. Never protests when we tell him to do something. He’s weaker compared to how he was ten years ago. You can’t fight if you and/or others don’t have confidence in your skills and abilities.”  

All because of us.  He left unsaid; it seems like the others don’t understand the hand they had in this new Lambo. This Lambo’s weakness.  

The group went back to silence as everyone goes through Hibari’s harsh words, only to toss them aside with a grain of salt. All remembering Hibari’s social skills aren’t on the same level as his fighting. The cloud guardian doesn’t know what he’s talking about, they assume. So, they ignore, his comment.  

Gokudera, Yamamoto, and Ryohei reason with themselves that they know Lambo more than Hibari, so they don’t listen to his words.  

Tsuna hesitates, his Hyper Intuition going off, but after thinking about it for a moment, and did the same as well.  

While Reborn and Mukuro didn’t care so much for Lambo, only seeing him as the annoying stupid cow from his younger years. So, they ignored Hibari entirely.  

Tsuna shrugs, lowering his arms to be crossed in front of him, “I guess, it just seems like the Lambo from the past seems more cheerful, happy, compared to our Lambo from the present.”  

Gokudera clapped Tsuna on the back, “You’re probably just imagining things!”  

“Your stressed, it’s only natural.”, Yamamoto smiles reassuringly.  

Tsuna’s shoulders relaxed as he smiled, “Yeah, you guys are probably right.”  

 “We did our own training when we were younger, not to mention Hana and Kyoko are almost done with their training and Fuuta and I-Pin finished long ago. Let’s have a talk with him after the gala once he’s back. Maybe we can set something up or find a suitable teacher for him, maybe even help him change and grow into the Lambo we saw twenty years in the future, although presently it’d be ten, from the Vongola Rings conflict.”, Tsuna suggested, having been put to ease.  

“You bet!”, Ryohei exclaims excitedly, pumping his fist in determination, “We’ll have a talk to the EXTREME!”  

“We’ll do it together.”, Yamamoto agrees.  

“Just as we always have.”, Gokudera smiles brightly at his leader.  

…........................................................................................................................................................  

Lambo walked down the gangplank of the semi-small ship, two dingy like ships catching his eye, for there were the only other ships docked at the port.  

“Here.”  

Lambo just barely managed to catch the heavy sack, most likely filled with money.  

“Forty thousand berri for the trip.”, Fuuta says from up on the deck of the ship, he tossed down a smaller bag, “And ten thousand berri for emergencies.”  

Lambo weighs the bags in his hands, the money calculations running through his head. When Lambo started to take school seriously, he found out that he was really good at math. It was a nice thing to find out actually.  

“This is way too much.”, Lambo states dryly, “Didn’t Boss say that I was only staying here for two weeks?”  

Fuuta tenses at Lambo calling Tsuna ‘Boss’ instead of his name, ever since Tsuna told Lambo about his vacation, he’s been only calling Tsuna as ‘Boss’, nothing else, for all of yesterday day and all of that morning, until he left with Fuuta to be dropped off.  

Everyone thinks it’s just Lambo having a grudge and throwing a small tantrum about not being around, decorating for the Gala. He used to love decorating for the Gala and the other parties Vongola would throw.  

‘Wait, why did I think ‘used to’’  Fuuta thinks to himself. Doesn’t he still love decorating?  

If not, then why is he angry that he’s going on vacation? It means no work!  

Maybe he’s angry because the people that are supposed to be his family are sending him away.  

Maybe so, but it’s not permanent.  

Doesn’t make it hurt any less.  

Everything is fine, once Lambo takes some time off and relax during this vacation, he’ll come back to his senses and everything will go back to normal.  

We shall see.  

“Fuuta?”  

Fuuta shakes his head, coming out of his reverie as he stares down the young Guardian.  

“I’m sorry, I got lost in my thoughts.”, Fuuta smiled gently, missing the hurt frown that graced Lambo’s features.  

‘Does no one care enough to listen to what I have to say?’  Lambo wonders, his already cracked heart trembles as another crack appeared upon the abused organ, revealing a spider web of cracks decorating it, threatening to shatter any minute.  

“I asked why I would need all this money, I’m only staying for a week.”, Lambo repeats himself, not allowing Fuuta to see the hurt on his expression.  

“Oh! Tsuna thought it’d be better to have extra just in case.”, Fuuta explains cheerfully.  

What did Tsuna think Lambo would need this kind of money for? Especially in such a small and remote village.  

Instead of questioning it, Lambo just sighs with a shrug and ties the bigger bag of money on to his belt securely, letting the bag hang at his side, while carefully placing the smaller one in a secret pocket that snapped closed that he sewed himself. Lambo shivers as he remembers the hours it took to prefect every stitch and make sure it stayed securely attached to the suit jacket.  

Fuuta raises an eyebrow but says nothing about the action.  

Lambo stood there, waiting. But when a minute went by without either of the two saying anything, Lambo turned, ready to walk away and explore the town he was dumped in.  

“See you later than Fuuta.”, Lambo says, disappointment hidden by a bored neutral look and tone.  

“Wait.”  

Lambo pauses, looking over his shoulder to Fuuta.  

“Lambo I... j-just....”, Fuuta hesitates, before changing what he was originally going to say, “Just stay out of trouble. Okay?”  

Lambo sighs, “Yare yare, how am I going to find trouble in a town like this. No Marines. No Pirates, No Mafia. Boss sure knows how to pick ‘em.”  

Fuuta sighs endearingly with an amused shake of his head, "Bye Lambo.”  

“Good bye Fuuta.”  

Lambo leisurely walks in to town having no idea what he was walking into, while Fuuta sailed away.  

‘Why do I feel like that was an actual good bye?’  Fuuta thinks, as he watches the silhouette of the island getting farther and farther away.  

Chapter Text

Lambo wandered the town for several minutes, finding absolutely nobody around. The streets were empty, the square was empty, hell, Lambo entered several houses to find them, yep, empty!  

The entire town was abandoned.  

“Did the Boss seriously left me in a ghost town by accident?”, Lambo deadpans with a gloomy aura surrounding him, “I thought he out grew that because of Reborn’s training.”  

It was then Lambo’s ears picked up the sound of cheering and roars of none other than pirates. Lambo sweat dropped.  

“Didn’t the Boss say pirates never come her except for short supply stops?”, Lambo deadpanned.  

For a moment, Lambo was about to turn around and walk away and message Tsuna to drop him off at a different island because of the pirates. But something stopped him, a feeling deep within his gut. Telling him to go to the source, to where the pirates are.  

But why would he do that? Didn’t he promised not to get into any trouble? Lambo thinks, eyes sliding to the direction the familiar sounds of chaos resonated from.  

Lambo sighs, “Yare yare, curiosity kills the cat. Let’s just hope that the saying is true when it said that satisfaction brought it back.”  

He turns around and makes his way to the pirates, adding extra speed to his steps. Lambo didn’t promise on whether or not he’d watch whatever is going on.  

…........................................................................................................................................................  

Lambo stood on a rooftop not too far from the chaos happening below. In fact, on his way there, he saw a large path of destruction. It didn’t take much for Lambo to deduce that whatever kind of canon ball that is inside that canon, was what caused all that destruction back in town. Now he knows why the town was deserted. The people left out of fear of the Pirates that moved in.  

Despite Lambo wondering how all that destruction was caused by a single canon, he quickly grew to accept it. I mean, he has Dying Will Flames that allow him to control lightning and not get hurt by lightning and other electric bursts.   

Scattered across the roof top pirates, all dressed like clowns? Their Captain most of all. With an orange coat draped across his shoulders and Captain hat, blue hair, a big red nose, white gloves, and cross bones tattooed on his forehead. With the pirates was a girl that didn’t seem to fit in with the rest, wearing a white shirt with blue stripes, a short orange skirt, ankle brown boots, and short orange hair. She didn’t look that much older than Lambo, three maybe four years if he’s pushing it.  

The pirates were all screaming the word ‘fire!’ as they peer pressured the to fire the destructive canon Lambo took note of earlier, that is aimed at a boy tied up and trapped in a cage, wearing a distinct straw hat.  

Lambo can easily guess what’s going, of course missing few key points and minor details, but he got the gist.  

She seemed to be frozen and thinking on what to do.  

Lambo sighs, “This is what happens when you throw it in with a bunch of dirty pirates.”  

His half-lidded eyes stared emotionlessly, waiting to see what the girl would do, not yet ready to pop in. He has a promise to keep.  

The mafioso watched as a pirate wearing a weird hat snatch something from the girl’s hands, mostly likely the box of matches and kneeled by the canon, about to light the fuse.  

But before he could, the girl pulled out tree wooden shafts, putting them together to create a long staff. With a determined look, the girl swung the staff a knocked the pirate into the ground.  

Lambo’s eyes widened as his breath hitched in surprise and, low-key, worry for the girl.  

Everything froze as everyone stared and tried to comprehend on what just happened.  

The girl turns to the other pirates, saying something, but Lambo was too far away to hear. The Captain on the other hand, his shouts were loud enough.  

“Nami!”, he shouted angrily, “What is the meaning of this outrage!?”  

The girl straightened, clutching the staff tightly in her hands before bowing respectfully to the Captain, most likely apologizing and trying to smooth things over.  

“What’s wrong!? Just shoot already!!”, he shouted with sharp teeth.  

The boy in the cage said something causing the girl to whirl in his direction, stomping her foot angrily, now shouting as well.  

“Don’t be so stupid!”, she holds up her staff defensively as she explains herself to the boy, “I’m not doing this for you, you idiot! I just don’t want to lower myself to the level of these inhuman pirates!”  

Then why is she with them? Lambo wonders to himself curiously, resting his weight on one foot while stuffing his hands in his pockets.  

“Pirates took the life of someone very dear to me! I’ll never be one of them!”, Nami declares.  

The boy mumbled something before screaming, eyeing the canon in fear.  

“NAMI!!”, the boy shouts, “The fuse!”  

Lambo quickly followed his gaze to see that the canon’s fuse was lit, slowly making its way to the inside where it’ll set the entire mechanism off.  

Lambo slid to the edge of the roof, kneeling down, hands gripping the edge of the roof, knuckles turning white, as he continued to watch intently. He was also now able to hear what the people were saying without them having to shout.  

“You think pirates are just inhuman filth, is that right?”, the Captain asked rhetorically, veins popping all over his forehead, “GET HER MEN!!!”  

With that order, four pirates leapt towards Nami, blood thirsty cries as they lunged at her with swords and daggers. Lambo locked his joints so he wouldn’t jump in.  

Repeatedly reminding himself that he made a promise, that this was not his fight.  

The girl tried to swing her staff at them, but they all jumped over it, dodging the attack, she blocked a single attack by one pirate, but two others joined in successfully disarming her of her weapon.  

“Not my fight. Not my fight. Not my fight.”, Lambo mumbles darkly, his bangs casting a shadow over his eyes as his body trembled, begging him to jump in and help.  

He somehow tensed even more, locking his joints tight, refusing his body’s reflexes, ignoring his heart pumping loud in his ears.  

The girl gasped and ran past the pirates towards the fuse determinedly. The boy panicked looking back and forth for something.  

“Water! Water! Water! Water!”  

Ah, that’s what he’s looking for.  

The fuse crept closer to the inside of the canon.  

“Not good.”, the boy with the straw hat said, just before Nami grabbed the fuse and started to put it out.  

WITH HER BARE HANDS!  

“Idiota!”, Lambo shouts in Italian, the shadows receding from over his eyes.  

He was very lucky that nobody noticed.  

Nami winced, but refused to let go, she screamed in pain, but continued to hold on as if her very life depended on it.  

“Woah.”, the boy said in shock and slight awe.  

Lambo kept mumbling the word ‘idiota’ under his breath as he watched in shock as well.  

Nami gritted her teeth, and the fuse finally went out underneath her shaking hands.  

“Watch out!”, the boy screamed.  

Something clicked inside Lambo, and he almost leapt forward in that moment, in fact, he actually did.   

But he managed to hold himself back enough he would land to the side and at the back of the crowd, completely unnoticed.  

Three pirates leapt at the defenseless girl with their own war cries, only to run face first into two sheathed swords held by a man with light mint green hair cut close to his head, wearing dark green pants and boots, three golden dangle earrings hung off one ear, a plain white short sleeved T-shirt, a green scarf-like belt, and tied on his bicep is a dark green bandana that matched his boots and pants.  

“Hey now.”, he said dangerously with a deep voice, “It’s not nice to gang up on a girl.”  

“Zoro!”, the boy cried out cheerfully with a wide smile.  

Isn’t Zoro a bounty hunter, a pirate hunter to be more exact? Lambo thinks to himself, trying to see if that was why the name sounded familiar to him. He remembered Yamamoto speaking about him to the Boss once, saying he wasn’t sure if he could beat the young man that wielded three swords. He told the Boss that he was glad that the bounty hunter Roronoa Zoro mostly went after pirates and not the mafia.  

 Zoro turns to the girl, resting one of his swords on top of his shoulder.  

“You hurt?”, he asks.  

Nami just stared at him, not answering.  

“I  said  are you hurt?”, he repeated.  

“N-No. I’m fine, I think.”, she said shakily.  

“Whew! What a relief! I’m glad you found us.”, the boy exclaimed relieved, “Now hurry up and come get me out of here!”  

Zoro turns around all the way, facing the boy.  

“How do you get yourself in these situations?”, Zoro asks, “First the bird flies off with you and now I find you trapped in a cage?”  

“It’s an interesting story actually.”, the boy comments, sounding amused at his own predicament when he was just panicking moments prior.  

‘And the Boss thought  I  caused trouble.’, Lambo thought in slight shock.  

“That’s-!”, one pirate said in shock.  

“Yeah! That little brat just called him Zoro.”, says another.  

Nami stares at the swordsman in shock as he walks calmly towards the boy in the cage.  

‘If it truly is Zoro...’,  Lambo thinks to himself,  ‘Then he either quit pirate hunting to join up with this boy as traveling companions or he picked him up as a partner in the business. Neither seemed very likely.’  

Lambo couldn’t help the quite amused chuckle that left his lips.  

Not many things were likely then, but still happened when he was young, despite barely remembering any of it. He’s heard enough stories to know. So why not more unlikely things to happen now?  

“So your Zoro.”, the Captain said smugly, sounding confident, “If you’re here for my head then you got quite the struggle before you.”  

Lambo sweat dropped,  ‘This guy isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, now, is he?’  

“No. Not interested.”, Zoro said monotonously, “I gave up pirate hunting, I’m just here for my friend.”  

So Lambo was right, this is definitely getting interesting. Lambo could tell that a fight was brewing, and judging on little he has seen of the Captain, he’s a cheater and doesn't play fair. Same most likely goes for the crew as well.  

Lambo is going to have to quickly decide now, so he won’t regret the decision later, if things go astray, will he jump in to help the older group of teenagers, or is he going to stay back and watch their deaths in a front row seat?  

Lambo quietly sighs, why is he even asking himself this? The moment he jumped down to the roof, he knew he was going to step in if needed.  

Besides, he promised to not  cause  any trouble. He didn’t say anything about joining it, much less get caught in it.   

“But I’m interested.”, the Captain said smugly, snapping Lambo back to the present, “Killing you will boost my reputation significantly.”  

Zoro turns to glare at the clown rip-off.  

“If you try. You’ll die.”, Zoro threatens.  

“Oh~? Is that so?”, the Captain asked, unaffected by Zoro’s dark tone.  

Expertly spinning large knives at the ready into his hands.  

Zoro sighs, “I tried to warn you, but oh well.”  

The pirates all cheered for their Captain, confident in his abilities to kill Zoro.  

Lambo shakes his head, fighting wise, Zoro is significantly stronger, but Lambo could tell that the Captain has an ace hidden up his sleeve.  

“Buggy! Buggy! Buggy!”, the pirates cheered as the Captain, Buggy, finally Lambo got a name for him, licked one of his knives, eyes filled with blood lust.  

Zoro drew all three of his swords, placing one delicately in his mouth.  

Nami stared at him in shock, the boy watched the fight with an unreadable expression, while Lambo watched, usually neutral half-lidded eyes, narrowed sharply at the pirates around him, waiting for one to make one small move towards the group.  

The two had a standoff for several moments, before Buggy’s coat flapped behind him and he charged forward towards Zoro, who readied himself for the fight. Eyes narrowed dangerously at his oncoming opponent.  

Buggy leapt forward, screaming something Lambo couldn’t make out from the shout, while Zoro rushed forward, easily cutting through the big-nosed Captain.  

Cutting him into pieces, effectively silencing the chanting crew.  

Unaffected, Zoro sheathed his swords as Buggy’s body fell in pieces to the ground with a loud ‘ thump’ .  

“That wasn’t much of a fight, now, was it?”, Zoro said darkly.  

“Oh wow! He’s weak! Way to go Zoro!”, the boy exclaimed, also unaffected.  

Lambo’s eyes narrowed down to the parts. That was  way  too easy to be over.  

“No way.”, Nami mutters in shock, before turning to the laughing crew.  

This only made Lambo’s suspicions grow, his body tensed, ready to move at any second, despite the only help he could provide was the power of his Dying Will Flames, even if they were chaotic and hard for Lambo to control at times, it was better than nothing.  

“Hey, why are they laughing?”, the boy asks warily.  

“Their Captain is lying dead on the ground and yet they’re still laughing?”, Nami says as she thinks out loud, “What’s going on?”  

“Fellas? What do you find so damn funny?”, Zoro asks just as Buggy popped up behind him, floating in mid-air, missing the bottom half of his body.  

“Urk-!”  

Lambo’s eyes trailed down Zoro’s body to find a blade sticking out his side, blood already seeping through his clothes.  

Zoro screams as he feels to his knees.  

“ZORO!!” the boy screams.  

Nami gasps to see Zorro trembly in pain.  

“But he’s still alive!”, she exclaims.  

“What. The. Hell?”, Zoro grunts, turning to face Buggy.  

Lambo’s eyes widened, he expected something like this to happen, yet he was unable to do anything to prevent it. No. He did nothing to prevent it.  

Taking the trio’s surprise to their advantage, two pirates ran forward, swords at the ready, making their way to attack Nami.  

They screamed out battle cries causing Nami to spin around, only for it to be too late for her to be able to do anything for herself.  

“NAMI!!”  

The pirates were jerked back, legs flying out in front of them as their shirt collars dug into their necks. The thing stopped them, then slammed them to the ground. Revealing a young boy crouching from the aftermath of his defensive attack.  

He stood to his full, slouched, height, eyes half-lidded as he stared uncaringly at the pirates beneath him.  

A dangerous glint appeared in his eyes despite their bored-neutral look.  

“Back.”, Lambo stomped on one pirate's face, knocking him out.  

“Off.”, he turned to the other pirate kicking him at the side of his head, effectively knocking that one out as well.  

His back faced the group before turning around with a bored expression.  

“I thought the mafia was bad, but you pirates exceeded all my expectations.”, Lambo says with a bored dry tone, “Congratulations.”  

Nami whirled to the boy, “Do you know him too!?”  

“Nope.”, the boy said, popping the ‘p’ before smiling, “But I like him, he’s strong.”  

“Eh?”, Lambo says questionably, turning back to the trio, “What are you talking about? I’m not strong. In all honesty, I’m actually pretty weak.”  

“Stop kidding around! You just took out two pirates at once!”, Nami screams.  

Lambo shrugged, looking uninterested as he spoke, “That was just luck. I also happened to have surprise on my side. My famiglia probably could have taken down a group like this in mere seconds, minutes at most. I’m nothing special.”  

His eyes narrowed angrily at Buggy, “Him on the other hand...”  

The hand attached to the knife that was embedded in Zoro’s side, removed the blade, before reattaching itself to Buggy’s arm as the rest of Buggy’s body parts came together.  

“...what the hell are you?”, Lambo asked, unsure on how Buggy is able to do what he just did.  

“I ate the chop-chop fruit.”, Buggy informs the group, “The devil fruit that has given me my powers. I’m a chop-chop person and now I can never be defeated by a sword!!”  

Buggy then laughs crazily, his laugh also sounded like that of a clown’s. Albeit, an evil one.  

“His body parts reattached?”, Nami says, bewildered, “And I always thought the devil fruit were just stories pirates told.”  

“You’d be surprised in how many unbelievable stories end up being true.”, Lambo tells her lightly, now standing right next to her.  

The boy in the cage gaped at the clown-like pirate.  

“So, he’s a chop-chop man? That’s pretty freaky.”, Luffy comments out loud.  

“I didn’t hit any vital organs, but that’s a serious wound you have there.”, Buggy says smugly with a wide smile, “So, I’m guessing... that I am the WINNER!!”  

The pirate crew went back to chanting Buggy’s name, while the captain himself laughed like a maniac.  

Nami stared in shock and fear, trying think of some way to get out of this situation alive.  

Lambo stood behind her, ready on standby, prepared to activate his Dying Will Flames if needed.  

“Damn, I let my guard down for one second. That’s not good.”, Zoro grunts, struggling to get back to his feet.  

The boy glared, gritting his teeth angrily, trembling with the hot emotion that ran through his veins at the sight of his downed friend.  

Buggy stood over Zoro, ready to dish out the finishing blow, still giggling at his, apparent, victory.  

“STABBING HIM IN THE BACK WAS A COWARDLY MOVE, YOU BIG NOSE!!!”, the boy shouted.  

Lambo whirled to his angry figure in surprise, eyes widening. His eyes then slowly trailed over to the frozen figure of Buggy, who looked like he was ready to murder the boy.  

Everyone gaped at him as if he was crazy, even Nami.  

“What’s that... you said...?”, Buggy says dangerously, “Whose got a big nose!”  

Lambo, Nami and Zoro gaped as Buggy threw the knife at the boy, straight at his face.  

“Luffy!”, Zoro calls out worriedly.  

“Buggy!”, Luffy shouts, his words muffled from the knife he caught in his mouth, somehow still smiling, “I’m gonna kick your ass as soon as I get out of this cage!”  

He dropped the knife from his mouth with a clatter as Buggy laughed at Luffy, not afraid what so ever.  

“You? Kick my ass?”, Buggy asked in amusement, “You got a lot of nerve kid.”  

“All four of you are going to die here! And by my own hand.”, Buggy shouted confidently, “So if you are going do any  ass  kicking, you better do it fast.”  

Zoro looked frustrated where he knelt while Nami looked panicked as she tried to think a way out, and fast. Lambo kept his usual bored-neutral façade, but he too, was quickly thinking of the safest way to get all of them out of this situation alive.  

“We’re done for.”, Nami mumbles, “It’s all over.”  

Luffy’s loud laugh cut through all the pirates, easily silencing them and Buggy.  

“I refuse to die!”, Luffy declares before setting his sight on his friend.  

“Zoro get up!”, he shouts.  

Zoro looks up in shock and surprise.  

“Wha-?”  

“You better have a really good plan or else we’re dead!”, Nami shouts angrily, “What are you guys going to do?”  

Zoro and Lambo stare at Luffy who only had a big smile on his face.  

Suddenly Zoro smiled, face turning into the pinnacle of calm.  

“I gotcha.”, Zoro smirked.  

Nami just gaped at the two dumbly while Lambo lazily raised an eyebrow. Buggy leapt at Zoro with a multitude of attacks and strikes.  

“You fool!”, Buggy shouts as he laughs hysterically, attacking relentlessly.  

Zoro remained on the defensive, but he easily blocked each strike with a smile on his face.  

Until finally, Zoro went for another strike, slashing at Buggy’s middle, who’s upper body detached from the lower half in order to dodge the strike, then Zoro ran past the clown.  

“Three sword style has no effect on me!”, Buggy gloats, “I already told you I ne-!”  

That’s when Buggy realized that Zoro wasn’t going for another attack, instead he was running straight towards, Nami, Lambo, and the canon.  

“HEY!!! LISTEN WHEN I’M TALKING TO YOU!!”, Buggy screams angrily.  

Zoro crouches in front of the canon and begins to lift it with all his strength.  

“Oh, I see...”, mumbles Lambo, rushing in front of Zoro and began helping him lift up the canon.  

“I’m not that strong...”, he grunts to Zoro quietly, “...but I’ll help as much as I can.”  

With a final heave, the two managed to flip the canon over, causing it to face Buggy and his crew, who all just stared at the two in shock. Zoro crumbled back to his knees, Lambo kneeling in front of him with a hand on his shoulder to check and see if he was okay while Nami ran to the two’s side.  

“WHAA!?”, shrieks Buggy fearfully, “Crap the canon’s pointing at us!”  

Zoro brushed Lambo away, mumbling a quiet ‘I’m fine.’ to the younger boy before grunting something to Nami.  

“What?”, she asked nervously.  

“Do it now.”, Zoro says more clearly.  

“Right!”  

“N-no! Just Wait!”, Buggy shouts panickily, “That canon is still loaded with a special Buggy ball! I don’t want to die like this!”  

Nami relights the fuse and it sparks back to life as Buggy continually begs the trio for mercy.  

Luffy laughs gleefully at Buggy’s panic. Lambo couldn’t help the small smile as amusement shined in his eyes.  

“I can’t believe you did that you ungrateful little girl!”, Buggy shouts, eyes wide.  

Lambo plugged his ears with his fingers, calmly closing his eyes while Nami’s body trembled beside him, hands clasped over her ears and eyes squeeze shut as Buggy pleaded them one last time.  

“Wait! No! Stop! P-Please!”  

BOOM!!  

Chapter Text

Lambo walks lazily on top of a roof top several buildings away from the giant trial of smoke that snaked its way towards the sky behind him.  

“That was certainly interesting.”, Lambo mumbles to himself, “I wonder who those three are? Hope they got out okay.  

A small pang went through his right hand, the source coming from his pointer finger, from his Vongola ring. Lambo rubbed at the finger and his hand to sooth the pain then began playing with the ring itself, traveling deep in his thoughts as he traveled from roof top to roof top.  

“I should probably contact the boss.”, he mumbles as he twisted the ring around his finger, “Tell him what happened.”  

Lambo pauses in his place, before sighing, his hands falling to his side.  

‘ I should go check to see if those three survived first.’ , Lambo thinks to himself.  

Besides, he already stepped in to help, might as well go find them and check up on them to see how they are. Maybe even help a little more. Not to mention Tsuna and the others wouldn’t want to be bothered with this kind of thing any way. They’re still busy preparing for the gala in two weeks.  

With that, Lambo immediately spun on his heels and speed walk back the way he came, circling the area of destruction for the odd trio he wanted to help, for some reason.  

After several minutes of searching, Lambo found Zoro and Luffy, Zoro sitting against a store’s patio and Luffy, still in his cage, staring at a small white stoic dog, standing guard in front of the store.  

“I wonder if he’s dead?”, Luffy asks out loud, looking like he wanted to poke the dog.  

“Yo~ Luffy, was it?”, Lambo called out making his presence known, leaning casually on top of the cage, “Whatever you're thinking about doing, I wouldn’t if I were you.”  

“Oh hey. You’re that guy that helped us out earlier.”, Luffy says, looking up at Lambo, “What’s your name?”  

“Yep, that was me.”, Lambo said, lazily popping the ‘p’ at the end, “My name is Lambo.”  

“Cool, thanks for helping us out Lambo!”, Luffy said with a big smile.  

Lambo nods, “Sure, just don’t go poking random dogs you meet on the streets.”  

Ignoring Lambo’s warning, Luffy went back to staring at the weird dog and poked the dog on the forehead.  Hard .  

Suddenly the dog leapt at the boy and started to try, and mostly succeeded, to bite Luffy’s face off.  

Zoro and Lambo stared at Luffy and the dog in shock, Lambo wisely taking several steps away from the two.  

Luffy shaking the cage, causing it to jump and rattle while the dog mercilessly attacked the boy.  

“Luffy! Would you quit goofing around and get serious!?”, Zoro shouts before groaning and then falling to the ground in exhaustion.  

Luffy fell back in his cage in a similar state.  

“Damn, dog.”, Luffy groans out quietly.  

“I don’t feel good.”, Zoro says breathlessly.  

“Yare yare, don’t tell me you dragged him all the way over here with that injury?”, Lambo sates rather than question, hidden worry from his bored tone.  

The blood stain that has grown increasingly large on Zoro’s side and his exhausted state was answer enough.  

 Lambo’s head perked up at the sound of heels to see Nami looking down at Luffy and Zoro curiously.  

“Don’t ask.”, Lambo sighs, shaking his head at the two.  

“Oh, it’s you.”, Nami said in surprise, “You made it out...uh....”  

“Lambo.”, he introduced himself.  

“Nami.”, the girl introduced herself as well.  

“Oh, hi navigator.”, Luffy says cheerfully.  

“...navigator...?”, Lambo mumbles in confusion, staring down at Luffy.  

Are they in the same crew or something?  

Nami just smiles and fiddles inside her pockets.  

“I guess you can have this.”, she said tossing something in front of Luffy, “You got me out of a pretty sticky situation.”  

A rusty silver key landed on the pavement.  

“Great the key to the cage! Did you go and steal it for me? Thanks Nami!”, Luffy exclaims cheerfully.  

“I only did it so we’d be even.”, Nami said nonchalantly, “Now I don’t owe you anything, so we’re square, okay?”  

Zoro sat up with a smirk and a chuckle, Lambo just crossed his arms and looked away, hiding his smile.  

Before Luffy could grab the key, a white blur snatched it up first. Luffy gaped as the white dog from earlier visibly swallowed the key, successfully eating it.  

“Eh?”, Lambo said in surprise as a small sweat trailed down the side of his face as he stared at the dog dumbfounded.  

Luffy starts growling as he frantically shakes the dog screaming unintelligible things, most likely telling the dog to spit it out or something.  

“Luffy, stop strangling the animal.”, Lambo says irritably, his eye twitching.  

“Hey! Stop it!”, Lambo whirled around to face a man wearing wooden armor, white hair and green circular glasses rushing in their direction, “Stop picking on poor Chou-Chou right now!”  

“Huh? And who might you be old man?”, Zoro asks, eyes narrowed warily at the newcomer.  

“Old man? Why I’m the mayor of this town!”, the man, mayor, said proudly, “Who are you and why are you hurting Chou-Chou?”  

That’s when the mayor noticed Zoro’s wound.  

“My my, that’s quite the injury you have there.”, the mayor states, calmer now then earlier, “I take it you had a run in with Captain Buggy. We need to get you to a doctor.”  

Later, the mayor exits a building where he brought Zoro to treat him.  

“Is Zoro going to be, okay?”, Luffy asks worriedly.  

“I told him he should really see a doctor but he insisted that he just needed rest and to sleep it off.”, the mayor informs him.  

Dog yawned and allowed Nami to pet him, Lambo thought it’d be wiser to keep his distance, even though he wasn’t an aggressor like Luffy was upon their first meeting. He just preferred to play it safe and keep his fingers and toes, his face too going off the dog’s first instinct when attacking Luffy was the face.  

“So, his name is Chou-Chou?”, Nami asked curiously.  

“Hehe, why is he just sitting there like that?”, Luffy asks nonchalantly with his usual smile, “He sure is a lazy dog.”  

“He’s guarding the store.”, the mayor told them.  

“He’s guarding it?”, Nami repeated it.  

“Yes.”  

Nami turned around and realization dawned on her.  

“Oh... I see. It’s a pet food shop!”, she exclaimed.  

“Hmm...”, Lambo hummed in agreement, leaning on one of the poles in the front, head eyes staring down at the floor out of habit.  

“That’s right.”, the mayor confirmed, heading inside the store, “And the man that used to run this store was a really dear friend of mine.”  

Not to long later, the mayor came back out with a bowl filled with dog food, placing it carefully in front of Chou-Chou.  

“There you go.”, the mayor said caringly.  

Chou-Chou started digging into the food the moment it was in front of him.  

~  

‘There you go!’, a cheerful female voice rang in Lambo’s ears, a gentle hand patted his afro, cut closer to his head than when he was a young kid, fondly while placing a plate filled with nice warm food in front of the child.  

Lambo’s eyes glittered as he gleefully ate the food on the plate, avoiding the cooked vegetables as if they were the plague.  

‘All done!’, Lambo exclaimed cheerfully.  

‘Oh no you’re not young man.’, the voice playfully scolded, he could just see the person place their hands on their hips’ in authority, but her posture had a playfulness mixed in it as well.  

‘You did not eat your vegetables young man.’  

‘But I don’t wanna~!’, Lambo whined, covering his lips with his small hands to hide the ever-growing smile on his lips.  

‘Oh, you don’t wanna eh?’  

Immediately Lambo’s sides were attacked by wiggly fingers moving up and down his sides, causing him to fall back into the person’s arms as the tickled him breathless, both laughing the entire time.  

~  

“When he passed, I assumed the responsibility of taking care of Chou-Chou.”, the mayor said, starring down at the dog sadly.  

“Did he pass?”, Lambo asked carefully, quietly.  

“Yes.”, the mayor stood back up, picking up the dog food with him so he could put it back away inside the store, “Three months ago after fighting his illness for a very long time.”  

“Don’t tell me that he’s been waiting for his master the entire time?”, Nami questioned sadly.  

“That seems to be the consensus.”  

“Huh.”  

The mayor settled himself down on the porch, taking a pipe out of his pocket and placing it in his mouth. Smoking the pipe as he gathered his thoughts before speaking again.  

“But I find that hard to believe.”, the mayor told them somberly, “Chou-Chou is a smart dog. He’s probably known for a while now that his master isn’t coming back.”  

Lambo watched emotionlessly out of the corner of his eyes, Chou-Chou licking the last bits of his food from the bowl. The usual neutral line his lips rested in, tightened.  

“Then why does he stay here at the store?”, Nami asks.  

“I guess it’s because he has a connection to it. It’s his treasure. He’s guarding it.”, the mayor answers before taking another drag from his pipe and exhaling the smoke out of his mouth, “His master left him with the shop, so that’s why he protects it. I’ve tried to take him back to my place, get him out of the elements, but he wouldn’t budge.”  

Lambo stared down at the dog, his heart giving out a pang as he couldn’t help but empathize with the poor dog. Reminding him of something he forgot a while ago.  

Lambo was brought back to the present when Chou-Chou picked up the empty bowl, and placed it carefully in front of the mayor with a small clatter. Which then continued to clatter and shake as heavy footfalls surrounded the area, causing the floor beneath them began to shake and tremble. Lambo could hear low growls and hisses as the thing, the beast, drew nearer to the group’s destination.  

“What’s that sound?”, Nami asked in shock, eyes wide.  

“It’s him! Beast Tamer Moji! Run!!”, The mayor, jumping back to his feet.  

Both Nami and the mayor began to panic as the two ran away, ending up dragging Lambo away with them. He wasn’t against it.  

He was more on auto-pilot mode after listening to Chou-Chou's story.  

~  

‘UGH!! I don’t get it!’, Lambo shouts in frustration, slamming his head down on the table, shouting more words, but they were muffled from the table’s surface.  

An amused chuckle came from above him as a soft hand petted his curls, smoothing them out and bunching them back together.  

‘Why do I need to know Spanish anyway? I already know English and Italian.’, Lambo whined, tears of frustration pricked the corner of his eyes, ‘I don’t need a third language.’  

The person giggled again.  

‘I thought you said you would show them how much you changed?’, the person said, the voice the same as from the last flashback, ‘You can’t do that with failing grades.’  

‘I can’t really do it if they refuse to look at my report cards either.’, Lambo grouchily, crossing his arms over his chest.  

‘You knew it wasn’t going to be easy Lambo. Don’t give up, or you’ll just turn back to the little brat you were two years ago.’, the person scolded lightly, encouraging him to continue forward.  

‘How can I grow if they won’t let me?’, Lambo asked with a sniffle, ‘I understood it would be hard when I made the decision, they’re just making it harder than it usually would be. It’s not fair!’  

Lambo curled into a small ball as arms wrapped around him and pull him close. Shushing him soothingly as she pets his hair and cheek.  

‘I know. I know.’, she hushes his hiccups and sniffles as he struggles to calm down, ‘Life isn’t fair, that’s one of the sadder parts of living, but fighting back, pushing to your goals, despite the odds, just shows what kind of character you have. It shows how strong you are.’  

Ten-year-old Lambo sniffles as he finally calms down.  

‘Really?’, he asks hopefully.  

‘Really.’, the person gave him a soft bright smile, ‘How about, whenever you receive your report cards, we’ll look over them together here in the library, after school in our usual spot. We can got celebrate together, or we’ll cry and work even harder together. Sounds good?’  

Lambo smiles, snuggling close, ‘Yes, thank you Ms. Motina.’  

~  

Lambo jumped in surprise at the sound of a giant crash, Nami and the mayor rushed ahead, leaving Lambo behind this time.  

“What’s going on?”, he mumbles to himself before following.  

“YOU’RE ALIVE!?”, Lambo hears the mayor shriek as he found Nami and the mayor staring at an unscathed Luffy, finally free from his cage, in a middle of a giant wreckage.  

“Just got lucky I guess.”, Luffy replies nonchalantly.  

Lambo huffs, hiding his growing laughter, “I just met you today, but you’re definitely something else Luffy.”  

“Surviving an attack like that isn’t normal.”, Nami protested, “I thought I’d find you scattered all over!”  

“Don’t come to my house then. My famiglia is full of monsters that could easily survive that just like him.”, Lambo says boridly, scratching his cheek.  

Nami paused before whirling to Lambo.  

“WHAT KIND OF FAMILY DO YOU HAVE!!!”, Nami shrieks.  

Lambo shrugs, unaffected, “Not a normal one obviously.”  

“Not normal?”, Luffy repeats, brushing himself off.  

“Why exactly did you decide to come to this town? And how did you run into those pirates?”, the mayor demanded.  

“All I’m doing is looking for a chart for the Grand Line and a good Navigator to join my pirate crew.”, Luffy states nonchalantly with a smile before walking away.  

“I think I heard that guy in the weird animal suite said he was looking for Zoro so I gotta go!”, Luffy shouts back at the trio as he ran back to where he came, more like flew from.  

Lambo turns to Nami with a raised brow, “He’s a pirate?”  

“...Yeah.”, Nami said distractedly, still staring at Luffy’s retreating figure.  

“I’m guessing that Zoro is already a part of the crew and that he wants you to join as the Navigator?”  

“Uh-huh.”  

Interesting, Lambo didn’t see this coming. He just decided to help the group out on a whim. He didn’t know he helped save another pirate crew. Lambo somehow found himself knee deep in trouble, but he can’t seem to have the heart to care.  

…........................................................................................................................................................  

The moment Lambo’s eyes fell upon the sad pitiful figure of Chou-Chou mourning over the loss of his treasure. His eyes widened, eyes shrunk and shook with held back emotion, his right hand clenched to a fist while his left trailed to the cow-horn pendant hanging on top of his collar bone.  

 Clutching it gently, but tight enough that he could feel it biting into his skin. Tight enough, so he knew that it was still there, that he didn’t lose it, that none of his famiglia stole it as some sort of prank. That it was still there, a symbol of his promise that he forgot long ago.  

~  

Lambo stared at the small rectangular box that sat in his lap, fiddling with it, turning it over and over in his hands, or sometimes he would play with the emerald green ribbon that kept it shut, careful to not pull at it so the bow would come undone.   

‘Aren’t you going to open it?’  

Lambo shook his head, refusing to look at the decaying figure lying in the hospital bed.  

‘I don’t deserve it.’, he mumbled.  

‘What do you mean ‘you don’t deserve it’?’, Ms. Motina chuckled weakly with a small smile, ‘You’ve worked so hard to bring your grades to where they are today. You  more  than deserve that.’  

‘. . .’, Lambo didn’t answer, eyes avoiding her as much as possible.  

‘Sweetheart, what’s wrong?’, Ms. Motina asks worriedly with a tilt of her head.  

‘... Are you going to die?’  

Ms. Motina reeled in shock at Lambo’s unexpected question, before relaxing and began to think carefully over her next words.  

‘Why would you ask that?’  

Lambo shifts uncomfortably in his chair, fingers tracing over the cow hide pattern decorating the box Ms. Motina gave to him as a gift. A reward for the straight A’s he got on his report card at the end of the school year.  

At least, that's what she told him.  

He couldn’t help but feel like it was a little something  more  than just a reward for his good grades.  

‘Gokudera said that no one has ever survived the illness.’, Lambo finally looked up at the gaunt and weak looking woman.  

Chocolate brown eyes meeting young Jade green ones.  

Ms. Motina’s once lively curly dark brown, almost black, hair, now hung limp on her shoulders, her darkly tanned sun kissed skin, now pasty and pale, and instead of the usual sunny gold sundress she would wear, now replaced with a hospital gown.  

But her smile, no matter how small, weak, or tired it seems, holds the same warmth, whenever directed in Lambo’s direction.  

‘Does that mean you’re going to die?’  

Ms. Motina’s gaze turned sad as she slowly nodded.  

‘Yes.’  

It was barely a moment after she said those words that Lambo leapt into her arms, sobbing loudly for the loss that he’ll no doubt have to endure.  

“I-I don’t w-w-want you to go....”, Lambo manages to say between his sobs, sniffles, and hiccups, ‘Ple-ease s-s-stay with me...’  

Ms. Motina held him tightly.  

It wasn’t until Lambo felt an unfamiliar weight on his neck that he pulled back to look at her and down at his neck where the unfamiliar object rested.  

It was a short necklace with a large cow horn pendant hanging at the end.  

‘Let this symbolize our hard work. As well as a promise I want you to make for me.’, Ms. Motina said seriously, but gently as she gently cupped Lambo’s cheek, wiping away his tears.  

‘O-okay...’  

‘I want you to promise me, that no matter what, you’ll find another to help you achieve your goals. Whatever your goals may be, now or in the future, I want you to find someone who will believe in you and always have faith in your skills, just like I do. Who believes you can become strong.’, Ms. Motina said earnestly, ‘Promise me, won’t you? Promise me you won’t give up and find someone who will continue to support you in my place.’  

Lambo nods determinedly, ‘I promise.’  

Ms. Motina pat his hair lovingly, a smile, clearly filled with adoration filled her tired features.  

‘Good boy.’’  

The two laid like that for what felt like forever, both falling into a comfortable peaceful slumber. A slumber that one of them would never awake from.  

A loud beeping noise disturbed the silence as it rung continuously rung through the quiet hospital room.  

~  

Lambo’s hand clenches, knuckles turning white as the handshakes from the force, he grits his teeth, just on the verge of grinding them into dust.  

But his facial expression still looked bored, as if he wasn’t bothered at all by the sight. As if he didn’t remind him what Lambo was like when death took her from the world.  

As if he didn’t give a damn.  

“This why I hate pirates.”, Nami states, earning Lambo’s attention, “They’re all just a bunch of heartless bastards. They destroy everything people hold dear without giving it a second thought.”  

Lambo sighs, “Not everyone falls under the same category Nami. Even if they share the same title.”  

Nami ignores him as she stares hatefully at something besides Lambo. Following where she was starring, Lambo saw Luffy approach out of the corner of his eye.  

“Oh, you're alive pirate.”, Nami said spitefully, “You know, I thought for sure that that lion was going to tear your head off and end it all. And I wish he had cause then there would be one less pirate in the world!”  

Luffy just stares at her with an unreadable expression.  

“Maybe I should destroy you right now? Before you build a crew and destroy everything else!”  

Nami rushes forward but the mayor holds her back, Lambo just stares at the scene before him, eyes vacant as he carefully goes through his thoughts over the situation. Unsure how to respond to Luffy’s return and Nami’s outburst.  

“That’s enough now.”, the mayor tells her, trying to calm her down.  

“As if you could kill me.”, Luffy says seriously, walking away from the angry girl, a box in his hand.  

“Maybe I’ll try and see!”, Nami screams.  

“I said stop!”, the mayor yells, “What’s with you people!”  

Lambo’s eyes widened as he identifies the box in the older boy’s hand as he stopped next to Chou-Chou.  

This... he’s never met any other pirate, no, person who's like this before. Not even Tsuna would do something like this. Not for someone he just met, not to get something as small, to him, as that.  

Lambo has never met someone who would fight a giant man-eating lion, just to get a box of dog food for some dog they just met that day.  

No, Lambo thinks shaking his head in awe at Straw Hat. It’s not a box of dog food, he retrieved, Luffy brought back the last piece of a Chou-Chou’s treasure.  

Luffy places the box in front of the unmoving dog, both the mayor and Nami frozen in place at the sight. Then, without saying a word, Luffy sits down right next to Chou-Chou with a sigh.  

“Sorry, but that’s all I could save for yah, that bastard lion ate all the rest of it.”, Luffy told the dog.  

The Vongola ring burned for a moment, causing the young Guardian to shake his hand in a mute attempt to ride himself of the pain quicker before turning to face Nami. Gauging her reaction, he could tell that Nami was slowly starting to understand what Luffy just did.  

Lambo huffs as he looks away, staring at the direction that the decimated Buggy base was. If this Moji the Beast Tamer survived, no doubt most of the others, especially the top-ranking crew members, survived the blast as well. No matter how mind boggling that is.  

This means more may come for them if they don’t, Lambo shakes his head quickly, if  he  doesn’t contact Tsuna and get off the island as soon as possible.  

Lambo felt a pull on his heart, causing a hand to reach up and touch his special pendant while eyeing Luffy and the wounded dog sit together comfortable in blissful silence.  

Or, he could always stick around. Watch Luffy go teach Buggy and crew a lesson or two. Someone from out of town and not part of Luffy’s crew should watch the novice captain kick Buggy’s ass.  

Who knows, maybe Lambo would join in on the fun if he thought himself to be up to the task.  

“You fought well.”, Luffy told Chou-Chou proudly, “Of course I didn’t actually  see  your fight. But I could tell that you gave it your all.”  

Chou-Chou grabbed the beat-up box of dog food and walked away from Luffy and the remains of the pet store. Just before he left the square though, Chou-Chou dropped the box and started barking at Luffy.  

Luffy turns, smiling widely while giving a little laugh, “Thanks, good luck to you too doggy!”  

The white dog barked some more before picking up the box again and leaving for real, Barking goodbye.  

The group all stood at a standstill, all stuck deep in their own thoughts.  

Lambo’s hand brushed over his pendant as he thought over the promise he made. It’s been five years, and he has forgotten it till now, much less keeping it.  

“Sorry about earlier.”, Lambo’s head popped up at the sound of Nami’s voice, finally noticing that she had just made her way to standing next to Luffy.  

“I didn’t mean to yell at you.”, Nami finished her apology.  

Luffy lifted his head to give her a bright smile.  

“It’s okay, you’ve been under a lot of stress lately.”, Luffy says understandingly, immediately forgiving the ginger as he got back up to his feet, “But hey, no need to apologize.”  

Lambo couldn’t help the small smile that overtook his features for a moment as he shook his head at Luffy amusedly. This guy is definitely something else.  

“I’m pathetic!”, the mayor yells, though it sounded more like a growl, startling Lambo, causing him to jump in surprise, “Chou-Chou and the young one have fought so hard and yet I, the mayor, have done nothing but sit back and watch our town be obliterated by Buggy and his despicable crew!”  

Luffy and Nami run to rejoin Lambo and the mayor, both staring at the older man in shock by his outbursts.  

“Calm down! It’s not that bad!”, Nami tries to placate him.  

The Lightning Guardian doubted she would succeed; he could tell that the mayor’s mind was made up. He has the same look in his eye as Tsuna does when he fights to protect Vongola or, more specifically, his loved and cherished ones the organization holds.  

“Forty years ago, this area was nothing but barren ruggy land.”, the mayor begins to tell the town’s tale, “We all worked together to create fields for our crops. We opened stores and built everything from the ground up.”  

Lambo stares at the man with wide eyes, unsure on how to move forward with everything that has happened.  

“This town is a treasure to me and all its citizens!”, the mayor loudly proclaimed, “From here on out, I refuse to let Buggy and his crew terrorize us anymore!!”  

Should he stay or should he run?  

Suddenly, a bright light consumed the land, as the ground beneath them began to tremble followed by a loud explosion. Lambo could hear the destruction of more houses, buildings and landscapes from another Buggy ball being fired upon the town.   

Once everything cleared back up, Lambo opened his eyes to see mass destruction in front of the group.  

“He’ll...destroy it all.”, the mayor said, grief and shock on his features.  

“Aaahhhh!!! Zoro was sleeping in there!!”, Luffy exclaims in worried.  

“Caro Dio.”, Lambo mumbles in shock, his ring burning, his heart heavy.  

There was no way the swordsman survived that blast.  

“I’m sure he’s dead now.”, the mayor repeated Lambo’s thoughts outloud.  

“Zoro you in there!?”, Luffy exclaims, stubbornly refusing to believe his crewmate is dead, “Are you still alive?”  

“That’s on hell of a way to wake a guy up.”, a familiar deep voice said from the wreckage.  

Then again, Buggy and his crew, most of them at least, survived the buggy ball at point blank. At this point Lambo is starting to think that the Buggy ball isn’t lethal and just destroys things.  

Lambo sighs in relief, closing his eyes, hiding the swirling emotions he’s feeling, while Luffy laughs gleefully at a grumpy person exiting the wreckage.  

“I could’ve used a few more Zs.”, Zoro groans.  

Someone likes his naps, Lambo observes.  

Nami just stared at the swordsman in shock, eyebrow twitching.  

“How did you survive that blast?”, Nami asked incredulously.  

“Alright! Your alive!!”, Luffy exclaims happily.  

“I refuse to let him get away with this.”, the mayor grunts quietly.  

“Hm?”, Lambo raised a lazy brow towards the older male.  

“I won’t stand for it.”, the mayor practically spits out, “I can’t let that scumbag destroy all of my towns people work for the last forty years.”  

Lambo watches as the mayor makes his decision, stating it clearly for the others to hear.  

“I am the mayor of this town.”, the mayor growls out lowly, “I WILL PROTECT IT AND ITS INHABITANTS, I SWEAR, WITH MY DYING BREATH!!”  

The mayor tries to run forward, trying to get to where Buggy and his crew are stationed, but Nami desperately holds him back.  

“You can’t defeat Buggy!”, Nami protests, trying to desperately convince him not to go.  

 “Perhaps.”, the mayor grunts out, as he struggled against her grasp, “But there are some fights a man can’t run from. Ain’t that right?”  

Luffy smile widens, “That’s right old man!”  

“Shut up!”, Nami scolds the rugged looking teen, “Don’t egg him on, it’s dangerous if goes Luffy.”  

“I KNOW IT’S DANGEROUS!!”, the mayor shouts, causing Nami to freeze in shock.  

Taking advantage of her frozen state, the mayor sprints towards where Buggy’s stationed.  

“I’M COMING FOR YOU BUGGY THE CLOWN!!!!!”, the mayor shouts as he runs.  

Lambo watches as the mayor runs down the path that’ll lead him to his desired enemy, respect shining clearly in his eyes, a small smile forcing it’s way on his twitching lips.  

Barely a day spent with this bunch and they managed to pull two smiles on him. This is the most comfortable he’s felt with a group of people for a while, despite not knowing them for very long.  

“The mayor was...crying.”, Nami mumbles with surprise.  

“He was?”, Luffy asked knowingly, “Huh, I didn’t notice.”  

“Looks like the party’s getting more exciting.”, Zoro comments with interest.  

Luffy laughs, “It sure does.”  

“This is no time for laughter.”, Nami said worriedly, eyes still focused on the spot they last saw the mayor.  

“Don’t worry. I’m starting to grow fond of that old man. There’s no way I’d let him die.”, Luffy reassures the girl.  

“Besides...” Lambo sighs wistfully, thinking back to his boss and the little he remembers Tsuna during his middle school years, “He reminds me of someone I used to know.”  

“Well, if that’s the case.”, Zoro says lightly, walking past Nami, who followed shakily behind.  

“You’re going to go to? You’re wounded!”, Nami protests.  

Zoro ties the bandana on his arm securely around his head.  

“Yeah, so what?”, Zoro said uncaringly, “The injury to my pride is a lot worst to the injury to my gut.”  

“Well, if we’re going to go to the Grand Line, we gotta steal that chart back.”, Luffy says confidently, Nami starring at him in shock.  

Lambo walks past the older girl too.  

“Mind if I tag along?”, Lambo asks the pirate captain, “I may not offer a lot in terms of strength, but I’ll give it my all if you’ll allow me.”  

Luffy laughs with a closed eye smile, “Let’s get going then, welcome to the crew!”  

.  

.  

.  

“Huh?”, Lambo said in confusion before turning to Zoro, “Did I hear him right? I just asked him to join the fight not his crew.”  

Zoro shrugs with a knowing smirk, “Tell him that.”  

Lambo sweat drops at Zoro’s smug expression.  

“Why do I have a feeling that I just dug myself a hole I won’t be able to crawl out of?”, Lambo deadpans.  

He had no idea how right he was.  

…........................................................................................................................................................  

Lambo stood, or rather slouched, between Zoro and Nami, the swords man on his right and the navigator on his left, watching with satisfaction at the anger in surprise on Buggy’s face upon Luffy’s entrance, saving the mayor for the clown pirate’s chokehold.  

“I’m here to kick your ass just like I promised I would Buggy.”, Luffy declared with his usual wide toothy grin on his face.  

Chapter Text

Luffy squeezes tightly on to Buggy’s hand with no mercy.  

“I’m here to kick your ass, just like I promised Buggy.”, Luffy confidently said.  

Buggy visibly struggles as he tries to recall his hand back to his arm. Lambo stood diligently next to Zoro and Nami, slouching over, looking bored and lazy as ever, if it weren’t for the anger glint and hardness in his eyes, people would think he didn’t give a damn and was just there for the sake of it or out of boredom.  

Luffy finally let go of Buggy’s hand, letting the limb fly back to its owner.  

“Damn you, Straw Hat!”, Buggy curses at Luffy angrily.  

Looking down at the coughing mayor, Lambo was pleased to see him still alive with only bruises and a sore throat to show as his only injuries.  

Buggy growls at how unaffected Luffy is by his threats and anger.  

“How dare you!”, Buggy shouts down towards the group, “You can’t just waltz up to me and treat me like this! I’M CAPTAIN BUGGY AND I WON’T STAND FOR IT!!!”  

“E mi hanno chiamato un piagnucolone.”, Lambo mutters under his breath in Italian.  (And the guys called me a crybaby)  

“Listen to me, all I want is the chart and the treasure then I’m out of here. You got it.”, Nami said pointing at Lambo and Zoro pointedly (no pun intended).   

“Yeah, I got it.”, Zoro said unbothered by her tone.  

Lambo held up an ‘ok’ sign to show his understanding.  

“Get out of here. Why’d yah follow me?”, the mayor said weakly, drawing the teenagers’ attention back to him, “Your outsiders, leave this to me.”  

Lambo sweat dropped at the man’s stubbornness.  ‘If we left yah, you’d be dead already.’  

“This is my fight.”, the mayor persisted, “ I  need to be the one to protect my town.”  

The mayor grabbed his spear and shakily, but determinedly, got back to his feet. Ready to fight and defeat Buggy at any cost. Even if it’s his own life.  

Something Lambo doesn’t quite understand. Why would someone do that? He understands the concept of treasure and how important people’s treasures are to them? But willing to fight to the death, isn’t something he understands.  

“Buggy is my fight!!”, the mayor screams.  

Luffy slammed the mayor’s head against the side of one of the still standing buildings, knocking him out brutally.  

Nami gaped in surprise while Lambo just face palmed. Might’ve been a little too rough on the geezer Luffy.  

“What the hell do you think you’re doing!?!?”, Nami screeches with sharp teeth, “Why’d you knock out the mayor!?”  

Luffy turns with an innocent smile, “Because.”  

“Not a bad idea.”, Zoro agreed, “If the old man continued to fight, he would’ve died.”  

Lambo just rolled his eyes at Luffy’s childish answer.  

“Signore, aiutami.”, Lambo groans, “Sono stato costretto a unirsi a una squadra pirata con un bambino per un capitano.”   

(Lord help me. I’ve been forced to join a pirate crew with a child for a captain.)  

The swordsman stares at the unconscious body of the mayor, “It’s for the best.”  

While Nami was yelling at Luffy, Zoro curiously turns to Lambo.  

“Hey, what language was that by the way?”  

“Italian, my native tongue.”, Lambo answered uncaringly as he continues to mentally question his sanity for hanging around these crazy people, most specifically Luffy.   

“Huh, go figure.”  

Both Lambo and Zoro turn to Luffy at the sound of his retreating footfalls to see Luffy walking closer to Buggy’s new base.  

“Here goes.”, Luffy says with a big excited smile, body twitching in excitement, ready for a fight.  

“BIG NNNOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSEEEE!!!!!!!!!!”  

Luffy’s shout echoed all across the town, it took all of Lambo’s self-control to not laugh at Buggy’s and his crew’s deafferenting expressions, but all sporting dropped jaws. The only indication towards his laughter was his shaking shoulders.  

“That’s the worst thing you could have said to them!”, Nami panics, head held tightly in her hands.  

“You damn flashy idiot.”, Buggy growled, veins protruding violently on his forehead, body tensed in anger, “I won’t stand for it.”  

He whirls around to his crew.  

“TAKE AIM AND FIRE THE BUGGY BAALLLL!!!!!!!”  

“Why did you say that?”, Nami cries as she runs away.  

“That’s not good.”, Lambo said, taking several steps back, but not leaving without Zoro or Luffy.  

These guys are one of a kind. Lambo will be damned if he leaves them behind and let the stupid clown take these two boys, that are one in a million, away from this world.  

“C’mon Luffy, it’s time to go.”, Zoro urges his captain.  

“You two go ahead.”, Luffy said confidently, “I’m fine, just watch.”  

Just as the Buggy ball was fired, the two managed to scramble back, trusting Luffy to handle himself as he said he would.  

“Gum Gum... Balloon.”  

With that said, Luffy suddenly inflated like a, well, like a balloon. The Buggy ball landed against it, causing the balloon to cave in for a second.  

“He caught the Buggy ball!!”, Buggy screams just before the elastic of the said catch caused the Buggy ball to bounce right back.  

“Ma che diavolo!?!?”, Lambo shouts, hand on his head in shock as he gaped at Luffy.  (What the hell!?!?)  

Nami and Buggy’s, along with the rest of his crew’s, reactions were no better.  

Heading straight towards Buggy and his crew once again.  

“He could’ve warned me.”, Zoro grumbled as he faced palmed.  

Earning himself an earful of Lambo’s shouting and rambling in sharp Italian. Not understanding a single word his new crewmate is saying.  

Wither knows knows/excepts being Zoro’s crewmate or not, Captain says he’s a part of the crew, then he is. Nami too.  

Buggy and his crew screamed at the Buggy Ball’s new trajectory as it landed, causing a great big explosion on the rooftop, not being as bad as usual since it lost its original velocity from the canon when being deflected by Luffy.  

“Alright! I got ‘em!”, Luffy shouts cheerfully.  

“What the hell kind of monster are you!?”  

“Ma che diavolo sei!?”  (What the hell are you!?)  

Both Lambo and Nami shouted at the same time with shark teeth, the former not realizing he’s still speaking in Italian.  

“I think you freaked them out.”, Zoro states calmly.  

“Non mi dire Sherlock!”, Lambo shouts, nearly pulling his hair out, still forgetting no one can understand him in Italian.  (No s#%@t Sherlock!)  

“What did he say?”, Luffy asked cluelessly.  

“Hell should I know.”, Zoro shrugs, “Oi Lambo! You’re speaking in Italian. No one can understand a word you're saying.”  

Lambo pauses staring at the three before taking a deep breath and holding his shaking head in his hands.  

“Sorry, I should be  used  to this sort of thing.”, Lambo said, his voice a little muffled because of his hands.  

“What kind of family do you live with!?”, Nami shouts incredulously, “No one should be used to things like this!!”  

She points at Luffy for example, who was staring at his destructive achievement along with Zoro and Lambo, who has now finally calmed down from his initial reaction.  

“I knew there was something weird after you survived that fight from that lion!”, Nami yells at Luffy, “No human being can do what you do! Now explain yourself! What the hell was the balloon inflatey thing you just did just now!”  

“That was the Gum Gum balloon.”, Luffy said nonchalantly, as if people who can stretch like he can were a thing.  

“I don’t care what you call it! Just tell me how you did it!”, Nami screeches with sharp teeth, “What are you some kind of freak!?”  

Once again, Lambo sighs heavily with an exhausted shake of his head, with the knowledge of Dying Will Flames, a bazooka that switches you out with yourself from ten years in the future, Lambo unable to be harmed by any type of electric source, strike or attack, and all the seemingly impossible feats Tsuna and the rest of his guardians have done, you’d think Lambo wouldn’t be all that surprise.  

Lambo pulls himself from his thought process at the sound of grunting. He turns to see that Buggy is perfectly fine, having used several members of his crew as human shields.  

“How dare you try to flashery do me in.”, Buggy said in an angry growl, dropping his men in a crumpled heap on the ground.  

“Unreal.”, Nami said in disgust, “Using his men as a shield.”  

“Disgusting.”, Lambo agrees with a nod of his head, using a bored tone to hide his own disgust.  

Suddenly, a werido wearing a white fur top with matching paw shoes, and his hair shaped like animal ears, popped out of the wreckage like a bunny hooping out of its hole.  

“What in the world just happened here!”, he shouts as he dusts himself off, looking better off than the rest of the crew.  

“NO! It’s you!”, the weirdo shouts staring at Luffy.  

“Hi!”, Luffy waves cheerfully.  

“Don’t tell me that weirdo is Moji the Beast Tamer?”, Lambo deadpanned, disappointed.  

Moji screamed, waving his limbs comically.  

“It’s that damned Straw Hat!!”, he screamed again before continue talking to Buggy, “Captain Buggy! We have to be careful! He has Devil Fruit Powers too! He’s a rubber person! I saw it myself!”  

“What?”, Buggy hisses.  

“Rubber person?”, Nami repeated confusedly.  

“Yeah.”, Luffy said before pulling his cheeks to abnormal lengths, “See?”  

Therefore, freaking Nami out even more while Lambo just stared at the older teenager. How is this guy older than him?  

“A Devil Fruit...”, Buggy mused, “That explains how he bounced that Buggy ball back.”  

Lambo looked behind the duo to watch a large pile of debris to clear away revealing two other crew mates taking cover behind a badly beat up looking lion.  

“How are you planning to respond to this insult?”, one asked smoothly.  

This man has dark green hair, the style in a side buzz mohawk, the buzzed side striped between blonde and green, wearing long white and blue checker scarf wrapped around his neck, and wearing, white trousers, a light blue fabric belt wrapped around his middle, similarly to Zoro’s light green belt-like fabric, white heeled short boots, and an ankle-length sleeveless open purple vest, revealing his muscular chest.  

He turned, properly showcasing his face, “Captain?”  

“Tearing them to pieces no doubt.”, the other popped up behind him giggling like crazy, sounding an awful lot like a hyena.  

He looked no older than Lambo, he has orange hair with bleached blonde tips spiked all around his head, wearing red gloves that flared at the elbow, a orange sleeveless button up sparkly vest with golden buttons and straps across his chest with a the collar popped up, the inside showcasing a golden color that sparkles in the sunlight, with a single tail that flared to his ankles dramatically, the underside is golden that glitters in the light, wearing blue trousers, with orange knee-high combat boots, with glittery golden buckles and straps, similarly like his vest, and resting at the ends of his nose, leaving his eyes in view, sleek dark gold sunglasses.  

This guy is the definition of flashy and dramatic.  

“Whatever he decides, our captain is always right!”, the man exclaimed, giggling manically, “Right Big Bro?”  

The two newcomers were brothers, Lambo noted as he watched this all unfold in front of him.  

“Hm.”, the taller green haired man stoically agreed.  

“Oh Kabaji, Cosmo, I’m too angry to even think.”, Buggy speaks casually despite said anger.  

“Put him down Kabaji!”, Moji angrily exclaimed, while Kabaji still held the giant Lion up with Cosmo peeking behind him, making mocking faces towards the beast tamer.  

“What the hell did the two of you do to my Richie!?”  

That’s what he named the lion? You’d think he’d come up with a scarier or more intimidating name. Lambo shakes his head incredulously; this entire crew is ridiculous.  

“This cat?”, Kabaji said mockingly, “I used it as a shield to keep our clothes from getting dirty.”  

“We have to stay fabulous as high-ranking members of Captain Buggy’s crew after all!”, Cosmo dramatically exclaimed with a thrust of one arm while the other hand rested upon his chest.  

Kabaji carelessly dropped the lion, Richie to the ground, throwing Moji into a panicked state. Running over to check on his pet.  

“Richie! Say something please!”, Moji exclaimed, until his lion finally came two.  

Upon regaining consciousness, the lion froze upon the sight of the two brothers, Kabaji stood calmly with his hands in his pockets with cold hard eyes, while Cosmo leaned against his brother, a smile still on his face, but a cold look in his eyes that matches his brothers.  

With wide eyes, Richie shakily hid behind one of the larger piles of rubble, shaking like a leaf.  

“You bastards!”, Moji screamed before rushing forward, “You heartless brotheeerrs!!!”  

The two dodged, with Cosmo swiping Moji’s feet from under him, and while the beast tamer was in the air, Kabaji mercilessly kicked him in the gut.  

Sending him flying in the group's direction, more specifically, Luffy’s.  

“Out of my way!”, Moji screamed as he flew through the air.  

“How about...”, Luffy shot back, preparing his own attack, “Out of  my  way!”  

He kicked Moji in the face sending him flying to the side and crashing against the side of the building with spider-webbed cracks behind him and falling to the ground. Nami watched Luffy with a sweat drop.  

Lambo shook his head, at the poor man. He doesn’t know how well he would’ve faired against him and his lion, probably not well like Luffy did, but right now he looked down-right pitiful.  

“Captain Buggy.”, Kabaji called for his captain’s attention.  

“Yes~ Kabaji.”  

“Allow us to repay their disrespect.”, Kabaji offered.  

“Yes!”, Cosmo eagerly chimed in, “Let us Captain! Let us!”  

Buggy turned to the brothers with a wide smile, “Fine! But! Make it a good show for everyone!”  

The two smirked before leaping to the air.  

Cosmo landed on a spiderweb of cables connected to the rooftops while juggling multiple black orbs the size of tennis balls, while Kabaji landed on a unicycle and started to peddle forward furiously, sword in hand.  

“You may call me Acrobat Kabaji, Captain Buggy’s chief of staff.”, Kabaji states confidently.  

“And I’m his assistant as well as younger brother Cosmo the Bomber!”, Cosmo shouts from his perch high above, tossing down several orbs, now sparking at one end.  

“You will pay for your insolence!”, Kabaji declared, preparing to run Luffy through while Cosmo threw down the orbs, he was previously juggling.  

Lambo had his eyes zeroed in on the sparking orbs, and immediately knew what they were. Familiarized with this specific type of attack style. The bombs were heading straight for Nami and the mayor.  

Leaping in sync, Lambo and Zoro lunged forward to their respective parties, Lambo quickly managed to grab Nami and the unconscious body of the mayor before leaping away just as explosions occurred in the trio’s previous spot. While Zoro rushed between Luffy and Kabaji, intercepting the acrobat’s attack.  

“I’ll clash swords with you.”  

Lambo just sighed in relief as he checked over Nami to make sure she was okay, besides being a little shaken up, she was perfectly fine. No injuries to be seen.  

With that relief, Lambo turned to the, no doubt, brewing battle between the two swordsmen.  

Cosmo sneered at his failed attack, but he too, turned his attention to the clash between swordsmen, his grin returning in excitement.  

“It’s an honor, Roronoa Zoro.”, Kabaji greets, “As a swordsman myself, I relish the chance to slay you.”  

What’s with swordsmen and slaying each other? Lambo wonders incredulously as he sweat dropped remembering the two Rain Guardian’s from Vongola and Varia.  

“Hey Zoro? You should really get some rest let me handle this guy.”, Luffy protests.  

“Just stay back.”, Zoro answered sternly.  

“Yo Big Bro! Need any help!”, Cosmo shouts from the tight ropes.  

“Leave it to me!”, Kabaji shouts back, a wide smirk clears on his features, “Arsenous Technique!”  

Kabaji pulled his scarf down allowing him to blow fire in Zoro’s face. With Zoro distracted, Kabaji aimed a harsh kick towards Zoro’s side. Hitting right on Zoro’s stab wound Buggy gave him earlier.  

Zoro screamed from the pain, before collapsing on his back as more blood soaked through his bandages.  

“What’s the matter? I didn’t kick you that hard, did I?”, Kabaji leered over Zoro.  

Lambo silently seethed at the scene before him. Didn’t kick him that hard his ass!  

“He fights dirty, going after his injury like that!”, Nami shouted in outrage.  

Lambo’s body tensed at the sound of hyena laughter, he glared up at the cackling Cosmo. It’s really starting to get on his nerves.  

“That’s my Big Bro!”, Cosmo laughed maniacally.  

Kabaji slammed his sword to the ground.  

“Acrobat Technique...”, Kabaji prepared his next move, “Murder at the Sting Bath!”  

He started twirling the cutlass, causing a smokescreen to form, preventing Lambo and the other two from seeing what happens next, as well as preventing Zoro from being able to watch his opponent.  

“Acrobat my ass, that’s just an ordinary dust cloud.”, Lambo heard Zoro said before the unmistakable  ‘clang!’  of swords meeting together sounded throughout the street.  

When the smokescreen cleared, Lambo’s eyes widened at the sight of Zoro tumbling backwards from another kick to his injury graciously given to him by none other than Kabaji. Lambo’s eyes couldn’t leave the blood splatters that decorated the cobblestones.  

He quickly shoved his shaking hands into his pocket’s curling them in to fists as he continues to observe the fight, trying to keep up his bored aura and neutral expression.  

Refusing to show his anger.  

“He did it again!”, Nami shouts.  

Zoro grunts and groans as he tries to get back to his feet, Kabaji gloating and mocking Zoro as he balanced on his unicycle above him. Lambo ignores the acrobat’s words as he just stares at Zoro’s trembling pain-filled figure, silently begging him to get up and kick this figlio di puttana’s ass.  (son of a bitch’s).  

“To keep fighting with such a bad injury, he’s crazy.”, Nami says in disbelief.  

“Maybe so...”, Nami turns to the younger boy, “But I know someone who was practically beaten to death, with several broken and cracked bones, but still continued to fight until he defeated his opponent.”  

Lambo finally turns away from the fight to face the ginger haired girl.  

“I don’t know about you, but I think it goes to show you how strong they are.”  

“There’s no way that happened.”, Nami didn’t believe Lambo’s story, who in turn shrugged off her denial, “He was hurt really bad. So bad, that I don’t even know how he’s still managed to fight. Much less win, but that’s strength and determination for you.”  

Nami pauses for a minute before whirling towards Luffy.  

“Why are just standing there and not helping him. He’s going to get killed you know!”, she shouts at Straw Hat.  

This girl loves to shout, although she may have some reason towards her outbursts.  

Luffy just watched ignoring her, but Lambo could tell why. Zoro told him to stay out of his fight, said he’d handle it. Luffy has obvious faith and respect in his crewmate and his abilities. It’s admirable really  

It may be small and still relevantly new, but Lambo could already tell that this was one hell of a crew already.  

“Roronoa Zoro... is finished!”, Kabaji declared, pedaling forward with his cutlass ready to strike the final killing blow.  

“You annoying little bastard.”, Zoro said irritably, getting to his feet easily, “You having fun poking at my wound? Then go ahead!”  

With that said, Zoro let Kabaji’s strike hit, unmoving, unflinching. His bandages coming undone, allowing a river of blood to drip down his side.  

The three teenagers stared at him in shock, all wide eyed at his actions.  

“Idiota!”, Lambo hisses angrily, the first time he’s allowed his emotions to be showcased to others in years, especially ever since meeting these three.  

“Why didn’t you dodge his attack?”, Nami asked nervously.  

“Is that enough of a handicap for yah?”, Zoro asks challengingly.  

This guy is crazier than any of the Guardians back at Vongola! At least they  tried  not to get hit!  

Zoro turns to face Kabaji, “Now just let me show you how superior  my  skills are compared to yours.”  

Kabaji actually looked like he was getting nervous now.  

“Yeah! Zoro! Get him!”, Luffy cheered happily, confident in his crewmate’s abilities.  

“You fool, you made a vast error in judgment.”, Kabaji replied, trying to hide his now rising nerves, “I won’t be mocked.”  

Says the one who was mocking Zoro minutes earlier.  

“Show him whose boss Big Bro!”, Cosmo cheered annoyingly.  

A tic mark appeared on Lambo’s head. Does this guy ever shut up?  

“My swords aim to be the world’s greatest.”, Zoro proclaimed, “I refuse to lose to anyone once that calls themselves a swordsman.”  

“I see...”, Kabaji mused, studying Zoro’s form, “Your strong resolve keeps you going. But have no fear, wounds as bad as yours is  more  than enough as an excuse...”  

Kabaji readied his cutlass, prepared for battle.  

“...to losing to me.”  

“To hell with that.”, Zoro spits venomously, “If I lose to someone like you, even with these minimal injuries. Then I don’t have a very bright future ahead of me, do I?”  

With that said, Zoro placed the white katana in his mouth, readying his three swords.  

“Why you...”, Kabaji trailed off from rage.  

“Does he seriously fight with all three swords?”, Lambo whispers in awe.  

“Yep.”, Luffy answered proudly before going back to cheering for Zoro, “Alright! Yeah!”  

“I won’t stay and watch this.”, Nami refused firmly, turning away from the fight and walking away, “You pirates can stand around for the rest of time and kill each other for all I care. I mean it doesn’t matter to me wither you guys win or lose.”  

She pauses before turning to the two boys with a sly smirk  

“I’m going to take this opportunity to swipe their treasure and get out of here.”, she smugly declared.  

Luffy just stared at her.  

“Maybe we can team up together again if we get the chance.”, Nami said with a smirk before running away, “See yah! Good luck with the fight!”  

“Thanks! See yah!”, Luffy held a hand up in farewell to the retreating thief.  

“You are something else Straw Hat.”, Lambo says with a shake of his head before returning his attention back to the fight.  

“Here’s a taste of my ultimate acrobatic move.”, Kabaji snarls.   

Would it count as an acrobatic move even though you aren’t doing any, well, acrobatics? Lambo wonders with a sweat drop.  

Kabaji reached for the inside of his vest before revealing three spinning tops in hand, throwing multiple at Zoro at a worrying rate.  

“Acrobat Technique... Dance of Hundred Kabaji Tops!”  

Okay, now he’s no longer trying with these names. Their so bad it almost physically hurts Lambo to hear them.  

Zoro somehow managed to slice through every one of the spinning tops without getting injured again, impressively keeping up with the fast-paced attack.  

While Zoro is distracted with the tops, Kabaji smirked and began another attack.  

“Acrobat Technique...”, Kabaji speed to the side on his unicycle heading straight for a building, “A Hike up the Mountain!”  

Kabaji somehow pedaled up the side of the building and flipped through the air, positioning himself right above Zoro, who gaped, as well as he can without dropping his sword, up at Kabaji in shock.  

“Fireworks in a Cool Summer’s breeze!”, Kabaji shouted in mid-air.  

Luffy shaded his eyes as both he and Lambo craned their necks to see the airborne swordsman.  

“Woah, that’s high.”, Luffy commented lightly.  

“Where is he getting these names?”, Lambo deadpanned, mostly talking to himself, “They’re starting to get ridiculous now.”  

“Sting of the Unicycle.”, Kabaji said, positioning his sword so it was pointing downward.  

Gravity began to take hold of the Acrobat and he started to fall, heading straight towards Zoro. If he didn’t move now, he’d be crushed.  

“Chop Chop Canon!”, Buggy suddenly shouts, shooting out his hand straight towards Zoro.  

“Let me help too!”, squeals Cosmo, “Bomber Technique, Fire Storm!”  

He threw multiple of his bombs at Zoro.  

“Kabaji! I’ll hold him while Cosmo distracts him then you finish him off!”, Buggy shouts, confident the fight will end with their win.  

Zoro looked between the three oncoming attacks, unsure what to do.  

“Ah hell no.”, Lambo seethes angrily.  

While Luffy stomped on Buggy’s hand causing him to scream in pain, Lambo activated his Dying Will Flames, green lightning wildly danced around him for a moment, going off of instinct, instead of charging the bombs head on like he originally, and stupidly, planned. Lambo held out an outstretched hand and several streams of green lightning bursts from his palm, destroying all the bombs before they were even close to touching Zoro.  

“Yare yare, you’d think since your older that you’d be more respectful towards another’s fight.”, Lambo said stoically, his eyes hard as he gazed up at Cosmo’s shocked figure.  

No one else noticed the lightning, too focused on their own battle or opponents'.  

‘What... the hell was that?’, Cosmo thought to himself, frozen in shock, ‘There’s no way he’s a Devil Fruit user too, right?’  

Meanwhile, during Cosmo’s conflicting thoughts, Lambo looked down at his hands with slight surprise.  

“That’s knew, and felt surprisingly easy.”, he mumbled to himself.  

This all allowed Zoro to successfully, not to mention safely, dodge Kabaji’s attack.  

“Luffy.”, Zoro said in thanks, also nodding his gratitude to Lambo.  

Who returned it with a tiny, unnoticeable nod of his own.  

“You bastard!”, Buggy shrieks at Luffy who smirks back dangerously.  

“If you want to fight someone.”, his voice deadly despite the smile, “How about me?”  

Kabaji chuckled as Zoro panted for breath, his injuries starting to finally take a toll on his body, without being aggravated.  

“I assure you, I don’t need my Captain’s nor my brother’s help to finish you off.”  

“Enough.”, Zoro said, absolutely done with all this crap, “I’m tired of this.”  

Kabaji laughed, taking Zoro’s words the wrong way, “So, you’ve finally given up, have you? I must say, I’m quite impressed you lasted that long with such serious injuries.”  

“I think you misunderstood.”, Zoro said aggressively, “I’m tired of watching your boring little side show.”  

Kabaji gritted his teeth in anger, before a smile appeared on his features once more, “So sorry to disappoint you. How about I show you... MY REAL SWORDSMAN SKILLS!!”  

Then what the hell was he doing earlier?  

Kabaji lunged forward shouting, “DIE ZORO!”  

Zoro jumped back to his feet and ready his swords for his first attack from the entire fight.  

“Onigiri!”, Zoro lunged forward as Kabaji’s eyes widened in shock.  

The two passing by each other and landing or stopping at opposite ends of the street. Kabaji immediately stiffened, showing who won the fight.  

“Kabaji!”, Buggy screams.  

“BIG BRO!”, Cosmo shouts right behind him.  

As the acrobat slowly fell backwards, he managed to say one last thing before unconsciousness overtook him.  

 “I can’t believe the Buggy Pirates were defeated by petty thieves.”  

He fell off the bike and landed with a  ‘thud’  upon the cobblestone floor.  

“We aren’t petty thieves.”, Zoro said coldly before collapsing to the ground as well, his bandana coming undone.  

“We’re pirates.”, he grunts, “Luf-fy. I’m going to sleep.”  

“Good.”, Luffy said, readying himself against Buggy, “I’m looking forward to this.”  

“Oh no you don’t!!”, came an outraged voice, “You took out my brother! So, I’m going to take out you! No one humiliates us without facing the consequences. FATAL ONES!!”  

Several bombs flew towards Luffy and Zoro, the former panicking on how to save Zoro while Lambo sighs, stepping forward in front of the straw hat captain.  

“Guess there’s no helping it.”, Lambo said quietly, silently hoping that this would work a second time.  

His Dying Will Flames activating once again, doing exactly as he did last time, Lambo followed his instincts, except he now knew what he was doing, raising his hand as three jagged streams of green lightning bursts from it, each hitting its own respective bomb. Causing them to all go off harmlessly as smoke filled everyone’s vision.  

“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?!?!”, screeches Buggy, “ANOTHER DEVIL FRUIT USER!?”  

“Nope, not a Devil Fruit User.”  

The smoke cleared away, revealing Lambo standing defensively in front of Luffy.  

“Has anyone ever told you guys that you’re all sore losers?”, Lambo asked boredly, slowly dropping his arm down to his side.  

Chapter Text

Everyone stared at Lambo’s slouched figure in shock, eyes showing nothing of what he was thinking.  

“Woah!!”, Luffy shouts excitedly with a wide grin and big eyes, “How’d you do that!? Did you eat a Devil Fruit too!?”  

Lambo raised a brow, “A Devil Fruit? No, only read about them once or twice when I was younger though. Thought they were only a myth until I met you and Buggy here.”  

“WHHAAATTT!?!?!?!?!”, Buggy screeches, “YOU EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE YOU CAN USE LIGHTNING WITHOUT THE USE OF A DEVIL FRUIT!?!?”  

Lambo rubs his neck tiredly, “I’ve got nothing to prove to you, but if you don’t believe me, I can go take a swim as long as you surrender quietly.”  

“Like hell I will!!”  

The teenager shrugs uncaringly, “Welp, you’ll never know for sure then.”  

“You insufferable brat!”, the big nosed pirate growled out a tic mark appearing on his forehead.  

“I’ve been called worst.”  

“AWESOME!!”, Luffy pumps his fist in the air, “I’m so glad you joined my crew!”  

Lambo turned to Luffy with a raised eyebrow.  

“Eh? What are you talking about?”, Lambo asked, still confused about that fact, “I never joined your crew, I was never a part of your crew.”  

“Then why’re you here!?!?”, Buggy screams angrily,  

“My Boss sent me out on vacation. Said this town was quiet, no marines or pirates nearby.”, Lambo’s eyes rolled to the heavens, “I should probably tell him to update the info he has on the other islands. If he even listens to me that is.”  

Shaking his head, Lambo returned to the matter at hand, “Point is, when did I even ‘join’ your crew.”  

Lambo made quotation marks with his hands when he said the word join.  

“Didn’t you ask to join before we came here to fight?”, Luffy asked innocently.  

Lambo face-palmed, this  guy .  

“I was asking if I could tag along for the fight.”, Lambo clarified, dragging his hand down his face in exasperation.  

“Oh~.”, Luffy nodded in understanding, “It’s too late now. Especially, after that cool lightning thing that you just did, I’ve decided that you’re going to join my crew!”  

“I already have a job numbskull!”, Lambo shouts with shark teeth, “I’m on vacation here remember!”  

“Some vacation.”, Luffy says, crossing his arms apprehensively.  

“You're telling me.”, Lambo sighs again, before his eyes widened, and he pulled Luffy to the ground, a big explosion blooming several feet behind them.  

“That was close.”, Luffy said looking back to the scorch mark created by the explosion.  

“That was rude you know.”, Lambo states, brushing himself off as he got to his feet approaching the area underneath the spider web of cables, “I was in the middle of a conversation.”  

“I will not be ignored by some lazy eyed brat!”, Cosmo protested loudly, while stomping his foot childishly.  

Lambo couldn’t help but wonder how he did that son easily while balancing precariously on the cables like he is.  

“You’re not that much older than me you know.”, Lambo comments listlessly, noting how the cables were metal.  

Upon that observation, he grabbed hold of a cable above him, just barely within his reach. Green electricity surrounded his body with no filter and with a push forward, he messily thrusts the electricity through the cables.   

It traveled up up up, until it made contact with the bomber himself, causing him to let out a shout in pain as he fell from the cables.  

“That’s cheating!” Cosmo complained sitting up quickly as he pointed at Lambo angrily.  

Lambo raised an eyebrow, “Said the one who threw a handful of bombs to help his older brother win a fight.”  

Cosmo growled furiously, before a sharp smile overtook his features.  

“I think it’s about time someone shut you up!”, Cosmo declared, holding his bombs in a way very similarly to the Storm Guardian, Gokudera, back from Vongola.  

“Hey Luffy...”, Lambo called out, his voice tight as he tried to hide his fears and insecurities from the pirate captain, “Mind if you let me take care of this one?”  

Luffy stared at Lambo’s turned back for a moment before a wide smile took over his features, as he gripped the top of his hat, laughing happily.  

“Sure thing. Kick his ass for me, K? Then you can join my crew!”  

Lambo looked over his shoulder at the older teen with half-lidded eyes and an unreadable expression on his face.  

“We’ll see if I can win this fight.”, Lambo says turning back to face Cosmo.  

“You will, I know you will.”, Luffy said confidently, causing Lambo to freeze in surprise, “You’re strong.”  

~  

‘Why do you keep helping me?’  

Lambo sat on top of the hospital bed, on top of the covers, cuddling close to Ms. Motina as she helped him study and get through his history homework. He has always struggled in history. Sheet's paper, notebooks, and a textbook all laid scattered across the duo’s lap.  

‘What a silly question.’, she said, squeezing him tightly, ‘I help because I care, but also because, despite what others, or even you, may think. You are strong Lambo. One of the strongest kids I have ever met.’  

‘But-!’  

‘Ah!’, Ms. Motina held up a finger cutting him off with a firm look.  

After a couple moments of silence, she softened and rubbed her nose against Lambo’s.  

‘Your strong. One day someone else will think so too.’  

~  

 “Bomber Technique...”  

Lambo’s head popped up, coming back to the present.  

With his hyena laugh, Cosmo began to throw his bombs erratically along the street. Luffy screamed in a panic as he somehow managed to drag Zoro to the side were there was cover from the multiple bombs raining around them, but still allowed Luffy to watch the battle.  

“Circus Hail!!”  

‘What the hell kind of a name is that!?’  

Lambo ducked and rolled, zig-zagging between the explosions that had no rhyme, reason, nor pattern to where they would land next. That’s fine though.  

Lambo may not be strong, only just barely able to fight with his Flames, but there has been one thing that he has always been good at doing. Angering Gokudera, followed by him running and dodging the dynamites the Storm Guardian would throw. Much like the way Cosmo does with his bombs as well.  

The only difference would be that Gokudera’s attacks were much,  much , more destructive than Cosmo’s puny bombs in comparison.  

It makes this child’s play when it comes to defense in this fight.  

The exact opposite in Zoro’s fight, where the swordsman struggled with his defense because of his injury, but Kabaji was no match for Zoro’s offense. With Lambo, thanks to Gokudera and Hibari, that skylark loves Namimori and his rules, despite somehow not following or finding loopholes in them for himself, who both would attack him. Gokudera more than Hibari would. But the thing is, despite his strong defense, Lambo’s not strong. Unlike Zoro, Lambo’s offense is weak, making it harder to end the fight.  

There is a high probability that if Lambo goes in for a strike, he won’t come back from it unscathed. He needs to find an opening.  

Should he use, his Dying Will Flames? It would raise his offense just enough to have a chance at winning this fight, because if he loses, Zoro may not come out of this as unscathed as he did.  

Luffy is rubber and, as far as Lambo knows, and is correct about, has no experience with fighting in explosions, unlike the Lightning Guardian. If he does somehow win against Cosmo, he won’t come out unscathed and would be less likely to win against Buggy.  

No, Lambo has to face this fight on his own, he may be weak, but that doesn’t mean he’ll give up easily. He’s going to give it his all and figure out a way to win.  

Lambo stopped short just as a bomb landed just in front of him, throwing him back several feet from the force of the explosion. Tumbling to his side, but managed to land in a crouch ready to run again, sprinting left and right as he successfully avoided more bombs until, finally, the barrage ended.  

Breathing heavily, panting for breath, Lambo turned his attention to Cosmo who was giggling madly.  

“What? No lightning?”, Cosmo grinned sadistically, “Or was it just a fluke?”  

“Using it three times in a short span of time and you call it a fluke?”, Lambo asked with a raised brow, “Are you stupid?”  

“Am not!”, Cosmo shouted with sharp teeth before clearing his throat and regained his composure, “Anyway, if anyone was stupid here... It’d be you for fighting me in the first place!”  

“Wow, what a comeback.”, Lambo said, rolling his eyes.  

“Shut up!”, screeches Cosmo, “Bomber Technique... Mine Field!”  

Bombs rolled all across the ground like marbles, it only took one to explode, then it became a chain reaction right beneath Lambo’s feet.  

Lambo leaped up into the air and took cover in an empty alley, using the left-over smoke from the explosions as a cover.  

“Yare Yare, I’m fighting an idiot.”, Lambo said, loud enough to be heard but not found.  

Luffy laughed from the sidelines, no longer taking cover, “He’s got you there.”  

“Oh yeah?”, Cosmo challenged, “Well how about this!”  

Cosmo clicked something on his wrist and juggled multiple unlit bombs.  

“Bomber’s Technique....”, Cosmo tossed each bomb in the air and when they all landed in his palm, shaped as a sphere, he lit the fuse of the bomb on top, creating one giant bomb, “Cosmo’s Extra Juicy Cherry Bomb!!”  

“THIS WILL SHUT YOU UP!!!!”, Cosmo screamed, throwing the bomb hard enough, it sped through the air almost as fast as a cannon ball.  

“Gum Gum...”  

“Luffy no!”  

Several things happened at once. There was an explosion, a scream, a loud crash, and then pain. It all happened so fast that it took Lambo a second to comprehend what just happened as he struggled not to black out.  

Luffy was going to try that balloon trick like he did with the Buggy ball, not realizing that since it was a bomb it was going to explode before he could bounce it back. Lambo did though, he knows explosives thanks to Gokudera and Reborn, despite the later only told him without realizing he wasn’t as stupid as everyone thought, and learned from them both. Lambo had rushed forward, electricity surrounding his legs, somehow speeding up his approach, pushing Luffy out of the way, taking the attack instead, sending him flying though a building.  

Lambo groaned in pain as he slowly tried to get up, surrounded by smoke and dust, obscuring other’s view of him, but the pain was too great for him, so he collapsed back down in the rubble.  

That was brutal.  

Lambo concentrates on his breathing, trying to not pass out as he gathers himself enough to get back to his feet. He’s pretty sure he hears Luffy screaming for him.  

Luffy screaming his name.  

“LAMBO!!”  

As if we was  worried  for him.  

“Lambo! Are you okay!?”  

As if he cared about him after only meeting for a short amount of time.  

Cosmo’s hyena-like laugh grated irritably against Lambo’s ears, “Keep screaming all you like. That weakling is dead, didn’t even try to come in for a hit too. What a bore.”  

“I know you can beat this guy! I know you’re strong!”, Luffy called out to the unmoving pile of rubble and dust.  

“SHOW THEM WHAT YOU’RE MADE OF!!!”  

Lambo’s eyes widened as another voice rung clearly like a bell in his head, barely even registering the Vongola ring burning his finger once more.  

‘I want you to promise me, that no matter what, you’ll find another to help you achieve your goals. Whatever your goals may be, now or in the future, I want you to find someone who will believe in you and always have faith in your skills, just like I do. Who believes you can become strong.’, Ms. Motina said earnestly, ‘Promise me, won’t you? Promise me you won’t give up and find someone who will continue to support you in my place.’  

“I promise...”, he mumbled, a single tear rolling down his face, as a smile curled on to his lips, closing his eyes at peace, “I found him, Ms. Motina. I found my person.”  

Thunder could be heard rumbling in the distance.  

…........................................................................................................................................................  

Meanwhile, inside Buggy’s hideout, a girl was busy filling a giant bag with all of Buggy’s treasure, when she froze and looked up at the ceiling above her.  

“There’s a Lightning Storm coming in, I better hurry.”  

…........................................................................................................................................................  

Tsuna jolted in his seat, having been in the middle of doing his paperwork, hands grasping at his chest as he gasped. Wither it was because of shock or pain, he didn’t know. All he knew that he felt a small uncomfortable shockwave run through his body.  

It would have been painful if it didn’t happen in a blink of an eye. But it was enough because it had him falling out of his chair, panting heavily besides his desk as if he has just run a marathon.  

…........................................................................................................................................................  

Lambo’s eyes snapped open. Rings of green lightning outlined the rim of his irises and an explosion of green lightning exploded out of the destroyed building, the energy source coming from within. Then it began twisting and crawling and jerking around or even through the still standing walls, effectively knocking them down to join the rubble below. Thunder could be loudly heard from the distance.  

“What the hell is happening!?”, Buggy shouts angrily, but staring at the lightning covered building in shock.  

“He can’t still be alive, can he?”, Cosmo asked incredulously, “No one’s survived my Cherry Bombs!”  

Luffy was laughing wildly as he stared at the electric light show.  

“Lambo!!”, Luffy called excitedly, fists raised high in the air, knowing exactly what was happening (more or less, I mean, come on, it’s Luffy).  

Not too soon after Luffy’s call, the green lightning retreated back within the now totaled building. A figure with horns could just be seen through the smoke.  

“Hey captain,”, the smoke retreated to reveal Lambo looking worse for wear, but otherwise perfectly fine with two small, cow-like horns now attached to his head and green lightning surrounding his figure, often sparking at random moments.  

Despite all the other times he has used his lightning before, this time is different. Everyone can see, if not,  feel,  the change. The Lightning was much more powerful than before, but the biggest part isn’t that. No, the biggest part is, the lightning looked more controlled compared to those other times. Lambo can feel the lightning, can feel it bend to his every whim and command.  

He has never felt stronger.  

“I think I’m going to quite my old job now.”, Lambo said, actually sounding light heartedly, “I have a promise to keep and I don’t tend to break my promises. You still have room for me Luffy?”  

Lambo may be weak, have low self-esteem in himself and his abilities, and may seem lifeless, hiding behind a constant mask of boredom, neutrality, and laziness. But for Luffy, his captain, his nakama, well, Lambo guessed it won’t hurt to let the mask go and let himself be who he is. He felt Luffy would take it in stride, prefer it even, that Lambo was himself around his nakama. He felt like, unlike with Vongola, Luffy would see who he is and would happily take him for it.   

Quirks and all.  

So why fight it? Why not join with someone where he’ll be happy?  

“Of course!”, Luffy giggled, “Now as your captain, my first order to you is to kick that guy’s ass!”  

Luffy pointed to Cosmo who stared shakingly at Lambo, eyes wide with hints of fear, shakily holding up his small bombs at the ready.  

Lambo stared at Cosmo emotionlessly before a small smirk took over his features. Finally dropping the metaphorical mask as it shattered before him into smithereens.  

“Aye-aye captain.”  

Lambo adjusted the horns to his head, making sure they were securely attached to his head, he hasn’t put them on in a while, there never was much reason to until now. Once satisfied, Lambo faced Cosmo directly, dark clouds started to roll in, blocking out the sun and darkening the area. Thunder rumbled within the ominous sky.  

“You ready?”, Lambo asked tonelessly.  

“I should be the one asking  you  that!!”, Cosmo shouted out throwing a chain of bombs at Lambo, “Bomber Technique Chainsicle!”  

“Thunder Set.”, Lambo said, barely audible enough for Cosmo and the spectators to hear.  

As soon as the words left his mouth, lightning jutted down from the sky, striking Lambo head on, charging up his horns to full power while simultaneously setting off the bombs before they could get anywhere near Lambo.  

Once the lightning disappeared, everyone stared at the unharmed Lambo in shock as he stretched out his limps.  

“Sorry if I don’t seem very good.”, Lambo comments lightly, “I haven’t had much training or use for this.”  

“What power...”, Cosmo mumbles as he stares at the mix of green and blue lightning that snaked all over Lambo’s body with the occasional spark, “Where did such power come from if not a Devil Fruit?”  

He never got the answer to his question, for Lambo was sprinting up to him.  

Cosmo tried to ready himself and throw a bomb, but Lambo was too fast, the lightning glowed around his legs, with a single bound, burst forward in a great act of speed.  

“Elettrico Cornata!”, Lambo shouts, ramming into Cosmo in the middle head first, tackling him to the ground.  

All the stored and built-up lightning he has made struck Cosmo as soon as the two made contact, Cosmo screamed from the large electrical shock he received before collapsing to the ground with Lambo in top of him. The eccentric teenager’s body now smoking from the attack.  

Lambo slowly got up, standing over the barely conscious, twitching body of Cosmo the bomber. Panting heavily as he struggled to remain upright on his feet. He hasn’t used his flames in such a long time, his stamina when using them aren’t as great as Lambo would like. Not to mention that Cherry Bomb attack really did a number on his body, even if he came out of it alive.   

He pushed himself to win this fight.  

And he just proved Luffy and Ms. Motina right. He is strong, and he is determined to get stronger.  

“What...?”  

“Hm?”, Lambo looked down to see Cosmo still conscious beneath him.  

“What... are y... you?”, Cosmo managed to say quietly, his voice raspy from the electrical attack he endured.  

For a moment, Lambo just stared at his opponent, thinking over on what to say to him, until he came to a decision, an answer.  

“I’m a Guardian.”  

He spoke with such finality before looking down at his pulsing Vongola ring, his finger throbbing from the pain.  

“It’s okay.”, he could hear the first Vongola Lightning Guardian, Lampow, whisper from the ring, “He is no longer your sky. He hasn’t been for a while. You’ve found a new Sky in that idiotic pirate captain. Fight hard, and protect your Sky as this one will no doubt protect you, along with the rest of his nakama, with his life.”  

With those reassuring words whispered to him, smoothing over any doubts or fears he had upon his decision, Lambo carefully slipped off the ring from his finger, for a later use he had in mind when this whole thing was done, and then he stuffed the ring in his pocket.  

“Oi, Luffy.”  

Luffy stared at Lambo, giving the younger male his full attention.  

“I think I pushed my abilities a little too far.”, Lambo told Luffy quietly, as he slowly walked, his form wobbled every other step, towards his captain, his Sky, “I think I’ll follow the swordsman’s lead and... rest....”  

Unable to handle the strain his body took upon the battle. Lambo crashed forward, quickly falling to the ground at the hand of unconsciousness.   

Only to be caught in a warm embrace. It felt like he was being held by the sky, large and comforting, as he drifted off to sleep.  

He chuckled tiredly, “Never thought... I’d... become... a pirate.”  

“You fought well. Now rest.”, was that last thing Lambo heard before succumbing to the darkness.  

Sleeping peacefully for once in the span of five years.  

…........................................................................................................................................................  

“Tenth! What’s wrong?”, Gokudera called out worriedly, sliding to his knees by his boss’s side.  

Tsuna was pale, sweating heavily, and just barely had his breathing under control so he wouldn’t start hyperventilating. He gripped his head and groaned quietly.  

His Hyper Intuition is going crazy right now. Tsuna can tell that whatever it was trying to tell him the past couple of weeks, it’s the same thing right now. The only difference is that his Hyper Intuition seems more frantic, somehow even desperate.  

Tsuna rubbed his aching head, “It’s my Hyper Intuition, it’s been trying to tell me something for a couple weeks now, but I could never tell what. Now, whatever it is, got worst. I feel like a part of me is cracking, threatening to break off, and it’s making my Hyper Intuition go crazy.”  

Gokudera seemed to mule over Tsuna’s words, trying to help his boss figure out what just happened and what may yet to come.  

“Any patterns pop up when you Hyper Intuition acts up?”, Gokudera questions.  

“None that I can see.”, Tsuna answered with a shake of his head as he shakily got back up to his feet, with the help of his right-hand man, “Of course there is a chance I may be over looking something.”  

“I’ve kept this quiet for too long.”, Tsuna sighs wearily as Gokudera helped him walk to his room in order to rest, “I was going to bring it up after the Gala if I still couldn’t figure it out by then. But with what just happened, we need to tell Reborn and the other Guardians, now. We got to find out what my Hyper Intuition is trying to tell me.”  

Gokudera agrees silently, “But first we have to get you to bed and call up Shamal for a checkup just in case, I’ll gather everyone in your room while Shamal makes sure you’re okay.”  

Tsuna didn’t want to wait any longer, look how good that did him now? But Gokudera is right, he has to make sure that whatever happened didn’t affect negatively long-term. As well as, Shamal may be able to bring light on the matter if what happened had to do with his flames.  

If his Sky Flames are part of the cause of his sudden collapse.  

Then what is happening?  

Chapter Text

“Hey Lambo! C’mon! It’s time to go!”, an overly excited voice filled Lambo’s ears as he gazed up blearily at the close-up figure of Luffy, hovering over him.  

“...Luffy?”, Lambo asked tiredly, still not fully awake, “Did we win?”  

Luffy giggled, “Yeah, I sent that big nose flying.”  

Lambo groaned as he slowly sat up besides Zoro, who also just woke up courtesy of Luffy.  

“Good for you.”, he mumbled, rubbing the bridge of his nose.  

“What the heck happened to you?”, Nami asked, looking a little worried.  

“That Cosmo the bomber guy, was angry Zoro beat his older brother. So, he and I fought each. Luffy insulted him, he threw a giant bomb at Luffy. I got hit instead trying to save the idiot, then I used up too much of my energy to finally take the bastard out.”  

“HOW ARE YOU NOT DEAD!?”, Nami screeches.  

Lambo looked up at her uncaringly, not feeling up to answering her question but figured she would continue to bother him until he did. He’s cranky when he’s tired.  

“Gokudera, a guy from my Famiglia, throws dynamite at me a lot ever since I was a kid.”, Lambo slowly got to his feet, stretching out his aching muscles, “You could say that I have a high tolerance to explosions now thanks to him.”  

“That’s horrible. How could anyone do that to a kid when training?”, Nami mutters, mortified.  

“Huh? Who said anything about training?”, Lambo asks with a curious tilt of his head, “They never allowed me to train. I’ve been fighting on instinct and from what I see the rest of my Famiglia do when they train. Gokudera likes to blame me for things that go wrong and throws dynamite at me. Admittingly, when I was five until I was eight, half of the things that went wrong  were  my fault.”  

“He at least should’ve gotten the full story at first.”, Zoro told the younger by, eyeing him calculatingly.  

Lambo shrugged, taking off his horns and placing them inside his money pouch hanging from his belt, “I was a brat when I was little. Makes sense why he’d think so, plus he’s a little short-tempered.”  

The two stared at Lambo, wondering what’s his family was like and wondering how he was raised as a kid.  

“Anyway, it doesn’t matter. What’re we doing next chief?”, he directed his question toward Luffy, “I need to write something and give to the mail seagulls while we sail....eh?”  

Pink smoke suddenly began to consume Lambo’s form.  

“Aaahh!!”, Luffy screams, “What’s happening to you!?”  

“Oh shi-!” Lambo quickly turned to the trio, “Grab what comes out of the smoke and don’t leave it! I’ll explain when I co-!”  

Before he could finish, he was gone in a cloud of pink smoke. Standing in his place was a young boy with a giant curly black afro, horns popping from it, wearing a cow onesie and had the same jade green eyes as Lambo.  

The child was sniffling as he took in his surroundings.  

“Who are you?”, Zoro asked with a raised brow.  

“Woah! Lambo got smaller!”, Luffy exclaimed, giggling like a little kid.  

“You idiot!”, Nami shouts, “There’s no way-.”  

“I’m Lambo.”, the little kid said before jumping on to a tall rock and pointing to the ground, “Now bow before me subordinates!”  

“HUUHH!?!?”, the trio of teenagers exclaimed in shock, all for different reasons.  

…........................................................................................................................................................  

“It’s Adult Lambo!!”, Lambo heard a familiar screech, causing him to wince.  

His ears starting to get sore from all the screeching he’s been hearing for the past hour, maybe hour and a half. That Cherry Bomb he got hit with wasn’t any better.  

“Huh, it’s been a while since younger me used the Bazooka, I was wondering when the next hit was going to happen.”, Lambo muttered thoughtfully.  

Lambo turned to find Tsuna, Gokudera, Yamamoto, and Reborn, in his baby form, all starring at him, eye’s wide. What made this weird for Lambo was that even Reborn looked surprised. Which confused Lambo, they’ve seen him before. So, what could possibly be so...  

Lambo looked down at himself and realized what shocked them.   

Oh right. The Battle.  

He was covered in scratches and bruises, his clothes were rumbled, and there was some ash on his cheeks from when he was hit by the cherry bomb. He’s never appeared before them hurt, or anything else of the sort before.  

“Lambo, what happened to you?”, Tsuna asked in shock, worry clear in his tone and features.   

 Lambo sighed blissfully, nostalgia running through him.  

“You know it’s been a while since you looked at me like that little Boss.”  

“Stupid cow! The Tenth asked you-!”  

“Gokudera.”  

The said boy paused at Lambo’s serious tone; his expression no different.  

“I just want to say, thanks for throwing all those dynamite sticks at me over the years. If it weren’t for that, I’d probably be dead right now, or at least close to it.”, Lambo nodded gratefully in Gokudera’s direction, “So again, thanks.”  

This made Gokudera freeze, mouth opening and closing like a fish. It’s clear he had no idea what to say to that out of the blue comment.  

“Did something happened with Vongola in the future?”, Tsuna asked tentatively.  

“Not really, their hosting a Gala to celebrate their alliances with the other Families in two weeks.”, Lambo answered uncaringly with a small shrug.  

“B-but... then how did you get injured?”, Tsuna stuttered.  

Reborn was too busy scrutinizing Reborn to smack Tsuna for stuttering. But he made a mental note for later tortu- I mean- teachings.  

“Oh this?”, Lambo looked down at himself uncaringly.  

It’s important to not make a big deal of his condition as much as possible if he wants to try to wave it away or avoid as much questioning as possible. Not to mention the knowledge of the future is what got him where he is now, he wants his past self’s future to made by his own hand with less setbacks and heavy stares.  

So the less they know the better.  

There is still a chance this tactic could back fire, but it was the best Lambo could think up in such short notice.  

So, he just shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets.  

“Vacation.”, he answered simply.  

“VACATION!?!?!?”, were the middle school students' reactions.  

“Why am I not surprised?”, Tsuna deadpanned with a sweat drop at Lambo’s nonchalant attitude.  

Lambo let a small smile twitched on to his lips.  

“Aren’t we both.”, Lambo replied cryptically.  

Then, pink smoke began to surround Lambo once again. Guess his five minutes are up.  

“Welp, sorry, but it looks like I don’t have time to answer any more of your questions.”, Lambo stated as he stared at the pink smoke, “I wonder how the others felt about me in my younger years. I  was  a brat.”  

“You're answering our questions when you get back! You got it!”, Gokudera demanded.  

Lambo smirked, “No promises.”  

He waved casually as if he was leaving for a walk and was gone with a ‘poof’, 5-year-old Lambo came back safe and sound.  

“Lambo want a doggy!”, Lambo squeals cheerfully while singing the word doggy over and over again.  

While Yamamoto tries to placate the young boy and keep Gokudera from hitting him again, Tsuna looked down at his tutor with confusion and slight worry.  

“There’s more to what he said.”, Tsuna said to Reborn nervously before asking, “What do you think really happened?”  

Reborn was too deep in thought to scold the next Vongola boss for allowing his weakness to be seen. But once again noted to added extra to his lessons.  

“I’m not quite sure. He didn’t give enough solid information that would reveal the Going-On's with either him or the Vongola in the future.”, Reborn states, “We would have to wait until our present Lambo switches out with him again for some more solid answers.”  

Tsuna nodded and watched the usual scene with a sweat drop rolling down his forehead. But he couldn’t help but over hear his teacher mutter one last thing.  

“Why isn’t he wearing the Ring?”  

Tsuna doesn’t know why, but somehow, that sentence just made him worry more over what may be coming in the future.  

…........................................................................................................................................................  

Lambo proofed back just as three pirates were screaming at the sight of the exhausted, and pissed off, Zoro.  

“Who are these bozos? They’re annoying.”, Lambo complained.  

Luffy grinned, “Hey Lambo! You’re back to normal!”  

“Yep.”  

“Where the hell did you come from!?”, the pirates all shrieked.  

Annoyed and not wanting to deal with them, Lambo activated his Dying Will Flames, ever since his fight they’ve been getting easier to summon and control. Green lightning sparked and danced across his body, although not as much as when he fought Cosmo earlier.  

The pirates and Nami all screamed at the sight of him. Oh right, Nami didn’t see his fight, so she didn’t know he could do this yet.  

With three quick chops, one for each pirate, they collapsed in a crumpled heap, some of their limps would occasionally twitch from the electrical shock.  

“Let’s go!”, Luffy exclaims.  

Nami shook herself out of her stupor, although she was still going to be asking Lambo lots of questions once they set sail.  

Both boats loaded with passengers, supplies, and Nami’s treasure, casted off slowly sailing away from the docks.   

“Alright, let’s get going.”, Luffy declared as the two ships left the shore together.  

“Can I ask you something?”, Zoro turned to Nami, “Isn’t Buggy’s mark on your sail?”  

Nami shrugged uncaringly as she explained, “Well, this did use to be Buggy’s boat. Think I should change it?”  

“Yeah, it might bring us more trouble than we need.”, Lambo comments as he laid on his stomach, stretched upon the deck of Luffy’s ship across from the captain and swordman, writing on a blank piece of paper, an envelope opened and waiting near-by.  

“Good point.”, Nami agreed.  

“HEY!! WAIT!!”  

The group of four turned to see the mayor, no longer wearing his armor, hunched over at the port.  

“YOUNG ONES!!”  

“It’s the old mayor guy.”, Luffy said.  

The mayor looked to be catching his breath, most likely ran to the port at full speed in order to catch them on time.  

They all stared, waiting to see what the mayor was going to do, Lambo sat up so he was able to clearly see the mayor.  

“THANKS!”, he shouted, revealing a wide smile and tears of joy falling down his cheeks, “THANK YOU!!  

They all smiled, Lambo’s being the smallest, but he was still filled to the brim with pride that they managed to rid this wonderful town of such a terrible pirate.  

Luffy laughed before shouting back to the mayor, “Don’t worry about it! Take it easy!!!”  

Lambo chuckled shaking his head before going back to the letter he was writing, only to jump in surprise, ready for a fight at the sound of Nami’s horrified scream. She whirled to Luffy, clutching tightly to the edge of her boat from anger.  

“What did you do Luffy!”, Nami shouted angrily, “Don’t tell me you left that bag of treasure back there!”  

“Yeah!”, Luffy smiled.  

“THAT BAG WAS WORTH FIVE MILLION BERRIES YOU IDIOT!!!”  

“That’s right.”, Luffy agreed, “But they’re going to need that money to repair their destroyed town.”  

Nami was leaning dangerously over the edge, Lambo wasn’t sure who to be more worried for, Luffy at the end of Nami’s wrath or Nami looking close to falling in the sea.  

“THAT WAS MY TREASURE JERK!!”, Nami screeches angrily.  

Lambo was close to comparing her to a harpy if he didn’t value his own life.  

“Do you know how hard I worked to steal it!?”  

Nami grabbed Luffy’s head and began to try and drown him, trying to shove his head into the water while Luffy struggled back.  

“Why did you do that!?!?”  

Luffy screams, “I can’t swim!”  

“That’s the whole idea!!”  

Nami’s wrath it was then.  

“Go back and get it then!”  

“I can’t do that! You go get it!”  

“No!!”   

Lambo couldn’t help the quiet laughter that left his lips while his shoulders shook humorlessly, Zoro’s loud booming laughter ringing along with his. Both shared a smile of content as they continued to watch the hilarious scene before them.  

Surprisingly, it wasn’t long before Nami finally stopped trying to murder Luffy.  

But as their journey continued onward, thanks to their trusty navigator, Lambo’s smile soon disappeared as he stared down at the finished letter in his hands. It took him forever to try and figure out what he had wanted to say, on how to say good bye. Lambo was overcome by fear, guilt, and nervousness at the sight of the letter.   

But he knew what he had to do.  

“It’s okay.”, Lampow’s voice whispered, once again, from the ring that lay on the deck of the ship in front of Lambo.  

 Then, the man himself appeared before Lambo, who already knew that he was the only one who could see the original Lightning Guardian.  

“You truly were perfect for the role of Vongola’s Lightning Guardian. Your Famiglia had multiple chances throughout the years, and it seems only one has picked up on the signs and took his chance. They are all great Guardians, and great people too. They just don’t realize that their hurting you, despite the many hints, clues, and calls for help. This will be good for you, you can heal, you can become strong, and, most importantly, you can be happy. You’ll be a fine Guardian, just not one destined for Vongola apparently.”  

Lambo shuffled nervously, eyes avoiding the letter and Lampow’s gaze.  

Then he felt a gentle ruffle of his hair, “I may not have cared for you in the past, but I’ve grown to like your ‘Ms. Motina’. Without even knowing, she helped me care. She was a special person, as well as this boy. Your Sky. You know what you must do, in order to become the best in what you can do. Now? You can finally be happy after so many years. You can finally be free.”  

Lambo nodded, knowing what had to be done.  

“Good-bye Lampow.”, he whispered.  

“Good-bye Lambo.”, Lampow gave the young Guardian a small soft smile, “Have fun on your adventure.”  

With that, Lampow disappeared back into his ring.  

Lambo sighed heavily, then carefully folded the letter into a neat little square, placed it within the envelope, before shutting that too. He carefully picked up the ring, stared at it for a moment as his days with his Famiglia ran through his head in a flash. Then, he carefully placed the ring in the small box, putting the lid on then tying it with the string into a neat bow.  

He attached the envelope to the tope, then gave it away to the mail seagull, making sure to pay it well.  

Once paid and package secured, the bird took off, flying straight towards the island that the Vongola Famiglia resides.  

“Hey, you okay?”  

Lambo turned to see Zoro staring at him with a raised brow, but his eyes held worry for his nakama.  

Lambo sighs heavily, trying to rid himself of the negative feelings, doubts, and fears he has once Vongola gets his mail.  

“I will be.”  

…........................................................................................................................................................  

(One Day Later....)  

“Hey Tsuna, something came in the mail.”, Yamamoto announced, to the filled room.  

All the Guardians, except Lambo, and Reborn were gathered in Tsuna’s room, with Tsuna on bed rest as ordered by Shamal. They were all discussing what the near future may have instore for them, now armed with the new information on the main cause of Tsuna’s ‘attack’.  

No one knew how to absorb that information, not even Reborn. Sky flames has never revealed to be harmful to the user before. It is a worrying thought; all can’t help but wonder what the cause for Tsuna’s Sky Flames to act up.  

Yamamoto held the letter out to his Boss.  

“It’s addressed to all of us.”, Yamamoto informed, “It might be from Lambo, it came from the village we dropped him off at.”  

Tsuna frowns lightly taking the envelope, studying it intensely.  

“The Stupid Cow probably got himself into trouble and is asking for help again.”, Gokudera groans in exasperation.  

“I don’t think so.”, Tsuna responds, his Hyper Intuition now ringing clearly like a bell, “I believe it may have something to with what’s going on with my Dying Will Flames and Hyper Intuition. It may not hold answers, but I feel like it may hold some clues to what’s going on.”  

Yamamoto held out a small package to Tsuna.  

“This came with the envelope.”  

Tsuna nodded gratefully, “I’ll open the letter and read it out loud, it’s addressed to all of us anyway, then we’ll open the package.”  

Yamamoto nodded clutching the package loosely, with no worries to what may be inside.  

The Vongola Decimo carefully opened the envelope and unfolded the sheet of paper. He noticed the sleek clean handwriting in shock.  

“Are we sure this is from Lambo?”, Tsuna asked looking to the end of the letter, “The handwriting is too neat.”  

Yet it still has the same swoopy scrawl that Lambo’s handwriting has, just cleaner and more organized now. It almost looked elegant.  

Tsuna just sighs and began to read.  

Dear Famiglia,  

I’m unsure on how to say this, but I’ll do my best.  

I have found a small group of pirates to call my friends, better yet Nakama. I haven’t felt this comfortable and relaxed in a long time, even when Ms. Motina was around, you still remember her, right (?), I was never truly relaxed, not with home looming close by.  

But what is a home really?  

After having a small adventure with the group, you seriously need to update your information on the islands in the East Blue by the way, this one was being run by Captain Buggy and his pirate crew, I had a revelation.  

I’m not coming back from my vacation.  

You guys always said that it would be best to replace me. Well, I agree.  

I guess you guys finally got your wish, I’m no longer around to bother you or mess things up anymore.  

Find your new Lighting Guardian.  

Bovino Lambo  

Tsuna just stared at the letter in shock, his Hyper Intuition ringing loudly throughout the entire letter before abruptly ending once Tsuna finished reading it, and his Hyper Intuition stopped almost like a bell. As if it were saying ‘It has happened. You have lost.’  

The room was engulfed in heavy silence as every single person in the room took in the words from the letter.  

“Bah!”, Gokudera’s loud voice cut through the heavy silence as he waved the note away as if it didn’t matter, “The stupid cow is just being dramatic. He’s just throwing another one of his tantrums for one reason or another.”  

Tsuna turned his head when he heard a sharp intake of air, only to see a pale Yamamoto staring inside the box. His eyes looked haunted, as if he saw a ghost.  

“I-I don’t think it’s one of his u-usual tantrums Gokudera.”, Yamamoto said shakily, eyes never once leaving whatever was inside the box.   

“What is it?”, Reborn asked coldly, but they all knew it was a demand.  

Yamamoto shakily reached inside, unable to speak anymore, only to thrust the box in Tsuna’s hands instead.  

The young Boss looked inside curiously, wondering, and worried, what was inside the box that made his Rain look so shaken up? To uproot his calm and soothing aura?  

But once Tsuna laid his eyes on the object, he knew exactly what.  

His hands shook as well as he reached inside the box, but they were steadier than Yamamoto’s when he first tried to grab it.   

He reached in, slowly, as if trying to delay the inevitable. But no matter how slow he went, it was still too fast for Tsuna, no sooner than his fingers held carefully on to the silver band, he lifted up the object for all to see.  

Revealing the Lightning Guardian’s Vongola ring.  

The room was struck into silence. All stared at the ring in shock.  

“... He was serious...?”, Ryohei muttered in shock, eyes never leaving the ring that Tsuna held in his hands.  

“Hn.”  

Everyone turned to see Hibari leaving the room, striding purposefully to the door.  

“Where are you going!?”, Gokudera shouted.  

Hibari shot the group a withering glare. His eyes were alit with blazing fury, and if the group had looked hard enough, they also would have been able to see the sadness and relief that were hidden behind Hibari’s justified fury.  

“Out.”, Hibari stated bluntly, “If any of you Herbivores come and try and follow me, I’ll bite you to death.”  

With that said, Hibari left, slamming the door shut behind him, causing the entire room to shiver from the force.  

“So, he really did mean it.”, Mukuro said solemnly.  

“No.”  

The room flinched at Tsuna’s hard tone; expression sharp.  

“He may have thought he meant it, but this is Lambo.”, Tsuna reminded them, “He always has the tenacity to over react without thinking and he always will. He’s never changed.”, Tsuna said clearly and with authority.  

The others nodded, starting to feel better. Their guilt slowly ebbing away at the words of their leader.  

Tsuna was right, this is the norm for the stupid cow, this just so happens to be worse than any of his other tantrums before. But it’s no different than the others before.  

“Reborn, I don’t care if you bring him earlier than plan. His vacation ends now, bring him home. And after the Gala, we’ll all have a long talk with him.”, Tsuna ordered.  

“I’ll leave straight away.”, Reborn said stoically, no one noticed the thoughtful glint in the hitman’s eyes.  

As soon as Reborn left Tsuna turned to the others.  

“No matter what, Lambo will always be a part of Vongola.”, Tsuna declares, “As soon as Reborn brings him back, we’ll set him straight once and for all. Keeping him on a tight leash.”  

No, Lambo was just over reacting, Tsuna was sure of it. When he comes back, Tsuna is going to make sure Lambo is never out of either his, Reborn’s, or the other Guardians sight.  

Tsuna knew that Lambo had the potential to become a better person. It’s high time that he changes. All Lambo need is help and some tough love.   

Tsuna knows he will be angry, but give it a couple of days, or even until the Gala, he will cheer up. And he’ll be back to normal.  

No, he’ll be a changed man, for the better.  

Tsuna will make sure of it.  

Chapter Text

Lambo laid casually across Luffy’s small ship’s deck, being the most relaxed he has ever been in several years, staring off into space as he lazily watched the sky slowly roll by above them.  

Well, he  was  relaxed, until he received a hard wack on top of his head.  

“Ow!”, he shouts, clutching the top of his head as he sat up from his spot on the deck.   

“What the heck Nami?”, Lambo grumbles irritably as he was rubbing his sore head where Nami hit him.  

The girl in question stood on the deck of the Buggy ship she stole, arms crossed, looking unremorseful for what she did.  

“You still owe us answers after that stunt you pulled.”, Nami states firmly.  

Lambo thinks over everything that had happen at the island they left behind, before realizing what she was talking about...... almost at least.  

“The green lightning or the little me?”, Lambo asks to double check.  

“Both!!”, Nami shouts with sharp teeth.  

Luffy giggles before asking innocently, “What’s the big deal anyway?”  

“Neither is natural! That’s the big deal!”, Nami shouts at Luffy this time.  

“I have been curious about the lightning.”, Zoro comments lightly as he stretches on the side of the boat, “Especially since you said it wasn’t from a Devil Fruit.”  

“IT’S NOT FROM A DEVIL FRUIT!?!? WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU!?!?”, Nami screeches.  

Lambo sighs scratching the side of his cheek, unsure on where to start.  

“Which one do you want to talk about first?”, he asks cautiously, unsure on how to go forth with this.  

They aren’t part of Vongola like the others, yet on the other hand, neither is he anymore.  

“Which one is shorter?”, Zoro asks, Nami mumbling to herself in the background.  

“Shishishi, I wanna hear about the kid!”, Luffy exclaimed excitedly from his spot on top of the barrel.  

Lambo shrugs indifferently, “The kid is the shorter explanation, but it’s also more unbelievable.”  

“We have a rubber man for a captain that has a black hole for a stomach and a mind of a five-year-old who has beaten a strong pirate captain that is dressed as a clown, I’m a swordsman that uses the three-sword style and is known as an infamous pirate hunter, and a greedy thief of a Navigator that steals pirate’s treasure.”, Zoro states bluntly, “So far, what part of this crew is normal?”  

“I’m not part of this crew!”, Nami shouts in protest, but is ignored.  

“. . . good point.”  

Lambo sighs, adverting his eyes for a moment, “Yare yare, this is going to be a pain.”  

Thinking over his next words carefully, Lambo sighs heavily once more before beginning his first explanation of the day.  

“That kid you saw, you may not have believed it or thought it a coincidence when he introduced himself, but he was me ten years in the past.”  

“Woah...”, Luffy said in awe with a big open-mouthed smile.  

Nami gawked at him in shock, “How is that even possible?”  

Zoro said nothing, waiting for Lambo to explain further.  

Lambo chuckled humorlessly, “Believe it or not, it gets even more unbelievable.”  

He pauses, letting the trio prepare themselves in their own ways before continuing.  

“When I was younger, I would always carry around this giant bazooka in my hair. That weapon happens to be very special and unique. One of a kind, you’ll never find any other like it. It’s called the ten-year bazooka, much as the name insinuates, if your hit by the bazooka you are switched out with yourself from ten years in the future for over the span of five minutes before being switched back. It’s why I wasn’t gone that long.  

I was five when I had it and carried it everywhere I went, shooting myself every time I was upset, which was a lot trust me. It wasn’t until just under a year later when the Boss took it from me.”, Lambo looks to the others, trying to gauge their reactions before continuing, “It just started appearing a couple weeks ago. So, I’m, well, we I guess, are going to have to deal with this for a while. I’m sorry for any trouble that I may cause.”  

Nami waved him away, “It’s fine, once I figured he could easily be calmed down with a sucker I had on me, and as long as I held him, he was like a little angel.”  

Luffy giggled, “That’s right, and when he found out I was a rubber man he really liked to stretch out my fingers and play with them.”  

Lambo raised a disbelieving brow, “Are you sure that we’re talking about the same me from ten years ago? Because I’m pretty sure I was a brat that Boss himself could barely handle me, not to mention I was a coward, threw tantrums left and right, and had an ego as big as the moon.”  

Nami held her chin between her pointer finger and thumb, nodding along.  

“That’s true, when young Lambo first introduced himself, he told us to bow as his subordinates.”, Nami states matter-of-factly.  

Lambo slumped over; a depressing aura surrounded him as he sulked in shame over how he was in the past.  

“Said he was the strongest person in the world.”, Zoro adds.  

Luffy nodded along as well, “He also sang this weird song about himself too.”  

With each word that came from his crewmates and Nami’s mouth threw Lambo into a deeper depressive state in regret and embarrassment over his past self.  

“You said you were five?”, Nami asks, breaking Lambo from his small sulking session.  

“Yeah, so...?”, he waited for her to explain herself, unsure to where she is going with this.  

“So... that’s okay. It may make you a little extra hard to handle and take care of, but that’s normal for a kid. Even the acting like a ‘coward’ as you recalled it. You were five, you weren’t ready to face the world head on by yourself.”, Nami states confidently, no mischief or falsehoods hidden, only the truth and sincerity in what she believed in.  

Zoro laughs fondly as he seemed to think back on a certain memory, “And that ego the kid had, well it wasn’t any better than when I first started my journey as a swordsman. I came upon a dojo and challenged their strongest fighter, stating I’d beat them no sweat, that I was going to be the strongest swordsman. That’s how I met Kuina, and she kicked my ass in one strike.”  

Zoro removes the white katana that hung from his hip, showing it to the others, staring at it fondly and wistfully, “We were rivals, yet we became friends as well. One night, after a duel, we promised each other that one of us would become the world’s greatest swordsman, this sword represents the promise I made, it was once hers.”  

“...where is she?”, Lambo asks hesitantly.  

“Gone.”, Zoro states, replacing the weapon back in its proper spot on his hip with the other two swords.  

Oh.  

“...There was this pirate and his crew that stayed at my island for a year as a temporary base, leaving a lot of the time to go off on all sorts of adventures. I followed him everywhere as a kid, begging to be able to go with him and his crew on their adventures.”, Luffy tells a tale of his own, he pointed to the scar underneath his eye, “Shishishi, I actually gave this to myself trying to prove to them how strong I was.”  

“How’d you do that?”, Nami asked curiously.  

“I stabbed myself with a knife.”, Luffy said nonchalantly with a wide closed eye smile.  

“YOU’RE AN IDIOT!!”, the trio shouted with sharp teeth.  

Luffy was unbothered.  

“How old even were you when that happened?”, Lambo asked.  

Luffy shrugged, “Pretty sure I was four.”  

Zoro shook his head at his captain.  

“He saved my life.”  

“Huh?”, Nami asked shocked, as if never comprehending the idea that a pirate would save some kid.  

“I was being held hostage by a mountain bandit that was passing through my village, he was using me in order to escape from Shanks and his crew. The bandit ended up being eaten by a sea monster while I was drowning in the water that he tossed me into. I already ate a Devil Fruit by then, accidently stealing it from Shanks much to his horror.”, Luff giggled again before going somber, “I was desperately trying to stay afloat while the sea monster was heading my way, about to eat me next. But Shanks saved me, losing his arm in the process.”  

Luffy paused, going through the memories with a frown before a smile grew on his face, “The very next day he and his crew prepared to leave for good. It was the same day I promised I would become the King of the Pirates, to become more stronger than Shanks and gather a stronger crew than his. He gave me his hat, told me to give it back to him in good condition once I achieve my dream.”  

Luffy held his hat fondly, before placing it back on its rightful spot on his head.  

“I intend to do just that.”, Luffy states determinedly, a wide smile on his face, “The only thing that will stop me is death itself.”  

Lambo’s hand strayed to the pendant hanging on his neck, wanting to share just as his crewmates did. Bearing themselves vulnerable while sharing their dreams.  

He wanted to do the same.  

So he did.  

“My name is Bovino Lambo.”, Lambo states softly, “I was born in the Bovino Famiglia, a big-name mafia family. But I was thrown out at the age of five, became a hitman and found Boss by trying to kill his tutor, who was the greatest hitman in the world, stating he was my rival. Not too long later, Boss calmed me down and practically adopted me, took me in and acted like a big brother to me, despite my short comings.”  

Lambo breathed in a shuttering breath, gripping tightly to his cow-horn pendant for reassurance.  

“Boss was only a teen, but he was being trained by his tutor to become the next boss of the mafia family I was with before joining up with you guys.”, a small smile appeared on Lambo’s features as he remised, “Boss and his friends never truly believed I would change, at least not until I was an adult. They forbade me from training, and never expected me to try and change, to better myself. I matured quickly at eight years old, trying to turn myself, and my life around, but my teachers were the only ones that noticed. Much less  helped .  

One of them, Ms. Motina, she always stayed with me after school and helped me better myself, whether it’s for real life examples and changes or my studying for school in order to better my grades. She supported me; told me I was the strongest person she knew.”  

Lambo paused, swallowing thickly.  

“What happened?”, Zoro questioned, a knowing look on his features, he could predict what probably happened, not how though.  

“She had an incurable disease, a fatal one that was slow and painful as it reached its end.”, Lambo carefully removed the necklace from around his neck handing it too Luffy.  

Luffy and Zoro stared at it, studying it carefully before Luffy handed it to Nami who looked at it in deep thought before returning it to the two boys, who both continued to stare at it as Lambo continued on with his story.  

“She was in the hospital when she gave me that pendant under the guise of an award for my high grades at the end of the year, when really she gave it to me, knowing she was going to die soon. Making me promise to find someone else that would believe. Believe me to be strong and to help me along in my goals as I would theirs. A companion.”  

Luffy gave Lambo his necklace back, who placed it back on, sighing at the return of the familiar weight that hung from his neck.  

“A nakama.”, Luffy states seriously, before reverting back to his cheerful self, “So that's what you meant when you said you had a promise to keep!”  

Lambo nods with a smile, “That’s right.”  

“So, you were part of the mafia.”, Zoro states matter of fact.  

Lambo smiles nervously, rubbing the back of his head nervously.  

“Y-yeah.”  

He gathered himself before talking again, “That actually leads to the explanation to the lightning. My famiglia have a special technique called Dying Will Flames, as does a lot of the worlds biggest and/or most powerful mafia groups. it’s where our determination, or more specifically accurate, our ‘Dying Will’ is physically formed for combat. Our Deathperation if you will. My lightning is just one of seven, and not everyone in our mafia family has it. Mostly just the higher ranks, the  top  top- ranks. Only their Black Ops. Group, called the Varia, and the Boss’s advisor, his tutor when he was younger, are the only other set of people that have the flames in my Famiglia.”  

“Wait, if only the higher ranks have it, then where are you ranked in the mafia?”, Nami asked curiously, face scrunched up in thought.  

“Oh, uh...”, Lambo scratched his cheek, “It’ll make sense when I describe the top-ranking system with my famiglia. So, at the top, is Boss, with Reborn, his old tutor now advisor. I pray for whatever poor soul decides to disobeys him, much less get on his bad side. Next is all of Boss’s guardians, sworn to be by his side, fight with him, follow him, and to care for them, as he does the same. The Boss and his Guardians are pretty close, tight-nit, if they’re not friends then they’re family.”  

“You’re one of the Guardians, aren’t you.”, everyone turned to Luffy who had an unreadable expression on his face while he explained to the two confused crewmates, “After he defeated Cosmo, he asked Lambo what he was. Lambo said he was a Guardian.”  

“W-what.... how? Your only sixteen! Two years younger than me!”, Nami exclaims in shock and horror.”  

“I’m actually fifteen, that would make me three years younger than you.”, Lambo comments softly, hunching in on himself.  

“THAT’S EVEN WORST!!”, Nami screeched horrified.  

“How old were you when you became a guardian?”, Zoro asks.  

Lambo twitched nervously; this was becoming harder than he thought it was going to be.  

“When the Boss became head or when he was still in training?”, Lambo tried to ask casually.  

“You mean to say you and the other’s became guardians before the current head even became the big boss of the mafia family?”, Nami asked incredulously.  

“Yeah.”  

“I’ve been meaning to ask about that too.”, Zoro interjects before Lambo could even state his age, “You’ve said how your Boss took you in and was like an older brother, why do you not refer to him in some familiar way, or at the very least his name?”  

Lambo stared off to space, his eyes glazing over.  

“Let’s just say we’ve been growing apart these last several years.”, he snorts humorlessly, “Just think, he and the others all think I’m exactly the same as my five-year-old self. Weak, egotistical, and selfish. They never saw the change much less notice it.”  

“That sounds awful.”, Nami says softly, “I think I would’ve gone into a depressive state if I was in that situation. I’m not sure if I could handle it.”  

Lambo looks away, before sighing deeply. He was probably going to regret this.  

He turned to the others, pushing up his sleeves to his elbows then moving the leather bracelet wrapped around his arm, just barely moving it to reveal multiple old scars overlapping one and another across his wrist. He moved the bracelet back in its rightful place and moved the one on his opposite arm to reveal a similar sight.  

“Who said I didn’t?”, Lambo smiled ruefully before placing the bracelet back in its spot and pushed his sleeves back down.  

The two boats were quiet for several minutes before Nami spoke up again.  

“Do you-?”  

Lambo shook his head, not needing her to finish her question.  

“I did that during a very bad time in my life. Sometimes I would have urges, but I’ve never followed through after I stopped.”  

Nami looked away, biting her lip, thinking back to her life. She forgot that others had problems of their own. At least, problems as bad as hers. Nami forgot that she’s not the only one with a bad life or past.  

“But you know?”  

Everyone turned back to Lambo who smiled back happily, it’s the brightest most genuine smile they have ever seen on Lambo’s face.  

“Ever since I’ve met you guys, even though it’s been, at most, a day, I haven’t had any urges, my confidence has grown, not that much but its something, and I haven’t felt this happy and relaxed in years. Not even my time with Ms. Motina can compare.”, his smile widened, “I think she would really like you guys. She’d be proud that I left for a better, happier life.”  

Luffy laughs, “That’s great to hear. It’ll be cool to have a Guardian on my crew. The future King of the Pirates would have no less but the strongest and most unique crew.”  

“With you as captain I don’t doubt it.”, Lambo deadpans.  

Luffy laughs while Zoro shakes his head good naturally.  

“We’ll get stronger together.”  

“Shishishi, you bet!”  

“I have no doubts.”  

…........................................................................................................................................................  

Reborn entered the town, adjusted his hat and tie, eyes staring stoically at the sight before him.  

People were working together to slowly rebuild several decimated buildings, setting aside reusable rubble, that wasn’t much, and cleaning up the rest of the rubble in wagons, bucket, etc. Anything that could carry the wood and stones to a different area to dump for the time being.  

“Careful, careful!”, shouted a voice nearby above the citizens work, “We don’t want anyone hurt now!”  

Reborn followed the sound of the voice to find a tall man with a yellow shirt, shorts, sandals, circular classes, and long curly hair. He was instructing several men that held on to some ropes and just carefully removed a beam from a destroy home, the beam was mostly intact, but it was also in the way of cleaning up the building’s remains.  

With an appraising gaze, Reborn studied the man for several moments before concluding that he was the mayor or, if not, a highly respected man in the community.  

“That’s it! Good Job Boys!!”, the man exclaimed proudly, “Go take a break!”  

“Are you the mayor?”  

The man turned to see Reborn staring at him, his face, mostly the area around his eyes, are incased in shadow, making him look dangerous and intimidating.  

The mayor doesn’t let it bother him.  

“Yes I am. You're not from around here, do you need something?”, the mayor asked politely, clapping his hands together to get rid of the dust that coated them.  

“Actually yes, I’m looking for someone.”, Reborn told him, taking something out of his suit jacket, it was a piece of paper with a picture on it.  

A picture of a familiar young man that the mayor met just the other day.  

“Why you looking for him?”, the mayor questioned hiding his skepticism and suspicion.  

The boy seemed bored, no that’s not the right way to describe him. He seemed done with the world at first, never seemed to care about anything that was going on around him. When that young girl told him that the boy had no connections to her or the other pirates, until he decided to join the crew in the end, but still ended up saving her and helping them escape their first encounter with Buggy. Yet as time went on, the mayor realized it was all a façade and would catch moments were there were cracks behind the mask he wore.  

The mayor expressed his gratitude and bid the group farewell, he could see, gone was the mask. He could tell that the boy was no longer pretending.  

Those youngsters helped give him the courage to be himself.  

“I need to bring him back home. His famiglia is worried for him, as well as the fact that he needs his famiglia’s help.”, Reborn said.  

The mayor frowned in disbelief, “Actually seemed happier when he left with the trio his age then when he came here alone.”  

“He made friends?”, Reborn said, surprised with raised brows, he didn’t really believe when Lambo’s letter stated that he found people he called friends.  

Who would want to be friends with the stupid cow?  

The mayor raised an eyebrow, “Why so surprised? He’s a good boy, saved a lot of people while he was here, that group and me included.”  

“This... doesn’t sound like our stupid cow.”, Reborn mumbled, becoming confused.  

The stupid cow saved people? He helped save this town from a pirate? The stupid cow was smart and right about something?  

‘The herbivore has gone quiet.’, Hibari states, ‘Never speaks to anyone unless spoken too. Never protests when we tell him to do something. He’s weaker compared to how he was ten years ago. You can’t fight if you and/or others don’t have confidence in your skills.’  

He never did, did he?  

“Why’d you call him stupid cow?”, the mayor questions.  

“It’s what his famiglia call him, it’s his nickname.”, Reborn answered not seeing the harm.  

“His family calls him stupid cow?”  

Reborn paused. He can kind of see that growing up, that would actually hurt every time to hear, especially from one's family.  

“He and his friends sailed inward, heading towards the Grand Line. Your friend joined a newly made crew of three, including him. Maybe a fourth if Straw Hat convinces that girl to finally join as well. I assume they are gathering more people to join the Straw Hat’s crew, knowing him it won’t be that many despite how dangerous their goal and destination is, they’ll most likely try and find a proper ship too before heading out to the Grand Line.”, the mayor states, back facing Reborn, “The young’un looked genuinely happy when he left on his adventure with the crew he joined. I wouldn’t have told you if it weren’t for the fact, I feel that you and that boy’s family need to have words before he leaves because there’s a chance he wouldn’t be able to come back even if he wished to.  

Be warned, I have a feeling if you just take the boy, the crew will come after you, and I may not know much on strength and pirates, but I do know that that young man’s crew is something else.”  

Reborn nodded, tipping his hat in gratitude.  

“Thank you”  

Then he left the island a couple minutes later. He’s a day behind, but if he sails continuously, and with shorter breaks then this ‘pirate crew’ that the stu- Lambo has joined, then it shouldn’t be long before he catches up.  

Despite what the mayor had told him, and the small seeds of doubt and concern that planted themselves within Reborn’s head, Reborn was still determined to complete the task Decimo sent him. Knowing Lambo, he won’t go quietly, his ‘crew’ probably won’t allow it either.  

He may humor them with a short conversation, but it won’t be long before Reborn would efficiently drag Lambo back home to the Vongola. There aren’t many navigators that know where Vongola’s Island is, much less navigate there.  

There would be no need to worry about this small novice pirate crew.  

Besides if they have Lambo and think him to be strong, they aren’t any strong either.  

After all....  

Lambo is just a stupid cow.  

Chapter Text

“There is absolutely no way we will be able to reach the Grand Line in this condition.”, Nami sates firmly, taking charge after sailing the rest of the day after leaving the town to rebuild from Buggy’s tyranny the other day.  

That was two days ago.  

Luffy, Zoro, and Lambo all looked up from their respective positions, Lambo was leaning over the edge of the boat, letting his hand glide through the sea water as the two ships sailed side by side.  

Luffy took the apple’s remains that he just finished, staring at it thoughtfully.  

“You’re right.”, Luffy agrees, “We’re going to need a lot more meat.”  

And just as Lambo thought Luffy was thinking smartly about their voyage to the Grand Line.  

“Eating fruit every day is for the birds.”, Luffy complained.  

“That’s your fault.”, Lambo commented dryly, “The moment we left port after saying good bye to the mayor you ate up all our meat in the next hour.  

“We’ll also need some booze.”, Zoro added on unhelpfully.  

He was rewarded with that comment with an apple hitting his chin, being thrown by none other than Nami herself.  

“Shut up you bone heads!”, Nami said angrily, “Ugh!”  

Nami calmed herself down, tossing the apple in the air then catching.  

“That’s not what I mean.”, she tried again, “The Grand Line is a dangerous place we’ll need more than beer and meat to survive there. Not to mention the place is crawling with pirates that are also after the One Piece. And they all have ships that are way better than this.”  

“Like we should get more crew members.”, Lambo added in helpfully, “At least a couple more people if we are leaving as soon as possible, I don’t think four people are going to cut it. No matter how strong any of them are.”  

“Thank you Lam- Don't count me a part of the crew! I’m not going to become some lowly pirate!”, Nami shouts with sharp teeth, threatening to throw an apple at Lambo as well.  

“Lambo’s right, we don’t have a crew.”, Luffy added.  

Praise the Lord, Luffy is thinking ahead on what they need for their voyage to the Grand Line!!  

“We don’t have a crew, we don’t have any equipment, we don’t have a proper ship for crying out loud!”, Nami exclaimed, “There is no way we will ever make it like this.”  

“Yep. We need a cook and maybe a musician so we can be entertained!”, Luffy said cheerfully.  

“A musician?”, Zoro asked skeptically before he burst out laughing.  

Lambo sweat dropped, “I think we may need a couple more Luffy.”  

“A little to the south here is an island with some settlements on it.”, Nami informed as she looked over a map she held in her hands, “And it looks like we might be able to get our ship and the supplies we need there.”  

“Fresh meat at last!!”, Luffy exclaimed.  

“And some booze as well.”, Zoro chimed in happily.  

“I would actually like some sweets, maybe some candy like suckers.”, Lambo pipes in scratching his cheek as he looks away embarrassingly.  

“That’s the spirit.” Zoro teased the youngest crew member.  

“Is that all you think about!”, Nami shouts in frustration, “And Lambo, I thought you were more rational! Ugh! What am I going to do with you three!”  

…........................................................................................................................................................  

It took a while, but the two joined ships finally made it to their intended destination. Anchoring just outside a wide set of cliffs. The only visible way to enter the island is through a long incline framed by the cliffs.  

It’d be an advantageous area to defend if need be.  

Lambo cracked his knuckles shaking out his fingers, stretching out his arms, and rolling his shoulders after being cooped up on a small ship for so long.  

“Feels good to be on dry land again.”, Zoro grunted in satisfaction as he stretches out his cramped muscles.  

“You can say that again.”, Lambo agreed.  

“There’s a village around here somewhere, right?”, Luffy asked, excited for fresh meat.  

“Yeah, it looks like a small one though.”, Nami comments lightly.  

“Oo! Oo! Then there’s meat!”, Luffy exclaims running up close to Nami while drooling, “There has to be meat! There’s a place with meat in this village!!”  

“Just forget about meat for a minute would cha?”, Nami asked irritably, a vein popping on her forehead as she scringed away from Luffy in disgust at the sight of his drool.  

Lambo’s ears perked up at the sound of the bushes on top of the cliffs rustling. The young teen is positive that the sound didn’t come from the wind because it came from a specific area.  

An area that Lambo studied closely, looking for something out of the ordinary.  

Zoro noticed Lambo’s gaze and followed it, studying the area as well for a moment before his eyes narrowed as he readied one of his swords, using his thumb to just remove just a slim of the blade from its sheath. Ready to draw the sword at a moment's notice.  

“Careful.”, Zoro warned, seriousness returned to his tone, “We’re being watched.”   

“Huh?”, Luffy asked before frantically, excitement clear on his features, looking for the culprit(s), “By who? Where are they? They got meat?”  

Lambo deadpanned, “Is that all your worried about right now?”  

“Look out!”, Zoro shouts in warning.  

His unexpected shout caused Lambo to jump in surprise, since he was standing right next to the swordsman.  

Luffy began doing a weird dance with his feet in a panic in order to dodge the small barrage of bullets that were aimed at his feet. Nami ran over to her ship for cover and for a quick escape if needed.  

Suddenly, multiple pirate flags appeared at the edge of the cliff, almost as if they were leering over the group.  

“Woah...”, Luffy said in awe before wildly waving his arms, “That’s. So. COOL!!!”  

“What kind of captain’s crew did I agree to join?”, Lampo asked incredulously as he stared at his easily impressed captain.  

A laugh drew Lambo’s attention back to the cliffs again to see a guy with darkly tanned skin, brown overalls, black curly hair, a bandana, with a satchel hanging at his side, and he had a  really  long nose.  

“I am Usopp! Leader of the great pirate nation that reigns over this island!”, the supposed ‘pirate captain’ proclaimed proudly, “You're standing before a living legend! The most revered pirate that has ever lived! I am the great captain Usopp!”  

Lambo just stared at the man, unsure on how to react to all of this.  

“Surely you know that plotting an attack on this island mean certain death!”, Usopp exclaims convincingly, “My army of eighty million super pirate soldiers would squash you like bugs!!”  

Lambo shakes his head in amusement, he sounds convincing he just needs to work on creating a lie that’s more believable. There’s no way anyo-  

“AWESOOOOOMMMMMEEE!!!!”, Luffy shouts in shock and complete awe over the stranger, Usopp.  

Right. His captain is an idiot. He seriously needs to remember that better.  

“Do you expect us to believe that?”, Nami calls up to Usopp, not believing anything he has said for a second.  

Usopp visible panics with a squeak.  

“She knew!”, he cried out.  

“Yep.”, Nami says smugly, “Well now I know.”  

“I’m so dumb! I practically told her I was lying! ...!”,Usopp ranted, Lambo honestly couldn’t understand what he said at the end of his ramble.  

“What!? He was lying?”, Luffy cried out shocked.  

“Curse you! You crafty tactician!”, Usopp cried out before regaining his composure surprisingly fast.  

It was impressive honestly.  

“Alright, eighty million may have been an exaggeration, but I have a great many men under my control!”, Usopp declared.  

Several flags began to move up and down as if to prove his point.  

“My guess is three.”, Nami said, unimpressed.  

The flags froze before three kids jumped up from their hiding places in the bushes.  

“Waaahhhhh!!! She does know!!”, they all exclaimed before dropping their flags and running off.  

“Hey! Where are you guys going!?”, Usopp screamed fearfully, “Come back!”  

Lambo watches as Nami picks up one of the small metallic balls from the sand.  

“A pirate that uses a slingshot huh?”, Nami said thoughtfully, “Well now I’ve seen it all.”  

Lambo has to admit, Usopp has some crazy skill with that slingshot with how quick and accurate he was when he shot at Luffy’s feet earlier.  

Luffy laughed, “That’s pretty cool!”  

Usopp growls angrily at Luffy’s laughter.  

“Shut your mouth! Or I’ll shut it for you!”, Usopp shouts angrily as he began to dig around inside his satchel, “I’m a proud man and I won’t stand for it!”  

Usopp drew back his slingshot ready to fire and Luffy immediately stopped laughing, frowning up at the long-nosed man.  

“This is your last warning, or you’ll get to see why they call me proud Usopp and not push-over Usopp.”  

Luffy just stared with the same expression.  

“Is that clear.”  

A dark seriousness washed over Luffy’s form, as he tilted his hat down, casting his face in shadow and hiding his eyes from view.  

“You’ve already seen for yourself just how good I am with this thing. So! You know I can rival anyone carrying a pistol.”, Usopp declared, only this time, he wasn’t sprouting lies.  

“Now that you’ve drawn your pistol, are you willing...”, Luffy peered dangerously from under his hat, “... to use it?”  

Ussop seemed to freeze in fear and shock.  

“Guns aren’t for threats. They’re for actions.”, Luffy states firmly, “Are you willing to risk your life?”  

Both Zoro and Lambo stared at their captain, trying to see where he was going with this before it both dawned on them. They both turn to Usopp.  

Zoro with a confident smirk, showing off one of his swords threateningly, and Lambo looked up, wearing his familiar bored/neutral mask with hard eyes. Activating his Dying Will Flames for a moment. Enough so, for Usopp to see, but not enough where he can also call it a trick of the light. Either way, both male stances, as different as they are, are intimidating.  

“I can assure you, we’re real pirates, consider your next move very carefully.”, Zoro calls up to the man.  

“You’ll never know if it’ll be your last until it’s too late.”, Lambo added darkly.  

Usopp began to sweat nervously as he looked down at the group of pirates, trying to think on what to do next. Causing the two parties to be at a standoff.  

Usopp and Luffy stared into the others eyes, both refusing to lose contact.  

It felt like they were staring at each other for hours, when in reality it was most likely only a couple of minutes.  

Suddenly the ball fell to the ground harmlessly and Usopp released the empty sling shot, falling to his knees with a groan.  

“Real pirates have a lot more punch behind their words because they can definitely back them up.”, Usopp said in awe, “That’s so cool.”  

Luffy, Zoro, and Lambo all smiled at each other knowingly, before the trio burst out laughing, Lambo’s being quieter than his nakama’s.  

“I stole that.”, Luffy told the liar.  

“Huh?”  

“I stole those words from Red Haired Shanks.”, Luffy said, “A pirate I know.”  

“What!? You know Red Haired Shanks?”, Usopp cried out in surprise, “You really are a real pirate. Wait, you gotta be lying, do you really know him?”  

“Yep.”, Luffy answered, “I know your dad too. His name’s Yassop, right.”  

Usopp stared down at Luffy in shock before shouting with joy, causing himself to accidently fall off the cliff.  

Groaning as he sat up from the painful fall, Usopp stared at Luffy for a moment before replying.  

“You’re right. My old man’s name is Yassop.”, Usopp continued to stare at Luffy with shock and awe, “But how...?”  

He paused before pushing himself into a sit up position, staring up at Luffy nervously. Unsure on what he would hear next.  

“But how in the world do you know him?”  

…........................................................................................................................................................  

The group ended up at a restaurant called ‘Meshi’ to eat some food before Luffy would explain to the liar how he knew his father.  

They all sat at a booth together, Lambo sat on the inside across from Zoro, sitting next to Luffy, who was tearing into his meat, with Nami sitting across from the pirate captain, and Usopp pulled up a chair and sat at the end of the table.  

All five of them enjoying their meals happily. Luffy got his meat, Zoro got his booze, and Usopp was nice enough to give Lambo a big bag of candies that the said boy clutched protectively to his chest. It was filled with a lot of different kind of candies, but mostly suckers, much to Lambo’s delight.  

The grape flavor was his favorite, he planned on eating one after the meal.  

“This is good huh?”, Usopp states.  

Nami answered with a satisfied hum, still chewing gleefully on her food.  

“So, I met your dad when I was just a little kid.”, Luffy told Usopp, his mouth still full of course.  

“Hold on, does my old man really know Shanks?”, Usopp asked in awe.  

“Know him?”, Luffy said incredulously, “When I met your dad, he was part of Shanks crew, so they were probably pretty good friends.”  

“I can’t believe it!”, Usopp exclaimed, mouth full of food, “My old man sailing the high seas with famous pirates.”  

“I haven’t heard from him in a while.”, Luffy said after swallowing his food, “But I bet he’s still with him.”  

“He was one heck of a sharp shooter.”, Luffy said in awe, “I’d keep him on my crew.”  

Luffy seemed to reminisce for a moment before speaking up again.  

“He use to go on and on about his son. I think I heard enough about you to make my ears bleed.”, Luffy said fondly, “Let me tell you, he was a great pirate.”  

“Yeah, really?”, Usopp said in awe, drinking up Luffy’s every word, “I sure am proud of my old man. He left to a pirate’s life to the endless sea. It show’s a life of real adventure.”  

“Maybe you can help us.”, Nami said, joining in on the conversation, “Do you know anyone who could provide us with a decent ship? Or even anyone who knows how to sail for that manner?”  

Usopp sighs, “Well, it’s a pretty small village. Sorry, but I just don’t think we’ll be able to help you.”  

Lambo was too busy licking the grape flavored sucker to notice Usopp’s face, otherwise, he would have known the older teen was lying. He always has a knack of knowing when someone was lying to him. Especially with the obvious lies that Usopp tells.  

“What about that huge mansion?”, Zoro asked, causing Usopp to freeze, “The one on top of that hill over there.”  

Lambo looked to where Zoro was gesturing to see a big house, yet one that is much smaller than the Vongola mansion.  

‘That’s a mansion? Then what the hell did I live in!?!?’  

“Hey! Do you know them Usopp?”, Nami asked hopefully, “With all that money surely they’ll help us get our boat.”  

“You stay away from there!”, Usopp shouted angrily.  

Lambo’s head shot up in surprise in mid lick.  

Usopp gaped as he realized what he did, sweating nervously.  

“I just remembered something that I really gotta do.”, he said quickly, not looking any of them in the eyes.  

Usopp got up, about to leave.  

“Everyone knows me at this place, so...uh, stay here and eat as much as you want. They have a good dessert menu too.”  

Lambo’s body tensed and his eyes widened.  ‘Dessert?’  

“Well, uh, Gotta Go!”, with that said, Usopp grabbed his bag and sprinted out the door.  

“Why was he in such a hurry to get out of here?”, Nami asked curiously.  

“Who cares, I want some dessert.”, Lambo commented, somehow with the dessert menu in hand, already scanning for some sweet treats to eat.  

Better save the bag of candies for the voyage, he has plenty of money, one of the only times he is grateful to Tsuna’s paranoia and low thought of Lambo. The money can be useful for supplies, candies and sweets, and maybe even a weapon. Lambo can’t fight hand to hand combat forever.  

Some things just never change, Lambo’s sweet tooth has somehow remained intact.  

“What's with you and sweets all of the sudden!?!?”  

Several minutes later, Lambo was enjoying several small dishes of cakes and sweets. He literally ordered the enter dessert menu.  

Zoro’s shoulders were shaking with barely contained laughter while Nami stared at the younger boy gob smacked.  

“What?”, Lambo asks while eating a slice of cake, “When I was ten, Tsu- I mean-Boss limited the amount of sweets I could have in order to try and make me less hyper.”  

“Did it?”, Luffy asked curiously as he finished up his meat.  

“I stopped acting hyper when I was eight, almost nine.”, Lambo shrugged unbothered.  

“And he didn’t notice?”, Zoro asked surprise.  

Lambo swallowed before smiling at the crew bitter sweetly, “There was a lot of things he didn’t notice.”  

“How much were you allowed to have?”, Nami asked, thinking he was just being dramatic, “It couldn’t be that bad.”  

“I was only able to have sweets on my birthday and Christmas.”, Lambo states matter of fact, “Even then it was pretty limited. It was extra hard because I have a bit of a sweet tooth.”  

“More cake please!”, Luffy orders, turning to Lambo with a smile, “We need to make up all those years of sweets you missed.”  

Lambo just stared while Zoro just chuckled at his dumbfounded expression.  

“Just eat your sweets kid.”, Zoro said light-heartedly as he drank from his booze.  

“Don’t call me kid, I’m not that much younger than you.”, Lambo crossed his arms grumpily.  

Zoro shook his head, “You said you were fifteen, right? Well, I’m four years older than you and an adult. To me, that makes you a kid.”  

Lambo sulked harder at Zoro’s comment, causing him to laugh at the younger boy’s antics. Luffy gently pushed another slice of cake in Lambo’s direction, immediately cheering him up causing Luffy to smile at Lambo’s big sparkly eyes at the sight of the dessert.  

Lambo just finished his last piece of cake when the doors to the restaurant slammed open and the three kids that were with Usopp earlier burst in.  

“The Usopp Pirates have arrived!”, they declared dramatically.  

“Now those are kids.”, Lambo pointed out to the weird looking trio.  

“Who are these kids?”, Nami asked, turning to look at them over her shoulder.  

The boys, froze staring at the prates table with obvious anxiety.  

“Captain Usopp is gone.”, a tall boy commented nervously.  

“Did they...?, the one with glasses trailed off.  

They ran to the table, the leader leading the charge, looking for answers.  

“Fess up you filthy pirates!”, the one wearing green shouts boldly,” What’ve you done with our beloved captain! Tell us now!”  

The other two shouted in agreement.  

Lambo leaned forward, arms crossed and resting on top of the table with a raised brow. What a brave small bunch.   

Or is it stupidity?  

Luffy sighed in satisfaction, patting his tummy, “That meat sure was good.”  

The three kids huddled close together in fear, eyes wide and staring down at Luffy’s bloated stomach.  

“What meat?”, asked the tall boy with freckles.  

“These pirates are cannibals!”, the glasses one states shakily.  

Lambo turns to Zoro curiously while Nami giggled at the kid’s assumption.  

“If I ate steak, would that make me a cannibal?”, Lambo whispers to the swordsman.  

“Are you part cow?”, Zoro whispered back, humoring the youngest crew member.  

“No, but people call me one.”  

“I’d say your off the hook.”, Zoro states with a small smile before turning his attention back to the kids.  

There’s no way he’s giving up this opportunity to mess with a bunch of kids. This is going to be priceless.  

“What have you done! You savages!”, the one in green, also the leader, shouted despite his obvious fear.  

“If you're looking for your captain....”, Zoro said darkly with a disturbing smile, “We ate him.”  

It took all of Lambo’s composure to not combust and laugh his ass off right then and there.  

The three boys started screaming with wide eyes staring at Nami fearfully.  

“AAAAHHHHH!!!!!! CANNIBAAAALLLSS!!!!”  

“WHAT ARE YOU PUNKS LOOKING AT ME FOR!!”, Nami shouted with sharp teeth, no longer amused.  

Lambo just burst out laughing, gently hitting the table with the palm of his hand. Luffy and Zoro laughed along with him, both unable to contain their laughter any longer too.  

The kids collapsed, still in the same position they were in when standing, mouths still wide open.  

“You just had to go and say something stupid, didn’t you!?!?”, Nami shouted angrily at the three laughing males.  

…........................................................................................................................................................  

Once everything calmed down and the group finally explained to the kids what happened with Usopp, the kids volunteered to take the pirates to the mansion. Ready to explain about the lady of the house and their captain.  

Lambo decided against going along, stating he was going to explore the village for a while.  

He needed to go for a walk alone in order to clear his mind, despite his banter and light-heartedness. Lambo felt kinda down after explaining a small personal detail about his past.  

Besides his relationship with Ms. Motina, he hasn’t really said much about how his famiglia is, especially around him. He doesn’t mind telling them more, in fact he will if the time ever calls for it or if they ask.  

It’s just, seeing their pitiful looks opened a door, just a crack, that Lambo tried to keep shut. The hurt is something he can’t quite described, because the hurt is magnified by the feeling of betrayal.  

Vongola is Lambo’s famiglia, you’d think that they’d know Lambo better than some strangers he met, somehow became friends with in little less than a day, although they aren’t quite close yet but friends none the less, and ended up traveling with them. Prepared to go to the Grand Line.  

The scariest, unpredictable, and most dangerous area in the world. A place that Lambo feared the most and wished to never travel too. And oddly enough, he’s not as afraid of the place as he was when he was little. Now, he mostly feels excitement at the thought of journeying there with his crew mates.  

The adventures, the battles, all of it.  

Lambo sighs tiredly. He wondered, if his famiglia could see him now, see how differently he acts with Luffy and his crew compared to his famiglia, what would they think?  

Probably find something negative about it and tell him how he would be unable to accomplish his goals.  

Lambo passed by a wooden fence where a certain object hanging on it caught his eye. His hands twitched and he gently took it in his grasp, experimenting with its movement and feel in his hands.  

“Hey! What do you think you're doing!?”  

Lambo’s head shot up as he tried to think of a good explanation that would get him in the least amount of trouble. But what popped out of his mouth was not what he was expecting at all.  

“Can I buy this?”  

Chapter Text

Lambo decided to continue on his walk-in hopes of running to the others, he had no idea where they went. He passed by the mansion but didn’t see nor hear anything that would indicate the kids and his crew being there.  

And if they ever were there, they left by the time Lambo stopped by.  

So, Lambo wandered over to where they docked their ships at the beach and placed the thing that he recently bought from an old man, who was kind enough to give him a satchel to place it in until he wants/ready to use it. The old man even gave it away for a lower price than Lambo originally offered stating he had ‘no use for the thing anymore in his old age’.  

Lambo thanked the man deeply before continuing on his way.  

He decided the easiest way to find his crewmates was to wander around the village and wait and listen for the loud voice of his rambunctious captain.  

About ten minutes later, Lambo heard a commotion travel throughout the village. The villagers grabbing anything that can be remotely used as a weapon running off, shouting angry comments and insults towards a liar.  

Lambo’s ear’s twitched as he heard Usopp’s name cursed by several villagers, worried for the long-nosed older teen, Lambo immediately rushed off in search of his, not friend, acquaintance?  

Best word he has to describe his relationship with Usopp thus far.  

The crowd ended up leading him to the mansion. Shouting about Usopp trying to kidnap the Lady of the house. Something that Lambo found hard to believe, but knew if it was true, Usopp had no malicious intent in his actions.  

But something obviously happened that had sent Usopp in a panic, but no one believed him.  

Usopp running frantically around the village, trying to desperately tell them something.  

No.  

Trying to warn them about something.  

That’s when Lambo’s blood ran cold at the familiar sound of a gunshot echoing across the land.  

Without out a second thought, Lambo easily scaled the fence, jumping safely to the other side and sprinting to the source, he managed to see Usopp, who was clutching his arm tightly, face filled with pain, and Lambo could tell it wasn’t just from the wound he received. A sheep looking man in a suit, most likely a butler based on his build and little to no muscle, held a smoking pistol. A sick frail looking girl looked, shocked, horrified, and betrayed, stood next to him. And the mob of villagers.  

Usopp ran off to the woods in hopes to lose the villagers, they slowly caught up to Lambo, and the sheep man yelling orders to find Usopp. Lambo was unable to watch or listen anymore, his heart going out to the desperate liar.  

He didn’t know what it was, he knew whatever he said was bad, but Lambo knew that whatever Usopp was trying to warn everyone about was the honest to God truth.  

“Move!”  

Lambo rushed forward, roughly pushing the sheep man out of his way. The villagers, butler, and the sick girl all looked at Lambo in shock as he rushed forward chasing after the sniper.  

First, he paused at the edge of the woods and stared, no stare isn’t the right word, more like a hard glare through half-lidded eyes.  

“Don’t even  think  about trying to follow him.”, he warned darkly, his eyes flashed as his Dying Will Flames activated automatically before he immediately pushed them down.  

But the sheep man and girl saw the literal lightning swirl in his eyes. The girl couldn’t help but hope it was just the trick of the light while the man felt nervous at the sight of the cow clad boy.  

The young boy soon disappeared within the woods quietly looking for Usopp, who sat tiredly on the forest floor, leaning back against one of the many trees, clutching to his bleeding arm tightly.  

“I know this is a stupid question, but are you going to be okay after all that?”  

Usopp jumped at the sound of Lambo’s voice, recognizing him as part of Luffy’s crew, but he wasn’t with them when they fell out of the sky to ask for a ship.  

At first Usopp didn’t answer.  

“...Do you think I’m lying?”, he asked tentatively.  

“No.”  

No hesitation in his answer.  

Usopp looked up at Lambo in surprise, the younger casually leaned against the tree behind Usopp.  

“I didn’t know what you were trying to warn the villagers about. But your actions were so desperate, your mannerisms frantic, and your eyes pleading for someone, anyone, all of them to listen and believe you.”, Lambo answered his unasked question, “That’s not something that you can act naturally nor play as. No liar or actor could look that frantic and desperate unless they are telling the truth.”  

Lambo paused before a small smile appeared on his lips.  

“Or if their crazy, and last I checked, I don’t think you're crazy.”, Lambo widened his eyes in obvious mock surprise, “Wait, your not crazy right?”  

He succeeded in causing a small laugh to leave Usopp who gazed up at Lambo with a small grateful smile, despite the prominent slump in his shoulders that never left.  

“No.”  

Lambo held out a hand to the long-nosed man, “Come on then, let’s go join up with the others, you can explain to me everything on the way.”  

…........................................................................................................................................................  

By the time both Lambo and Usopp found and regrouped with the others, Lambo knew everything, even the part of how Usopp was good friends with Kaya and would always go visit her in order to cheer her up and make her laugh, the sun was setting, sending an ominous glow throughout the sky.  

Who would’ve thought a vicious pirate would spend three years as a lowly butler in order to get some random people’s fortunes? Talk about dedication.  

Usopp waved in greeting, Luffy stood up in front of the rest grinning wildly.  

“Hey! Lambo you’re here too!”  

Usopp had a look of shock on his face running, grabbing Lambo by the arm, dragging him along too.  

“Wait! Your alive again!?”, Usopp exclaimed in surprise.  

That’s right, Usopp told him about how Luffy ‘died’. Lambo had told him ‘He’d be fine’, much to the older teen’s bewilderment.  

“Alive?”, Luffy questioned confused, before perking up, “Yeah! And I had a pretty god nap!”  

“He was sleeping the whole time!”, the green kid shouted.  

“Captain, we heard about the pirates and their evil plan!”, the tall freckled boy exclaimed.  

“We better hurry and warn the people in the village so they have time to get away!”, the one with glasses screamed.  

Lambo side eyed Usopp with bored looking eyes, an unreadable expression on his face. What will he do about the kids?  

Usopp just stared, his expression scrunched up.  

“Warn the people.”, he muttered, his expression actually looked haunted.  

He looked down to the kids, hiding his injured arm behind his back. Lambo’s eyes narrowed and something inside his chest swelled. And Lambo grew a fond respect for Usopp upon his next actions.  

Usopp forced himself to laugh. To laugh as he always would every morning after running through the village screaming the usual ‘Pirates are coming!’. To laugh as if everything was fine, that there was nothing wrong or to worry about at all.  

“Well obviously I’m lying as usual! That butler made me so mad from what he said.”  

Lambo watched, his heart hurting at the force, but genuine sounding laughter and big closed eyed smile as Usopp lied to the kids' faces, knowing the consequences, in order to keep them safe.  

“I thought I’d get him back and say that he was a pirate!”  

The kids joined in on the laughter.  

“I get it, you had the Straw Hat guy in on it to!”  

The kids walked away as the group of four continued to laugh.  

“Hey, where are you going?”, Usopp asked nonchalantly.  

Behind Usopp, Lambo could see the hand he hid behind his back with the injured arm was clenched tightly in a fist. Shaking like no tomorrow from pain, rage, and determination.  

“Honestly, you really disappointed me.”  

“Yeah.”  

“Even though that butler guy’s a jerk, I thought that your better than lying to hurt someone and I admired you for being such a kind hearted person.”  

Usopp’s face immediately fell at their words.  

“And to think, we respected you this entire time.”  

The kids all walked away, not one of them looking back. Lambo ignored their comments as he turned to Lambo, worry clearly written on the young pirate’s face.  

Usopp grimaced.  

…........................................................................................................................................................  

Lambo leaned against the cliff wall, watching wordlessly as Nami cleaned up and wrapped the wound Merry, the sheep looking butler, gave Usopp earlier that day. Luckily the wound turned out to be just a graze.  

But judging by Usopp’s grunts, groans, and quiet shout/screams of pain. It was still very painful.  

“There. All done.”, Nami stepped back to admire her handiwork.  

“How come you lied to them?”, Luffy asked.  

“Because all I do is lie.”, Usopp answered grimly, “There was no way anyone was going to believe what I had to say. Why should they?”  

Zoro stepped forward, “Because what you were telling them was the honest truth.”  

The group fell in to silence when Usopp had no reply to Zoro’s statement.  

“They are coming and they’re going to level the whole town.”, Nami said quietly.  

“Yeah, but what am I supposed to do.”, Usopp asked, sounding hopeless, “They’ll think I’m lying if I try and warn them. Everyone in my village thinks that tomorrow is just going to be just another normal day.”  

Usopp winced, clenching his arm tightly.  

At this point, Lambo wasn’t sure he was the most in pain from, his arm? Or the helplessness of not being able to save his village from blood thirsty pirates?  

Usopp jumped to his feet, fist clenched in front of him, eyes burning with determination, “They think I’m lying and that’s all they need to think! I’m going to stop those pirates at the beach tomorrow myself!”  

“This is all my fault for being such a liar.”, Usopp states before collapsing back on the rock he sat on, clutching tightly to his wounded arm as he trembled from the swirling emotions inside of him.  

“I don’t care anymore if they drive me away with brooms or shoot me in the arm.”, Usopp voice wavers, but that doesn’t stop him from saying what he needed to say, “This is my village. This is my home. And I love everyone in it.”  

Tears spilled over Usopp’s eyes as he began to stumble over his words.  

“I have to protect them.”  

Zoro’s fist’s clench, Lambo’s eyes hardened as his fingers clutched his pendant, Luffy’s posture straightened as he stretched his arm at the ready, and Nami’s eyebrows furrowed as she formed her hand into the berry sign.  

“You're a hell of a good guy, sending your cronies away to fight alone like that.”, Zoro states with respect.  

“Just so you know I have dibs on all the pirate tressure. You got it?”, Nami states firmly.  

“I missed a lot, so just point to who I need to zap.”, Lambo said lazily, but a smirk tugged at his lips.  

“So you want a little help or what?”, Luffy demanded.  

Usopp stared at the group of pirates in shock, tears slowly trickling to a halt down his face.  

“You guys? You’re gonna help me fight all these pirates?”, Usopp asked in surprise, “I don’t get it?”  

“Well, you said there’s a whole bunch of bad guys out there, right?”, Luffy asked, flexing his fingers.  

“And you looked scared out of your mind.”, Zoro points out.  

“FOR YOUR INFORMATION I HAVE NERVES OF STEEL! I’M PERFECTLY OKAY WITH TONS OF BAD GUYS!!”, Usopp shouts, “AFTER ALL! YOU'RE LOOKING AT THE BRAVE CAPTAIN USOPP!! WARRIOR OF THE HIGH SEAS!!  

Lambo stares pointedly at Usopp’s shaking legs.  

“Your knees say otherwise.”, Lambo said dryly.  

Usopp looked down, noticed his shaking knees and began hitting his legs in order to try and cease the shaking.  

“Damnit.”, he mutters, his voice cracking before looking up determinedly at the group of pirates, “Alright, fine! I’m scared!  

“WHY SHOULDN’T I BE!? THEIR CAPTAIN KURO’S MEN!!”, Usopp shouts with sharp teeth, “THESE GUYS MEAN BUISNESS!! I don’t want your guy’s pity! YOU GUYS AREN’T STICKING AROUND CAUSE YOU PITY ME!? JUST LEAVE AND STOP LAUGHING AT ME!!”  

“We’re not laughing at you.”, Zoro said firmly, cutting him from his rant, “We’re helping because you are honorable.”  

Lambo crossed his arms starring at Usopp with hard eyes, “Not many would do what you're doing right now, if any.”  

Luffy has a grim stare as he asks with a hard firm voice, “Do you really think we’d risk our lives out of pity?”  

Usopp stares at the group, tears pricking the corner of his eyes before rolling down his cheeks once again.  

“You guys...”, Usopp said.  

But he wasn’t able to say anything else, to choked up on his intense emotions. He didn’t need to; they all could tell he was grateful to them. That he appreciates their help.  

Chapter Text

“The only way they are able to get to the village is through this slope.”, the sniper informed the group as they walked up the long slope, “The rest of the shoreline is sheer cliff. They have to come through here. If we can fight them while they are funnel in that narrow pass. Their numbers won’t mean anything and the village will be protected.”  

Lambo nodded, that sounds good. It gives them an advantage over the blood thirsty pirates. This way it could even the odds, their numbers narrowing in order to get through the slope as Usopp said.  

“Alright. Sounds pretty easy.”, Luffy said.  

“Talking about it is, but victory depends on our strength.”, Usopp states firmly, “What is it that you guys can do?”  

“I cut.”  

“I stretch.”  

“I zap.”  

“I steal.”  

“I hide.”, Usopp pops up.  

“WELL THEN PULL IT TOGETHER AND FIGHT!!!”, all four of them screamed while Luffy held Usopp in a head lock so he couldn’t run away.  

“I thought it’d be funny.”, Usopp managed to choke out, “Come on, calm down!”  

Suddenly, once released, Usopp perked up.  

“Wait! I have an idea!”, Usopp then ran off somewhere cheering like crazy.  

“What the heck is he going on about?”, Nami asked confused.  

Luffy giggled, “I don’t know, but he’s weird.”  

Lambo deadpanned, “That’s rich coming from you.”  

“Come on guys! I need help bringing the stuff back to the slope!”, Usopp called back.  

The others shared a look, Lambo just shrugged, Zoro sighed, while Luffy smiled.  

“Shishishi, come on, let’s go give him a hand.”, Luffy said running up after the liar, “Hey! Wait up!”  

“Might as well.”, Zoro states uncaringly as he and Lambo ran up after their Captain, Nami close behind them.  

By the time they managed to catch up, they found Usopp rummaging through a worn-down shack.  

“What’s with the shack?”, Nami asked, observing the small structure judgmentally.  

“It’s not a shack! It’s my super-secret hide out!”, Usopp shouts back offendedly.  

“Woah!”, Luffy shouts in awe.  

“But wouldn’t us knowing make it no longer a secret?”, Zoro asked with a raised brow, arms crossed.  

Usopp pushed out a heavy looking barrel, panting heavily once it’s outside the shack before running back inside.  

“This is an exception!”, Usopp calls out.  

“Aren’t you a little too old to have a hideout still?”, Nami asked with a teasing smirk.  

Luffy laughed pointing to a gasping Usopp, who has just managed to push out a second barrel.  

“That’s not important right now!”, Usopp shouts with sharp teeth.  

“I thought only little kids have hideouts.”, Luffy laughs, holding his belly as he did so.  

“Hey! I have a hideout!”, Lambo protested defensively.  

“Yeah, well, you're still a kid.”, Zoro states with a smirk before placing a hand on top of Lambo’s head, ruffling is hair as he did so, “Plus your short for your age, that makes you a little kid.”  

“HEY!!”, Lambo shouted angrily with sharp teeth at the swordsman.  

Who just laughed at the rise he got out of the usually quiet younger boy.  

“You have a hide out?”, Luffy asked curiously, not teasing Lambo, he must think the same thing as Zoro then.  

Lambo scratched the back of his head embarrassedly, trying, and failing, to let the red in his cheeks show.  

“My famiglia can be overbearing and chaotic, I go up to the attic for some ‘è il tempo da me stesso’. Time to myself. It’s were I like to go for some quiet or to think.”, Lambo said, not looking anyone in the eye from embarrassment, “It’s my thinking spot really.”  

“Cool.”, Luffy giggled.  

“Was that Italian?”, Usopp asked, unsure, Nami wondering the same thing.  

Lambo blinked before realization dawned on him.  

“Oh yeah, sorry.”, Lambo apologized, “It’s my native tongue, sometimes I switch between languages, usually by accident when I’m really emotional or can’t think straight.”  

“Huh.”, Nami said in surprise.  

“That about does it!”  

Everyone turns to see Usopp standing next three barrels, hand proudly placed on top of one of them.  

“We have to get these to the slope. This!”, Usopp gestured dramatically to the three barrels, “Will be our trump card.”  

Nami nodded, satisfied, “At least we got a plan.”  

Zoro sighs, “Alright, let’s get to it.”  

Zoro picked up one, resting it on his shoulder, and headed towards the slope, with Nami leading the way, Usopp gawked at the swordman’s show of strength in shock. Luffy passed by the frozen Usopp, carrying the second barrel one handed on his hip, causing Usopp’s jaw to drop further and eyes to seemingly stretch from his skull.  

“Come on Usopp!”, Luffy exclaimed excitedly, “This is your plan.”  

Not too far behind him, Lambo followed after Luffy, rolling the barrel on its side, easily keeping pace with the rubber man once he caught up. Usopp was surrounded by a depressing aura at the sight.  

“Why didn’t I think of that?”, he mutters to himself softly.  

“Get a move on long nose!”, Zoro called back.  

“Hey!! Don’t call me that!”, Usopp shouts before running to catch up with the group.  

Once they got back to the slope with all three barrels, Usopp immediately got to work.  

He propped them all on their side, and the pirates watched as he uncorked each barrel, letting a stream of oil to flow out and cover the slope with the slick substance.  

“Yep, I’m a genius.”, Usopp comments proudly, “There’s no way they’ll be able to make it up this slope now. All this oil we put here should keep them occupied while we go to work on them.”  

“They’re going to be busy slipping and sliding around like a bunch of idiots and we show up and beat the crap out of them.”, Usopp announced the plan to them all.  

“Wow. So that’s your plan huh?”, Nami asked, approaching the oil in order to get a closer look.  

“That’s right.”, Usopp confirms, “I’m going to defend this village no matter what it takes.”  

“Let’s just hope none of  us  slip on that oil and end up down there with them.”, Nami comments lightly, “Because that would be like slipping into a meat grinder.”  

“Don’t jinx it Nami, knowing us, it just might happen.”, Lambo comments dryly before sighing and shaking his head, “Either way, over all, it’s a good plan.”  

“Usopp, I’ve got to hand it to you, your pretty good at fighting dirty.”, Luffy compliments (?).  

At least, Lambo is pretty sure it’s a compliment.  

“Of course, I am.”, Usopp takes it in stride, crossing his arms, feet apart, and looked deadly serious, “There isn’t anyone alive that can best me with a sling shot, or beat me in the art of fighting dirty.”  

Lambo just stares at, he wasn’t so sure that’s something to be proud of, but he also has to admit that you can’t always fight with honor. It’d may get in the way of winning a fight.   

He smirked at Usopp. Maybe fighting dirty is just what this crew needs next.   

“It’s almost daybreak.”, Zoro comments, his voice and tone going back to its stoicalness when it comes to battle, “They’re coming.”  

Lambo felt his body tense as he stood in a single line across the slope with everyone, standing on the end of the line next to Nami. His hands clenching and unclenching into fists nervously as he waits for the upcoming fight ahead.  

…........................................................................................................................................................  

They all been waiting for a while, dawn already has long since passed into early morning. Lambo couldn’t help but twitch and fidget nervously. Something’s not sitting right in his gut.  

“Where are they.”, Luffy whined, “I thought we were going to fight. The sun's up. What’s the deal?”  

“Maybe they over slept?”, Zoro said unsure, just throwing out ideas to try and explain the Black Cat Pirates absence.  

“No. They’re going to show up alright.”, Usopp said certainly, “Lots of ‘em.”  

Lambo studied the shoreline before a thought hit him.  

‘Didn’t we anchor our ships at the other side of the island?’, Lambo wondered, eyes narrowing at the spot their boats would have been.  

Nami looked to him, eyes narrowing before she put a hand to her ear, listening intently.  

“Wait a minute, I might be hearing things, but it sounds like... battle cries from somewhere.”, Nami said, both hands cupping her ears.  

Lambo closed his eyes and listened as hard as he could to his surroundings, ignoring each sound he deemed unhelpful until he could her the faint sound of men shouting for battle and blood lust.  

“Yeah, I definitely hear them.”, Nami states firmly.  

“I can hear it too.”, Lambo says quietly, eyes clenched shut as he continued to listen, “Faintly.”  

“No way, it can’t be.”, Usopp said in shock.  

“What can’t be?”, Zoro asked.  

“Is something wrong?”, Lambo added on.  

“There’s a shore just like this to the North!”, Usopp exclaims panickily, “They went...”  

“We’re at the wrong shore!?”, Luffy shouted, “That’s Not Good!!”  

“Well, this is where they had their secret meeting so I just assumed, okay!?”  

“We need to hurry.”, Luffy said quickly, “Before they get to the village. Where is it!?”  

“You have to head directly North from here.”, Usopp directed, getting a hold of himself, if slightly, “If you run, you can make it in three minutes. The terrain there is almost exactly the same so all we need to do is stop them at the slope.”  

“Don’t you worry, we’re going to stop them.”, Luffy assured the long-nosed man.  

Lambo perked up as he remembered his previous thought from earlier.  

“Didn’t we anchor at the other shore?”, Lambo asked quietly.  

But Nami heard him with a gasp.  

“Oh no!”, Nami screeched with sharp teeth, “If those filthy pirates are at the North Shore, then they probably seen our boats!! They’ll take our treasure!!!”  

“Huh?”, Lambo sweat dropped at the greedy navigator.  

“I’ll be there in twenty seconds!!”, Luffy shouts as he ran off towards the shore.  

“Aw man! My brilliant oil strategy was all for nothing!”, Usopp exclaimed before running up the slope after Luffy.  

Lambo watched for a second before shaking himself out of his reverie and running after the two. He could’ve sworn he heard Nami and Zoro shouting behind him, but he ignored it, thinking it was just his imagination.  

The Guardian was sprinting through the woods when he heard a familiar scream behind him.  

“I HAVE TO GET TO MY TREASURE!!!”, Nami screams, sprinting passed Lambo, shoving him to the side in order to not slow down.  

This caused the younger teen to run into a tree and collapse to the ground in a daze. Everything was spinning. He thought for sure, that he blacked out for a couple of minutes. But after regaining his bearings, with a groan, Lambo slowly got up to his feet waiting for the world to stop spinning before he even thought about moving forward.  

“Uncool.”, he muttered, shaking his head in order to clear it.  

Once he was back to normal, fully recovered from the crash, Lambo’s head snapped to where he heard screams and shouts.   

“Usopp! Luffy! Nami!”, Lambo gasped before sprinting to the slope once again.  

It wasn’t long before he was staring down at the scene below him, breathing heavily, quickly snapping his horns on top of his head. Both Usopp, who was heavily beaten and injured, and Nami, who looked perfectly fine, were about to be descended upon by many pirates, ready to either kill them, and/or run them over in order to get to the village.   

He prepared to sprint down as he secured his horns to his head, ready to take on the many numbers of pirates. . . Hopefully.  

 Elettrico Cornata should work with more than one opponent, right? He’s never tried it before.  

Here goes nothing.  

Lambo activated his Flames, green lighting charging up all around him, and he sprinted down the slope, using its decline to his advantage. He leaped over Usopp and Nami, charging head first, literally, towards the horde of pirates.  

“Elettrico Cornata!!”  

All the pirates in the front were thrown back from an electric blast slamming into others as the pirates fell down the hill like bowling pins, those who were unaffected froze in their place.  

Usopp and Nami stared up at a heaving Lambo in surprise.  

“Whew, that was close.”, Lambo commented breathlessly, “I don’t think I have ever run so fast for that long period of time before.”  

“What the heck was that!?”, Usopp exclaimed in shock while the Black Cat pirates began to mumble amongst themselves.  

“What kind of a monster is he?”  

“This is insane!”  

“Do you think he used a hidden weapon!?”  

“Gotta be! Look at his horns!”  

Lambo sighs wearily, eyes rolling to the sky. These guys are annoying.  

Lambo turned to the downed liar, “That was my Dying Will Flames, I refuse to let my friends die.”  

Both Nami and Usopp froze staring up at Lambo in shock.  

“Just rest up, I’ll hold them off until the calvary arrive.”, Lambo said turning to face the pirates, “I may not be strong as strong as the others, but it doesn’t mean I won’t give everything I have to protect my friends!!”  

“It doesn't matter what he is! He’s just a kid! Get him!!”, the weirdo with the heart glasses told the pirates as they all sprinted up.  

Lambo’s flames flared as green lightning surrounded his body, but it looked brighter at his hands.  

“I’ve wanted to try out this move, I’ve thought it up on the voyage here, wanna see?”, Lambo told the second wave of Black Cat Pirates.  

They ignored him and sprinted forward; swords drawn.  

The lightning flared around Lambo’s hands has he thrusted them forward together, then separated them into a wide electric arc, hands held out at his sides.  

“Elettrico Diga!”  

Several streams of lightning burst from behind and around him, appearing from seemingly nowhere, and bombarded the pirates sending them flying, but he only hit four to eight people, the rest of the pirates were too close for another long-ranged attack now.  

Lamb thrust his hands forward to shock anyone in their path, some of the pirates received the full brunt of the attack while others leaped back, only receiving a tiny tingle. Almost like static.   

Lambo tried to swipe and hit any he could get his hands on, and those that hit him got shocked tenfold in return, but it still left behind bruises where he was hit, most specifically Lambo’s face and arms were covered the most with bruises. Any that touched or got hit by his lightning, were down in seconds. Some even twitching from the after effects.  

Nami and Usopp were cheering him on hope returning that they may succeed yet.  

He liked to think he was doing really well while being out numbered, but the thing is, he mostly fighting blind and a lot of his hits were just luck. And luck has the tendency to run out.  

At some time during the fight, one of the pirates, snuck up behind him and Lambo felt a sharp burning pain across his back, blood spilling across the ground, his blood.  

“LAMBO!!!!”, he could faintly hear Usopp screaming.  

Lambo was going to try to let out one more desperate attack in order to push the pirates back, but his Flames weakened from his shock loss of focus. They were weak enough for someone to be able to grab a fistful of his hair and slam his head down on the hard ground of the slope.  

Lambo groaned, trying to move, but his back flared with pain causing him to stay still.  

The pirates all took advantage over the downed guardian and ran up to the top of the slope, Lambo’s eyes blinked slowly as he watched the pirates run past him.  

“S-sorry Luffy...Usopp...”, he mumbled, about to let unconsciousness over take him when he saw every single pirate fly past him and land in a giant pile of crumpled heaps back at the bottom of the slope.  

“What is this Captain Jango?”  

“Nobody told us killers like those were going to be here!”  

Lambo’s ears picked up the sound of angry voices. Familiar angry voices, a small smile appeared on his face.   

“Is that the best those pirates could dish out?”, Zoro asked mockingly.  

“Yeah, I was hoping for a challenge.”, Luffy replied.  

He did it. It was close, but Lambo managed to hold out long enough against an army of pirates for Luffy and Zoro to make their entrance.  

“And you! After leaving me down there, you're lucky I’m not kicking your butt too!!”, Zoro shouts angrily, most likely at Nami, Lambo hazily thought.  

Maybe he didn’t imagine their panicked screams from earlier after all.  

“USOPP YOU BIG BONE HEAD!! YOU NEVER TOLD ME WHICH DIRECTION WAS NORTH!!!”, Luffy shouts.  

“Who are these guys?”, Jango muttered staring up at the two men that took out the entire crew in shock.  

“Luffy, Zoro... Lambo, he’s hurt.”, Usopp said, pointing to the barely conscious teen, laying face first a couple feet down the slope from Usopp.  

He was dirtied and looked battered up, not as bad as Usopp though, he is way worst, but the worst part was the large diagonal slash on his back, bleeding blood profusely.  

Lambo slowly looked up when he felt a soft pat on his shoulder, he looked up to Zoro with his bandana on and Luffy standing behind him.  

“You okay kid?”, Zoro asked quietly.  

Lambo hums, “My back burns, but I’m fine. Just give me a few minutes of rest and I should be back on my feet... Hopefully.”  

Zoro chuckles, “Just don’t push yourself to much kid.”  

“Hypocrite.”, Lambo shot back, only making the swordsman amused smile to widen.  

Zoro carefully picked up Lambo’s limp body while Luffy went over to Usopp, satisfied his Guardian was alive and well, in order to move him to the side so he would be out of the way and wouldn’t get hurt anymore.  

Zoro smirks down at the tired teen, “Do as I say, not what I do.”  

With that said, Lambo gave Zoro a tiny smile before falling asleep.  

Chapter Text

~  

’What makes a person strong?’  

‘Hn?’  

Fourteen-year-old Lambo stood next to the resting figure, his eyes hidden in the shadows casted by the long bangs of his unruly hair.  

‘It’s been several years, why ask now?’  

The teen’s body tensed, his hand’s clenched into fists, and his body began to shake from how tightly wound up it is. The stared at Lambo before deciding not to comment about his unaswered question.  

‘Being strong comes in many ways.’, the man said thoughtfully.  

The man sighed, thinking over his next words carefully, knowing that, one day, now or later, this kid will remember every single one. If he would look back to them or follow them in the future depends on him.  

~  

“KAYAAA!!”  

Lambo’s eye’s snapped open, green lightning already flaring around his body instinctually, he moved without barely even comprehending the scene before him.  

The butler with gloves that had sword blades attached at the end of the fingers, was preparing to strike.  

Kaya, the sickly girl, rushing behind him.  

And Usopp, rushing forward to take the blow meant for the frail girl.  

Not on his watch.  

‘Being strong means to have the will to fight for others, wither it’s those close to you or some stranger you have never met in your life.’  

The sound of a thunderclap echoed across the slope.  

Usopp was in front of Kaya, but the both ended up flying to the side, Lambo standing there in their place.  

The lightning flared causing Kuro to lean back and pull away from his strike in order to avoid the wild electricity, Lambo had his arm raised. He received four painful diagonal slashes on his arm, two on his bicep and two on his fore arm, but it wasn’t deep enough to cut through the muscle, much less the arm itself. Funny enough, for someone revered for how strong he was, there were as deep as when he would get a playful/accidental scratch when playing with a dog, usually strays.  

If Kuro didn’t try to dodge Lambo’s lightning, his strike would have had more length and strength behind it, and Lambo would have lost an arm.  

That didn’t mean it didn’t hurt like hell, unlike with a dog, these scratches burned.  

Lambo’s breath hitched as he clutched tightly to his arm, quietly grunting and gritting his teeth through the pain.  

He looked behind him to see Usopp and Kaya laying a few feet away, Usopp laying on top of her, acting like a human shield. Both were unharmed. Kuro stared at the pair in shock as well, not even acknowledging Lambo’s presence.  

Which Lambo will forever be grateful for, because it was most likely the reason why he was still alive at the moment.  

Kuro stared, a bewildered look on his face, before it hardened and he straightened to his full height. Kaya managed to crawl out from underneath Usopp, who must have aggravated his own injuries in order to help save her.  

Kuro took a step forward towards the pair, but Lambo stepped in his way, eyes hard, shaking his head defiantly. The butler’s eye narrowed, but he made no other move towards the two friends.  

“Usopp, are you okay?”, Kaya asked worriedly before turning to Lambo, “What about you?”  

Lambo just stared at her, unsure on how to feel about her, but remembered her when he went after Usopp yesterday, she seemed to have recognized him too.  

Her eyes widened as she muttered, “It’s you, from yesterday... you went after him...”  

“I’ll live.”, was all Lambo said, ignoring the comment she made.  

“Kaya, what are you doing here?”, Usopp grunted weakly.  

“Oh Usopp, I’m so sorry.”, the girl apologized, “I don’t know how you’ll ever forgive me. I just couldn’t believe it. That Khlahador is a scheming murdering pirate.”  

“Never mind that! Why are you here?”, Usopp grunts, a small grin appeared on Lambo’s features.  

‘Being strong means to be able to do whatever it takes to protect those close to you, no matter their wrongs towards you in the past.’  

Usopp is so cool.  

Kaya’s eyes grew wide and welled up with tears, she bit her lip in order to try and keep herself from crying.  

“Kaya, your life is in danger.”, Usopp pleaded to the girl, “I told you to run to somewhere safe.”  

“I won’t!”, she shouted desperately, “Your still here fighting! I won’t run!”  

The sniper stared up at the girl, someone he cares deeply for, with surprise.  

“You fought for me after I treated you so badly.”, Kaya said quietly, “Look at you, your barely alive but your still so bright. I just...”  

“This is no place for a lady.”, Kuro said from behind Lambo.  

Who scowled and took a pivoting step to the side, still in Kuro’s way, but allowing Kaya to get the full view of her ‘butler’.  

“Madam, please leave.”  

Kaya froze, a blank look on her features, then it turned into a weird mix of a scowl and a grimace.  

“Please stop. Don’t do this.”, she said quietly.  

Lambo tilted his head curiously, wondering what she was doing.  

“Stop!! STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!! KHLAHADOR!!!”  

Kuro got a scary look on his face, an angry one.  

Lambo took a few more steps back, silently trusting Kaya to say what she needed to say, maybe to even stop this whole thing before anyone can get even more hurt or killed.  

But he tensed his muscles, ready to jump in if needed.  

The two stood at a standstill.  

“I know what you want, Merry already told me about everything.”, Kaya told the scheming pirate captain.  

Lambo could faintly hear the pirates hope rising at Kaya’s presence, the girl they are supposed to kill is there, they just have to get to her.  

“Khlahador, please. If you want my fortune, you can have it. Take it all and leave this village right now! I’m begging you.”, the sickly girl pleaded.  

Everyone held their breath, unsure and what may happen next, what Khlahador planned to do.  

“I will gladly accept your fortune miss Kaya, thank you.”, Kuro stated calmly, remaining totally unaffected by the girl’s heartfelt pleads, “But I want more.”  

Lambo sneered, what more does this bastard want? Isn’t he taking enough!?  

He adjusted his glasses with the palm of his hand, “You see, money isn’t enough. More than anything else, what I want is peace.”  

‘What kind of bullshit is this nutjob spewing?’ , Lambo wondered with narrowed eyes, his mouth set in a firm frown. Feeling more and more like Kaya is in danger and that her words won’t reach the crazy butler. His muscles were so tense, they were starting to ache.  

“You want peace.”, the girl repeated, confused at what he meant.  

“Yes, just peace. Peace of mind.”, Kuro clarified, “It’s simple really. I have spent the last three years earning the trust of the entire village. And to be honest, I find this new sense of peace and tranquility quite comforting. When my plan comes to fruition, I will live with this sublime peace of mind.”  

Kaya took several steps back, Lambo was about to burst forward between the two.  

“Yes.”, Kuro agreed to himself, spreading his arms and blades out wide beside him, “The glorious comfort of a peaceful life will be mine forever and ever.”  

This guy is matto (crazy) as hell.  

“In short, these pirates are coming!”, Kuro pointed his blades at his pirate crew before turning to Kaya again, “And you, will leave your fortune to me and die.”  

A dark look appeared on the Black Cat Pirate Captain’s face.  

“Miss Kaya, these things  will  happen.”  

“No. You can’t.”, the girl mutters, “It just can’t be.”  

She slowly, her hands shaking, began to pull something from within the large trench coat she wore.  

Usopp grabbed on to Kaya’s ankle in hopes to gain her attention.  

“There’s no use talking to him Kaya!”, Usopp shouts at the trembling girl, “Please get out of here.”  

Lambo agreed, but the girl was not done yet.  

“You're not Khlahador.”, she whimpers, revealing a pistol that was inside her coat, “No! You’re not!”  

She aimed the pistol right at Captain Kuro’s chest, hands and body, no longer shaking, the pistol aimed steadily and true to its target.  

Lambo just stared in shock at this girl’s boldness.  

‘Face your opponent head on, it doesn’t matter how either of you fight. You fight your opponent even if you fear them, or even once cared for them.’  

“Leave here, right now!”, Kaya demanded, “Never come back!”  

“Oh?”, Kuro said curiously, “You’d point a gun at me?”  

“Stop it!”, Kaya yelled, beginning to tremble and shake now, “Just leave! Go!”  

“Yes, I see. You’re all grown up now. So much has happened in the last three years.”  

Kaya just stared at Kuro, the gun slightly lowering in surprise at his words. Lambo was unsure on what to do, was this butler going to leave? Did he care for the girl that he watched over the past three years? His body and muscles relaxed in hope for a change and a peaceful end to this violent situation.  

“Miss Kaya, do you remember the things we went through? We spent so much time together. Even before your dear parents passed away.”, Kuro carefully removed one of his weaponized gloves from his hand, “You were more than just my master, you were my best friend. So much time...”  

Lambo could see that Kaya was starting to lose her will and anger against Kuro or, to her, Khlahador. Lambo felt a bad feeling in his gut, immediately tensing his muscles once more, prepared to intervein at a moment's notice.  

“So many memories, together we suffered and together we rejoiced. Like family.”, Kuro smiled up at Kaya, but alarm bells were ringing loudly in Lambo’s head.  

“K-Khlahadore...”, Kaya whispered, tears welled up in her eyes once more.  

“I took you on shopping trips to the city. I looked after you so diligently when you were ill. And we used to talk for hours and hours.”  

By this point, the tears were flowing in rivers down her cheeks, as she wept over the happy memories she had made with the pirate.  

“Kaya, listen to me, I was devoted to you for so long.”, Kuro slowly reached his hand out.  

Lambo’s mind screamed at him to move, to not let the pirate butler get any closer to the girl.  

Kuro gripped the gun tightly, “For so very long...”  

His voice made a turn to a darker tone.  

“... I’ve endured it.”  

Kaya quietly gasped, Lambo clicked his tongue in disgust towards the man his gut was right.  

“I quietly suffered so that today I could end your life, and take everything that I deserve.”, Kuro practically snarled, his face became twisted and cruel as he stared down the sick girl.  

With that said, Kuro pulled the gun from Kaya’s frozen hands, while Kaya’s face twisted in heartbreak and betrayal at the one that she trusted most.  

“I am the feared and respected Captain Kuro.”, Kuro declares viciously, “And to bow and humble myself before some snot nosed little girl. It went against every fiber of my being.”  

Kaya began crying and sobbing, Usopp struggled to get back to his feet in anger, and Lambo...?  

“Damn you...”, Usopp said angrily shaking from his injuries and anger.  

“Do you understand the rage of these daily occurrences?”, Kuro asks deadly, “Do you understand the insult upon my pride!”  

…. Well, Lambo had enough of this revolting pirate captain.  

‘Fight for what you think is right, unjust or not in the eyes of the law, fight by your own law.’  

Suddenly Kuro was thrown several steps to the side as an electric force slammed into his side.  

“You deserve nothing.”, Lambo hissed, landing in a crouch in front of Kaya and Usopp once more.  

His jade eyes glowing brightly, framed with several sparks and a ring of electricity.  

A glare on Kuro’s glasses, hide his eyes, and expression, from sight. Until he lifted his head, revealing several veins popping out and a glare filled with pure anger that screamed DEATH.  

Lambo shakily steadied his breathing, doing his best to not let fear cloud his judgment, nor guide his actions.  

Wordlessly, Lambo’s form was covered in his Dying Will Flames, concentrating around his hands the most, willing the green lighting to reside in those areas the most.  

“Elettrico Diga!”, he shouted.  

Multiple streaks of lightning shot at Captain Kuro, some coming from his hands, most appeared from around him (think like Vergil with his blue energy swords from Devil May Cry 3, 4, and 5).  

The green lightning streaked towards the enraged butler, but in the last moment, just when the attack was about to hit, Kuro disappeared.  

“Watch out for his pussyfoot technique!”, Ussop screamed.  

But it’s too late.  

“For a young kid you’re turning out to be quit annoying.”, Kuro hissed in Lambo’s ear from behind, the poor boy frozen in fear and shock, “But I am quite curious, I’ve never seen that technique you used before. Have you eaten a Devil Fruit?”  

Lambo resisted the urge to roll his eyes, it’s starting to get a little annoying how everyone he meets thinks his Dying Will Flames is the cause of a Devil Fruit. But Lambo answered anyway, not sure what else to do.  

“No.”  

Kuro raised a brow, “Intriguing, would you be so kind to explain?”  

Like hell he will, he may have left, but this is still his famiglia’s legacy. There’s no way in hell that he will tell a scumbag like Kuro about his Flames. The reason why he told his nakama was because he trusted them.  

“Go to hell.”, Lambo growled  

“Hm... like I said before, you’re an annoying brat.”, Kuro hissed darkly, causing Lambo’s body to involuntarily shiver from fear.  

“For that, I’ll grant you a slow and painful death.”  

Managing to snap himself out of his stupor, Lambor whirled around, trying to aim an electric punch, only feel himself run in to something.  

No, something ran  him  through.  

“No!”  

“Kid!!!”  

“LAMBO!!!”  

“You Monster!!”  

Lambo choked on something, his gag reflex kicked in, and a metallic-tasting liquid dribbled down his lips, his mouth was filled with the taste of copper, and he could feel his shirt become drenched with a sticky substance.  

With wide eyes, pupil’s shrunken and irises shaking, figure stiff, Lambo slowly shifted his head downwards to see four blades plunged deep in his stomach, jerkily turning his head, he noted how they exited from his back in the exact same spot.  

Kuro had run him through with his claw-like blades, entering through his stomach, just beneath the rib cage. He was too slow, too weak, to be any match, for the Black Cat Captain.  

‘Your nothing but a weak herbivore.’  

‘Shrikt’  

The teen coughed out more blood when Kuro roughly, mercilessly, pulled out the blades from his abdomen, causing Lambo to stumble forward from the motion, but still managed to stay on his feet. He’s pretty sure he’s in shock, which explains the lack of pain at the moment and why his body feels so numb, not to mention, his body must be pumping a lot of adrenaline, probably the reason why he’s still standing.  

‘But I have the feeling despite what others say, you’ll become a worthy omnivore, maybe even a carnivore one day. You have the potential, don’t let anyone tell you who you are, no matter how many battles you have lost, just use that as encouragement to fuel your determination to get stronger.’  

“Oh? Still standing are we-!”  

A large beam of green lightning hit Kuro’s chest sending him flying backwards, his back collided hard against the tree as he crashed to the ground in front of the trunk, the rest of the tree falling back behind him.  

“Elettrico... Raggio...”, Lambo panted heavily, his arm stretched out shakily, a satisfied smirk on his lips, his other hand clutching his middle tightly, allowing blood to flow freely from his arm now.  

He chuckled darkly, ‘Now this doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with being strong. But I like the thought that, even if you lost the fight, you still had the last blow. That you fell on your own terms, more specifically, after giving your enemy a  big dose of pain , then be satisfied with your loss.  But make them hurt .’  

‘You’re sounding scary again Hibari-san.’  

‘Hn? You’ll understand when you’re older and get into more fights stupid cow.’  

Using the last of his energy for that one final, and new, attack, his adrenaline dying down. His knees buckled, no longer able to keep him standing.  

He was blinking slowly and his breathing was quick, raspy, and shallow, but he remained conscious somehow.  

He forced himself to remain conscious. Kuro is unpredictable, Lambo refuses to rest as long as that Captain is still moving.  

Kuro slowly got up walking forward, both gloves on, adjusting his glasses.  

“At least the whelp will soon be dead.”, he spit coldly, purposefully stepping on Lambo’s injured arm as he passed him when he walked towards Kaya and Usopp once more.  

Usopp’s hand reached forward, taking up the dropped pistol, standing up to his feet in front of Kaya, weapon aimed point-blank at the pirate captain.  

“KUURROOO!!!!”, Usopp shouted, outraged, immediately pulling the trigger with no hesitation.  

‘I’ll always be weak, I’ll lose every battle. Everyone says so.’  

He looked wistful, but serious, making sure Lambo took note of every word he spoke next, ‘Sometimes being strong has nothing to do with strength, it all has to do with your will. Doesn’t matter if you’re weak or not. If you fight until your black and blue, and  still  continue to fight. That is true strength. Fighting despite your weaknesses, despite the odds, and... despite your own pain. That is true strength herbivore, remember that.  

True strength and courage.’  

But Kuro used that damned pussyfoot maneuver again, dodging the bullet and ending up behind the sniper.  

“Thank you for reminding me.”  

Usopp turned in fear only to trapped in place, surrounded by Kuro’s blades.  

“Usopp. I owe you for hitting me.”  

“Oh no, Usopp.”, Kaya trembled, unsure what to do anymore.  

“B... Bastard...”, Lambo managed to get out, laying on his side, curled up, as he clutched tightly to his middle.  

Black dots spotted his vision, but he held on to the world of consciousness, the blood loss was starting to get to him again.  

“If I recall, you hit me as hard as you could. Right?”  

Suddenly a familiar fist stretched across the entire slope, slamming hard into Kuro’s face with a swift punch, throwing him back several feet.  

Lambo smirked tiredly, “You’re in trouble now Kuro.”  

He may not be strong enough to fight against the pirate captain, he has faith, no, he  knows , Luffy sure as hell will.  

Kuro laid sprawled on his back, making no move to get back up from such a blow. Lambo is positive that the man isn’t used to being hit and taking on such strong blows, such as Luffy’s.  

“If he hates getting hit that much, he’s about to have a  really  bad  day !!!”, Luffy declares with a wide confident serious smile.  

~  

Hibari pat the top of Lambo’s head gently.  

“Now, you’re weak, and of no use, but you  will  grow strong and you  will  become a strong predator. We will spar together when that day comes.’  

‘Will you help me?’  

‘Hn, occasionally, but you most likely won’t see it as training.’  

‘Oh, then what makes you so sure I’ll be strong? No one else is.’  

‘. . . I can smell it.’  

‘Eh?’, Lambo sweat dropped at the weird answer given to him by the skylark.  

~  

Chapter Text

Lambo’s breathes were quick and shallow, his lungs working overtime in order to keep oxygen going through his body in order to keep it working, preventing it from shutting down. He’s pretty sure the shock just about wore off because pain is the only thing his body feels, specifically his back, arm, and abdomen.  

He laid on his side, with his injured arm on top, in order to not aggravate his injuries any more.  

Cursing like a sailor in Italian, Lambo squeezed his middle tightly, trying his best to staunch the heavy blood flow, despite it also flowing from the exit wound on his back, the less blood loss he endures the more likely he’ll be able to stay awake if he is needed.  

Let’s just hope he’s not needed, or else if he survives here, his crewmates will kill him.   

Lambo is pretty sure none of his organs were hit, it didn’t feel like it, but he’s no doctor so he can’t be sure. But he is positive that the stupid butler may have hit an artery or two, again, he’s no doctor, but at the sight of Lambo’s wound, it looks like more blood than normal is spilling from the openings in his body.  

Once again, he’s no doctor or expert in the human biology, he’s just guessing.  

The only thing that made Lambo feel remotely good about what’s going on, is the anticipation of Kuro getting his butt kicked by none other than Lambo’s captain, Luffy.  

The Black Cat Pirates, Usopp, and Kaya on the other hand, were just trying to get over the fact that Luffy’s arm stretch across the entire slope in order to punch Kuro in the face knocking him on his back, down to the ground.  

“What was that!?”  

“It’s Sorcery!”  

“He’s a freak!”  

“A magical freak!”  

“He sent Captain Kuro flying!”  

Lambo chuckled weakly through the pain. He never realized how funny the pirates' reactions were. But the laughter turned into a quiet groan from the shifting of his wounds.  

There was a moment of silence as the two captains seemed to be glaring at each other, Luffy had a big frown on his face, preparing himself for the fight to come.  

That’s when Lambo heard the pitter patter of small footsteps, with a swift jerky-like motion, Lambo spun his head to see the three small children that were a part of Usopp’s makeshift crew.  

“Usopp’s Pirates...!”, they all shouted in unison, leaping in the air, all wielding makeshift weapons.  

Lambo’s eyes widened in fear for the kid's safety, realizing what they are about to do.  

“Don’t-!”  

“.... Have arrived!”, they all struck Kuro in the face at the exact same time, then continued on with their assault on the unmoving pirate captain.  

“No, don’t!”, Usopp cried out.  

“Stay away!”, Kaya shrieks in worry.  

“Idiotas! Stop! Get out of here! Andare!”, Lambo shouts. (Idiots; Go)  

“Say your prayers Butt-ler!”, the green one exclaims.  

“Take that! And that!”, the tall one shouts with each hit.  

“Game over you lousy no-good pirate!”, the one with glasses shouts angrily.  

All completely ignoring Usopp, Kaya, and Lambo’s shouts for them to get away.  

“No! Stop it!!”, Ussop cries out, desperately trying to get the kids to stop the assault.  

“Those kids! What are they doing!?”, a black cat pirate exclaims in a panic.  

Lambo just watched with wide eyes, wincing with each hit and blow the kids dealt on the butler.  

“Those rug rats have a death wish.”, Zoro said nervously, a drop of sweat sliding down the side of his face.  

“You don’t know what you're doing!”, Usopp shouts in panic, “Stop!!”  

Finally, the kids all stopped looking down at their handy work with big bright smiles, breathing heavily in order to regain their breathes.  

“Alright, this time we’ll let you off without any more brutality.  This time .”  

Lambo groaned, laying his forehead on the dirty ground, but the groan wasn’t from his pain, but for the children’s actions and words.  

“Idiotas.  Zuccones .”, Lambo muttered under his breath along with several curses in Italian, “Sono morti.” (Idiots; Numbskulls; They’re dead)  

Lambo struggled, really struggled, to push himself up and position himself into a crouch, gritting his teeth and ignoring the flaring pain, he’s going to have to save those kids, but how?  

The young teen groans, what would Tsuna do? Probably go in to Hyper Dying Will mode in order to stay on par with Kuro’s speed. But Lambo can’t do that.  

Suddenly, an idea came to him. He remembers how Tsuna increases his speed or flies through the air by using his Flames as thrusters. What if Lambo did the same thing with his Flames? Lightning has some thrust to it.  

It won’t be as perfect, not to mention easy, as when Tsuna does it, but if Lambo concentrates enough, it may be just what he needs to save the kids from Kuro’s wrath.  

But it’d probably throw him into the hands of unconsciousness when the deed is done. Leaving him at the mercy of captain Kuro.  

Lambo grits his teeth, steeling himself for the pain to come with his next move. Activating his flames, but concentrated them in one area, like what he did with his Elettrico Diga and Elettrico Raggio, except instead of concentrating on his hands, he concentrated on the bottoms of his feet.  

“Now those stupid kids have done it. Now captain Kuro is going to be so mad.”, Lambo heard Jango say worriedly.  

“Those Stubby Brats!!”  

The three kids then ran towards the kneeling figures of Kaya and Usopp, not noticing, Lambo’s bloody crouched figure behind them.  

“Captain! I knew you were fighting! Gosh, that is so totally awesome!”  

“We thought that there were no secrets between us pirates! Why didn’t you tell us!”  

“That’s right! We’re supposed to tell each other everything!”  

“Who cares about that!”, Usopp shouts at the three kids, “Look, this is important, you guys got to get out of here! RUN!!”  

Lambo felt a chill run up his spine. He was watching them. Those stubborn kids have got to get out of here!  

“No way!”  

“We have to stay and fight with you!”  

“The Usopp pirates will be shamed if we run in fear-!”  

Suddenly they froze as they felt fear fill their entire bodies.  

Lambo’s muscles tensed, body screaming at him to lay back down, ready to grab the kids.  

Kuro adjusted his glasses, the lenses shattering at the action, causing his frown to deepen.  

The three kids gaped in fear as they looked behind them at the ruthless pirate captain. All three began screaming at the sight of the scary ex-butler. While he glared down hatefully at the three screaming kids.  

“You idiots! Don’t scream, Run!”, Usopp shouts at them.  

Kuro raised his claws, and slashed down at the three kids, only for them to no longer be there, his claws hitting nothing but empty air.  

Out of the corner of his eye, Kuro saw four figures behind him.  

Lambo gasped for air, his bangs shadowing his eyes from everyone's view, after trying out the new technique he made up on the fly for these kids, although it did startle him at how fast he actually went, he didn’t expect for him to go that fast, he almost lost control for a moment, if his wounds were hurting before, now they felt like they were on fire. He’s exhausted and feels like he’s about to pass out any second.  

The kids all stared at him in shock all three trying to comprehend how Lambo saved them in a literal split second.  

“Lambo... thank you.”, Usopp said gratefully, his body relaxing from its tense posture out of relief for the kids’ safety.  

Lambo, still panting tiredly, just barely able to hold himself up on his hands and knees the children surrounded him worriedly, tilted his head in Usopp’s direction and gave him a shaky thumbs up.  

Then he crashed to the ground, the kids shouted in panic and started fussing over him in distress.  

“I’m fine.”, he said in a croaky whisper, “I think I’m going to black out soon, don’t worry about me, just get out of this... a... live...”  

Lambo managed to finished his sentence before his body fell limp as the world of unconsciousness finally consumed him.  

At the exact same time pink smoke surrounded him and he disappeared with a big  ‘poof' .  

The pink smoke went away, and in his place stood Lambo from ten years in the past, just in time to see Kuro kick Usopp down the slope. The kids all screaming for Usopp’s name, causing Lambo to squeal in shock and terror at the sight of an unknown beat-up defenseless man being mercilessly kicked down the long slope.  

“Tell Lambo-san what’s going on!”, the boy shrieked.  

The older kids turned to him in confusion, then they all screamed in shock, their eyes pointing at the younger Lambo.  

…........................................................................................................................................................  

(Meanwhile... Ten Years in the Past)  

Tsuna sighed tiredly as Lambo cried after Haru’s attempt to making him smile and happy, in the end causing him to cry and take out his ten-year bazooka, shooting himself with it.   

Now, usually, Tsuna would be slightly annoyed at the bazooka’s usage, but since the last time Lambo appeared, Tsuna couldn’t help the small pit of worry and dread settle deep within the pit of his stomach.  

His feeling grew to be justified when adult Lambo from ten years in the future appeared, bloodied and beaten, looking half dead on his feet.  

He collapsed to the ground, thoroughly freaking Haru out, while Gokudera, Yamamoto, and Tsuna, with Reborn on his shoulder, rush to the downed cow glad older teen.  

“Lambo! What happened!?”, Tsuna exclaimed worriedly examining over his injuries.  

Wincing and swallowing down bile at the sight.  

Lambo was covered in bumps, bruises, and small scratches. On his back a long deep diagonal gash, four long shallow cuts on his arm, but his stomach, oh my god, his stomach was a mess of blood and muscle, four gaping holes were located just below Lambo’s ribs.  

‘Stab wounds’ , his mind supplied helpfully to him.  

“Who the hell did this to the stupid cow!?”, Gokudera shouts back angrily, “What the hell is he going to do to  our  stupid cow!?!?”  

“Calm down, there’s no use panicking right now.”, Yamamoto calmed the raging sliverette, despite internally panicking himself, “We have less than five, almost four, minutes left before he switches back. We should treat him as much as we can before that happens. It will most likely save his life against whatever, whoever, he’s fighting in the future.”  

“Well thought out Yamamoto.”, Reborn praised, despite looking shaken up himself, as shaken as Reborn allows himself to look, “I already called up Shamal, he should be here soon.”  

“Sooner than you think!”, a deep voice called as rapid footsteps sounded towards there direction.  

The group whirled to see Shamal sprinting in their direction, a briefcase in each hand.  

“You guys are lucky I was nearby.”, Shamal commented breathlessly as he slid to his knees at Lambo’s side and immediately went to work, “Normally I’d have you guys bring him to the nurse office at Namimori or back to my clinic for safe treatment, but where are on a time limit and he shouldn’t be moved, less any of his wounds start gushing more blood. None of his vitals were hit, but it looks like an artery was nicked, I need to fix that immediately less he bleeds out and dies on the spot.”  

Shamal quickly began treating the artery then stitching up the four stab wounds as quickly as he can, occasionally checking his watch to check his time.  

Lambo groaned and began moving, but Shamal quickly put a stop to that.  

“Hold him down, we don’t have much time for reassurance and talking.”  

The three boys and Reborn did as told while Haru watched worriedly from the sidelines.  

Shamal opened up his second briefcase and several of his trident mosquitoes, flew over to the semi-conscious teen, all injecting him with something or another just as Shamal started to stitch up the last stab wound.  

“What were all of those?”, Tsuna asked worriedly.  

“Some were injections to make sure he didn’t get any infections from the injuries.”, Shamal grunted as he tied up the knot.  

“And the others?”, Gokudera asked.  

“Blood transfusions, just in case, if his clothes are any indication, he lost blood, a lot of it, and two or three were small doses of adrenaline to get him back on his feet and moving.”, Shamal answered, cutting off the access string.  

“That’s why I feel energized all of the sudden.”, came the familiar voice below the group.  

“You’re alive!”, shouts Tsuna, relieved.  

“Yep, yare yare, that guy cheats with that stupid pussy foot maneuver of his.”, Lambo groans.  

“Pussy foot maneuver...?”, Tsuna mumbles to himself in confusion.  

“No talking, I have a little less than two minutes to bandage up your other major wounds before you go. You should be able to continue fighting when you get back.”, Shamal said urgently.  

“Well then let’s hurry.”, Lambo agreed shrugging off his suit jacket and shirt for better access to his wounds.  

…........................................................................................................................................................  

(Back to the present... a little earlier)  

“AAAHHH!! SOMETHING HAPPENED TO THE COW GUY!!”  

Kuro turned to the group, a raised brow and then his eyes widened, the only indication to his shock.  

“What happened!?”, Zoro shouts, worry hidden in his authoritive tone.  

“He was covered in pink smoke and a cow kid appeared!”, the glasses kid shouted.  

“Damn.”, Zoro growled to himself, “We just got to keep him out of harm’s way for five minutes.”  

Hopefully present Lambo will have some of his injuries wrapped up and taken care of by the time he comes back.  

“What just happened to that guy?”  

“First green lighting, now a pink smoke with a kid taking his place?”  

“This guy’s a monster!”  

“Freak of Nature!”  

“What is...? Never mind.” Kuro turned down to the slope where Luffy stood starring up at him, deciding he had no need to question what just happened.  

“That hurt.”, he said nonchalantly, but strictly, “My, my, that’s some technique you have. Tell me, do you have powers from eating the Devil Fruit?”  

Luffy smirked, “Yep, I’m a rubber man.”  

The Black Pirates all stared at Luffy in fear and shock.  

“He ate the Devil Fruit!”, someone exclaimed fearfully.  

“That guy’s dangerous!”  

“What we saw were real.”  

“He’s got rubber arms!”  

“It all makes perfect sense now.”, Jango said in awe, “I didn’t just hallucinate his arm stretching out like that.”  

Lambo turned to the older kids that stood nervously by him.  

“What’s a devil fruit?”, he asked curiously.  

“YOU DON’T KNOW!?”  

“Nope.”, Lambo shook his head negatively.  

“Jango, I can handle the boy.”, Kuro commanded, “You take care of Miss Kaya like we planned.  

Lambo stared at the weird man with the black furry cat gloves that have sword blades at the end of the finger tips. His expression revealed nothing of what was going through his young mind.  

 “Have her write her butler into her will, then  kill her. ”  

Lambo’s lip turned into a frown as the five-year growled. His growl was much like a puppy’s, so not very intimidating.  

“As for the kid’s, they’re an eye sore, eliminate them, the cow one included.”  

Lambo’s growls became more ferocious as he attempted to leap at the tall man, but the three horrified kids, grabbed him before he could, all clutched him close and held him behind them, while they sweated nervously, mouths agape in fear, their limbs trembling at the thought of death.  

“I’m on it.”, Jango said coolly, taking a step up the slope towards the small group.  

Only for Zoro to stop him, his blade blocking Jango’s path.  

“Stop right there. That’s my crewmate up there with those kids your planning to kill.”, Zoro said seriously, his gaze narrowed down on Jango, “If you want to get to them, you’ll have to go through me first.”  

“Moji!”  

A great big fat guy, dressed weirdly like a cat, leapt up high in the air, aiming to crush zoro where he stood with an animalistic growl and shout.  

“Not again.”  

Zoro leapt out of the way at the last second, just as Moji landed. Causing the entire slope to shake and break apart as if it was an intense earthquake. The cliffs weren’t spared either, the destruction ran up and straight through one side of the slope of one of the cliffs that outlined it. Many rocks and boulders fell from the side because of the destruction caused by that single attack.  

Lambo felt himself shake fearfully; he didn’t want to go anywhere near that fat cat guy. But he didn’t want to leave the sword guy behind either, he liked him! He made Lambo feel safe when he held him.  

The three kids clutched Lambo, and each other tighter, the quartette held each other tightly as they shook and feared for their lives. Lambo was unsure on what to do, he wanted to help. He had multiple grenades stashed in his hair as well as a real bazooka. But fear kept him frozen in place, refusing to allow him to move.  

Moji lunged at Zoro with a clawed hand and the swordsman just barely managed to raise one of his swords to block the attack in time, but he was pushed backwards from the force of the attack and was slammed hard against the side of the cliff. Dust obscured his vision, but Lambo could see a bunch of long cracks appear from where Zoro was slammed against the cliffside.  

“Sword guy!”, Lambo shouted in panic, his high-pitched voice going higher, almost to a squeak from the fear and panic that engulfed his very being.  

He sighed in relief when the dust cleared to show Zoro was fine with his foot shoved against Moji’s face, keeping him from pushing the swordsman further into the cliff or to prevent his claws from getting within reach.  

“That guy... he’s crazy.”, Usopp rasped as he watched the fight, noticing Jango calmly walked past him towards Kaya and the children, “Oh no, Kaya.”  

“KAYA!!”, Usopp’s worried scream could be heard down the slope while the girl stared frozen at the approaching hypnotist.  

The three kids shaking, while Lambo slowly pushed passed his fear, he was scared of the tall man with cat claw sword gloves and the fat cat guy fight the swords guy further down the slope. Lambo wasn’t scared of him like the other two, yes, he knew he was a fighter, but so was he. He’s a hitman.  

Sure, his family kicked him out and Reborn could beat him without even trying, nor did he acknowledge his presence either.  

But he was a hitman still, he could still fight. He could protect the thin girl and the vegetable kids that were older than him.  

“USOPP PIRATES!!!”  

Lambo, shocked, was pulled from his reverie looking up in surprise at the sound of the beaten man’s voice calling out determinedly.  

The three kids did nothing at first, before replying back firmly, ready for their orders from their captain.  

“Yes Sir!”  

“I need you to listen carefully!”. Usopp ordered.  

“Look, we’re not running!”  

“Not after they did this to you!”  

“We’ll avenge you!”  

Lambo knew he was younger than them and just got there, he had no idea what was going on, why they were all fighting, and what they were all fighting for. But the swords guy and straw hat were fighting for them. He could tell that the guy with the heart glasses and the guy with the sword gloves were bad men. But he couldn’t help but wonder what these older kids think they could do?  

They weren’t like him. They weren’t raised in the mafia. They didn’t become hitman in order to survive. They aren’t trained nor do they have any past experiences in fighting, he could tell.  

So, what made them think they would be able to fight either of these men? What made them think they could make a difference?  

Or did they just not care and wanted to fight for a person they cared about, someone they looked up to who’s been beaten black and blue.  

Is that being brave? Or stupid?  

Lambo is not quite sure. But he will do anything he can to make sure they live.  

“Protect Kaya!”, Usopp ordered his small crew.  

The three older boys froze and stared at their captain who was unable to move an inch without feeling great pain.  

“Do as I say. Don’t argue with me! I’m giving you the most important task there is right now. It’s absolutely critical that you succeed.”, Usopp stated breathlessly, gasping or grunting a little between his words, “Take Kaya and the kid and get out of here. You must keep them safe.”  

But he doesn’t need protecting, obviously Usopp doesn’t know that, but why would this random guy with a long nose, this stranger, care enough to order his pirates to protect him too?  

Lambo isn’t as naïve as he acts.  

“This is the reason we wanted to be pirates! To protect what’s dear to us!”  

That’s why they became pirates? That’s an unusual reason, others would do it for the gold.  

“So do as I say! AND RUN!!”  

The three older kids looked like they wanted to cry, but they didn’t.  

“Usopp...”, the girl whispered quietly, almost inaudible.  

“Now go, that’s a direct order.”, Usopp said quietly, sounding absolutely exhausted.  

“YES!! CAPTAIN!!!!”  

With that said, the kid’s started to drag and encourage Kaya, the sickly girl, away, as well as ushering Lambo to run along with them. Lambo stood there for a moment, watching as they helped the poor girl up to her feet, before running up to them and running in front with the green boy that was leading them through the deep forest.  

He could hear the girl behind him breathing heavily, as they ran, but the small group continued to push forward.  

Lambo doesn’t know what’s gotten into him, but he has already decided, and he’s determined to follow through to the best of his abilities.  

He  will  protect them, as long as his name is Bovino Lambo.  

He will protect them.  

Chapter Text

Lambo ran alongside the group, not even close to being out of breath. Used to running for long periods of time because of his missions as a hitman, running away from Bakadera and his dynamite, and whenever he’s playing with I-Pin.  

But all of that was all just good fun in Lambo’s eyes, nothing dangerous to him, and if it was, he’d ran away.  

This time he had a goal and was determined to stay put even if he’s afraid, his five minutes should be up soon, he just has to keep the creepy weird guy away from this group for as long as he can.  

“Is that guy still behind us?”, shouted pepper, the nickname Lambo thought of the green kid.  

“I don’t know! I don’t see him anymore!”, onion called back, the kid with glasses, “Let’s make sure we lose him for good!”  

“There’s no way that nut job can catch up to us in our own forest!”, carrot states confidently, the tall kid with freckles.  

(I know these are their actual names but Lambo doesn’t know this, so he thinks it’s just nicknames he came up with, and even though it’s written in 3 rd  person, this is still mostly in his point of view.)  

“Don’t you worry Miss Kaya, little Lambo, us Usopp Pirates are going to keep you two safe and sound!”, Onion reassured the two.  

“That’s right! The Usopp Pirates stand by their word!”, Pepper agreed.  

“Thank you so much.”, Kaya said breathlessly, her voice so quiet so she could focus more on breathing as regularly as she can as the small group ran through the forest.  

As they ran, Lambo heard a weird sound, along with the trees shaking moments after the sound passed on their right. The group stopped and turned around in surprise. They watched as piles of leaves began to fall from the branches, the trees began to shake more violently before falling one by one.  

Lambo and the kid’s diving out of the way, dragging Kaya along with them to the ground.  

Five minutes is taking a lot longer than usual, did the bazooka malfunction and Lambo’s stuck her for a little longer than usual? He’s not sure if that’s a good thing or not.  

Right now, he and these people he’s with are in danger, he needs his older self to protect them. On the other hand, there's a chance his older self is injured and needs treatment, thus the bazooka malfunctioning is a great relief for more time to treat and rest his wounds he may or may not have gotten.  

As stated before, good or bad. And it's all based on speculation of a five-year-old.  

If Lambo was older and knew about swears, he would be swearing left and right at his luck. But he’s not, so he’s just growling in frustration and desperately wanting to take it out on the weird guy chasing after them.  

Caution thrown out the window.  

But the older kids won’t let him.  

“FOOLS I’M GOING TO GET YOU!!”, Lambo could hear the weird man screaming at them, hiding behind one of the bigger fallen trees and out of his sight, “DO YOU THINK YOU CAN RUN FROM ME!?  

Yes, yes, they do. If not. They’ll run for as long as they can, and then they’ll fight for as long as they can.  

Carrot, Pepper, and then, Onion all peeked over the trunk of the fallen tree at the weird man. Lambo went to go up and look too, but Carrot pushed down on his afro, making him sit back down next to an exhausted and out of breath Kaya.  

“We can do this the easy way!? OR I COULD JUST LEVEL THE ENTIRE FOREST!!!”  

“Woah, that guy is really mad.”, Carrot commented shakily.  

“And he can do a lot more than just hypnotize people.”, Pepper pointed out.  

The three boys quickly ducked down, pressing their backs tightly against the fallen tree, Pepper held out his arm protectively over Lambo, also making sure he doesn’t jump out and ruin their hiding spot.  

“Where could those brats be?”, the weird man questions in frustration before leaving.  

Pepper, Carrot, and Onion breathed a huge sigh of relief, Kaya was breathing heavily, looking to be too tired to move, and Lambo huffed angrily, crossing his small arms over his chest.  

“Lambo-san could’ve taken him.”, he mumbled huffily, but was ignored as Pepper and Onion dived for Carrot and his nose to stop him from sneezing and giving away their cover.  

After that, the Veggie kids began planning. Now knowing that the weird man could easily find them by just cutting down a few trees. They can’t keep doing what they’ve been doing, they got lucky. And their luck would sooner or later run out if they continued with a similar strategy.  

“COME OUT! COME OUT!! WHERE EVER YOU ARE!!!”  

If this guy thinks he’s funny, he’s really not.  

Once Kaya caught her breath enough to continue forward, the group agreed it would be best to keep moving until they come up with a different plan.  

But it wasn’t long after that Kaya collapsed, hunched over, her breathing ragged and unsteady.  

“Miss Kaya!”, Onion called out worriedly as the group fell to a immediate halt from the older girl’s collapse.  

Lambo ran forward, placing his hands on her leg comfortingly, his chin just reached the top of her thigh.  

“I’m sorry.”, Kaya whimpered, out of breath, “You should go on without me.”  

“No!”, Lambo shook his head furiously, “No. No. No. No! Lambo-san says no!”  

“What are you talking about?”, Pepper denies frantically, “We are under strict orders to protect you and Little Lambo!”  

Onion feels Kaya’s forehead with the back of his hand.  

“Oh no, she’s got a really bad fever.”, Onion says worriedly.  

Lambo stared up at Kaya with wide eyes.  

“Sick girl can’t be moved. Sick girl must stay!”, he orders as seriously as a five year old could.  

“What!? Doctor! We need a doctor!”, Carrot exclaims panickily.  

“You idiot! We don’t have time for that!”, Pepper yells at the taller boy, “Someone is trying to kill her!”  

“But it’s dangerous for her to run anymore.”, Carrot argues back.  

“SHOW YOURSELVES YOU RUNTS!!”, Lambo can hear the weird man demand close by, shortly followed by more crashing sounds from falling trees.  

They’re running out of time.   

So, once the group quieted in fear, Lambo immediately grabbed their attention.  

“Lambo-san distract weird man while you protect sick girl!”, Lambo declares confidently.  

“But you’re just a kid!”, the Veggie trio whispered screamed in shock and panic.  

“You can’t be no more than five.”, Kaya agreed quietly.  

“Lambo-san five.”, Lambo agreed with a nod.  

“Don’t worry. Lambo-san strong.”, Lambo reassured the group, “Lambo-san great hitman.”  

“There’s no way you’re a great hitman liar.”, Onion protests vehemently, “You’re only five!”  

Lambo reached into his hair and removed two belts filled with multiple grenades, placing them on his shoulder so they crossed over his chest in a X, then reached back into his hair and grabbed out a bazooka in one hand, a real bazooka, and three grenades in the other.  

The Vegetable kids and Kaya gaped at Lambo in shock. How the heck did he fit that in his hair?  Why  does he have all that in his hair?  

“See! Lambo-san will be fine. Lambo-san great hitman.”, Lambo reassured them again before placing the items back in his hair, “Lambo-san distracts weird man and you protect sick girl. Ciao!”  

Lambo waved before the pitter pattering of his running feet was the only indication that he sped into the woods, leaving no trace that he was ever even there, behind.  

The kids and Kaya were worried, but the kids decided to trust the younger boy, and brought their attention back to Kaya, all three thinking about the best way to protect the sick girl without her having to move much.  

With Lambo, he knew he had to go into this all in, he can’t mess up. There’re no take backs. He understands this isn’t a game. There are other lives beside his own that are on the line. With just one mistake, he’ll get taken out, dead or not, the weird man will go after Kaya and the boys, kill them, then all of this will be for nothing.  

He can’t rely on the hope that the older him will replace him in time to win the battle. Lambo will have to drag this out for as long as he can while annoying the weird man just as much too, in order to keep his full attention on him.  

And in order to do that, Lambo must do what Lambo does best.  

Be annoying.  

As annoying and pesty as possible, keeping all eyes on him with all his irritating antics.  

It wasn’t long before he found the weird man with the heart glasses. As soon as he did, he climbed up a tall tree walked out on a tree branch, carefully balanced right above the weird man, before dropping down on his shoulders, shoving the hat deep over his eyes so he couldn’t see.  

Jango reached up and swatted at empty air as he stumbled and ran through the small area, they were in, so as to not hit any trees.  

He could hear a high pitch laughter that belonged to none other than a small child who giggled in glee as he shouted and yee-hawed like a cowboy. Laughing as he rode on Jango as if he was a bull or a bucking horse.   

Despite Jango’s best efforts, the boy remained perfectly stable right where he is, hanging tightly to his hat and coat collar in order to not fall off.  

In a last-ditch effort, Jango threw his chakrams and listened to them whizz through the air while he stood perfectly still. He felt satisfied as he heard a pained squeal then a yelp and the child fell off his back and landed harshly on the floor.  

Lambo received a cut to his cheek and side, they weren’t deep, they were shallow like a paper cut, but the minor injuries still burned. No matter what Lambo did, he knew that it wasn’t poisoned, he knows what that feels like, but it just hurts.  

The weird man, after much tugging, finally removed the hat from over his eyes and placed it back where it properly goes, on top of his head. Lambo shifted around and felt inside his hair before withdrawing a bazooka, a real one not the ten year one, and pointed, it right at the weird man’s face as he turned towards his direction.  

The man froze before jumping back while screeching, “WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GET THAT FROM!?!?”  

Lambo aimed for the weird man’s chest, tears visibly pricking the corners of his eyes, but he had a determined frown on his face.  

“Gotta... stay... calm...”, Lambo whimpered to himself before pulling the trigger.  

A  ‘Boom’  sounded loudly throughout the forest, a cannister left the barrel of the weapon, it’s aim true, and it struck Jango where it was intended. Upon impact, the canister exploded into confetti, falling harmlessly over Jango. The impact itself wasn’t the same story.  

With, at  least , a bruised chest, and hopefully some cracked ribs, maybe even a broken one, Jango flew back, ramming through several trees before painfully rolling to a stop with a loud pained groan.  

“You better not mess with Lambo-san. Lambo-san is strong! Lambo-san is great hitman!”, Lambo declared, his chest swelling with pride as his ego grew more, if possible.  

Slowly, angrily, the weird man got back to his feet, and with a blink of an eye, the chakrams were no longer in his hands, but instead, imbedded deep in the bazooka, rendering it useless.  

“Uh oh.”, Lambo muttered worriedly.  

Jango took the tiny boy’s distraction to his advantage, with a hard stomp, the bazooka broke cleanly in half beneath his foot, causing Lambo to frantically scramble back in hopes to try and put some distance between the two. Jango wouldn’t let him.  

Jango went for a swift kick, but Lambo managed to step back s=just enough for the kick to miss, and then hop on to the leg, clinging tightly refusing to let go. Jango growled in frustration, lifting his leg up as he went to grab the young boy off it.  

But Lambo was too quick from him, quickly leaping from his leg to Jango’s chest, wiggling underneath his shirt.  

“Hey! Get Out Of There!”, shouts Jango as he tries to reach for Lambo only to jump and freeze.  

His entire body began to vibrate, his shoulders shaking, and then Jango burst out laughing as he hops up and down, switching between his two feet as he frantically tried to grab the big lump that swiftly traveled all around Jango as he couldn’t stop himself from laughing.  

“S-ss-Stop!”, screams Jango as he laughs, “I-I M-mm-M-MEan iT!!!”  

Lambo popped his head from Jango’s collar, about to jump down, but Jango was faster this time. Managing to grab Lambo and through him down roughly to the ground. Lambo tried to get back up to his feet, but Jango had him where he wanted him, he wasn’t going to let the little boy get the better of him this time.  

With a swift backhanded fist, Lambo was sent rolling and tumbling away, clutching his face in pain, body shaking, tears appearing in the corner of his eyes again.  

“Gotta... stay... calm...”, Lambo mumbled insistently to himself, despite the mantra not working as well as it did last time.  

With no hesitation, Jango kicked the kid as hard as he could, much like kicking a football, sending Lambo flying deeper into the woods.  

The kick seemed to be the last straw, because as he flew, a waterfall of tears fell from his closed lids as he wailed.  

“I CAAANNNN’TTT!!!!!”, he sobbed as he flew out of sight.  

“I have to remember to go looking for him so I can kill him when I’m done.”, Jango mutters before cruelly smirking, “After I give him a world of pain to enjoy first, before his untimely death.”  

No one knew that as soon as Lambo landed, he was consumed in pink smoke once more. And with a small ‘poof’, present Lambo stood in his younger counter-part's place looking over his surroundings wondering where the heck he was.  

He just jogged in a random direction hoping he went the right way. Luckily, he has better sense of direction than a certain swordsman, or so he hears at least.  

Lambo has yet to see Zoro’s lack of direction in action.  

He is also lucky that Jango likes to shout, his voice sure does carry. It also helped that Lambo found the exact same footprints that Jango did, knowing they belonged to none other than Kaya and the Usopp pirates, but another set was behind them.  

“They’re in trouble.”, Lambo mutters to himself.  

He doesn’t know the fine details, but he can deduce what the main happenings are. He also knows he should hurry and follow the footprints.  

Thanks to Shamal, he feels good as new, albeit a little sore.  

“COME OUT YOU BRAAATTTSS!!!!”, Lambo winced at the loud, but thankfully close, and familiar, voice of Jango, he sped up a little faster, “I KNOW YOU’RE HIDING!! GIVE YOURSELVES UP!!!!”  

Lambo knows he is far behind Jango and the others, he also knows he has to hurry to catch up before Kaya and those kids are killed, and he knows that he can’t rush, or else he might lose track of the footprints.  

“No!”  

“Miss Kaya run for your life!”  

“Run!!”  

Lambo’s ears picked the familiar voices of three boys, his heartbeat sounded loud in his ears, and he rushed forward to the sounds of their panicked voices. He didn’t know when or how, maybe his past self had something to do with it too, but at one point in this journey, Lambo grew found of those young pirates.  

It felt like it took too long for Lambo to get there, but he did, panting heavily, he looked up to see Kaya standing in front of Jango while the weird man himself checked over a piece of paper, her will most likely.  

But what really caught his attention, were the three downed forms of the Usopp pirates.  

It looked like they tried to fight from the looks of it, a small part of Lambo hoped that they gave Jango a good old dose of pain before he took them out.  

Great, now he sounded like Hibari.  

Jango chuckled as he folded the piece of paper and tucked it away in the folds of his jacket before clutching Kaya by the neck and thrusting her harshly against the tree behind her, pinning her there by her neck.  

“Oi, what do you think you're doing.”  

Jango felt himself freeze in fear from a menacing aura from behind him.  

“Lambo!”, the kid’s cried out for joy in unison.  

“You’re not tiny anymore.”, Pepper said in awe.  

“And your wounds...”, Onion trailed off.  

“... They’ve been treated!”, Carrot said happily.  

Jango slowly looked over his shoulder to see the teen before he was consumed by the weird smoke. The kids weren’t lying, he was all patched up, his shirt and suit jacket remained unbuttoned and open to reveal his heavily bandaged chest.  

His glare though, if looks could kill, Jango would be long dead years ago, his body nothing but ash.  

Before the two adults could do anything, the three kids refused to give up, running forward towards Jango with a shovel, holding it as if it were a battering ram, running straight into Jango’s back who howled in pain.  

“You stupid snot nosed brats!”, Jango yells, kicking them away.  

Lambo heard thundering footsteps and looked over to see Zoro running forward, hand on one of his swords, ready to be drawn out for a single strike.  

Panicking, Jango clutched Kaya’s neck tightly, the other hand held the chakram high above their heads in order to try and deliver a killing blow.  

Zoro wasn’t going to make it, but something told Lambo he wasn’t trying to reach the duo.  

“Looks like your one step too late swordsman!”, Jango gloated, Zoro just smirked.  

“Forgetting someone?”  

There was a flash of green light and Jango shouted in pain, dropping his chakram and Kaya, stumbling backwards while clutching his hand to his chest. His hand felt like it was on fire, and it kept twitching uncontrollably.  

He looked over to see Lambo smirking in satisfaction, his arm still raised up, green sparks dying down from his quick small attack.   

Or distraction.  

Zoro sliced through a tree branch.  

“Excellent, that branch was getting in the way of my shot.”, Usopp comments gratefully, expertly pulling back the slingshot, loaded and ready...  

“Take this, you hypnotists!”  

“Usopp, help me!”, Kaya pleaded.  

“Do it Captain!”, the Vegetable trio shouted with wide smiles.  

….. and released.  

It was over before it barely even began.   

Zoro sheathed his sword and walked over to Lambo who was leaning heavily against the tree closest to him. His injuries may have been treated and he was rejuvenated, but he was easily exhausted, especially when using his Dying Will Flames.  

“You took longer this time.”, Zoro comments, slinging Lambo’s arm over his shoulder, helping to support his weight, as they slowly walked past Jango’s prone body.  

“I think this was one of the few times that the bazooka malfunctioned, making the time last longer, sometimes shorter.”, Lambo commented unworriedly, “I got lucky this was one of the longer ones, it gave Shamal, the doctor treating my wounds, more time to heal me properly. Enough so that I just have to take things a little easy for a while.”  

Zoro nodded, “Your right, that was lucky. Let’s just hope luck continues to flow in your favor like that in the future.”  

Chapter Text

The group of pirates all regrouped back at the slope to find Kuro defeated by none other than Luffy and the Black Cat Pirates retreating.  

Everyone relaxed in their desired places on the slope, Lambo opting to sit cross legged, back leaning against the side of the cliffs, his injuries throbbing.  

Usopp chuckles, “Thanks guys, without you, I wouldn’t have been able to protect the village.”  

“Give credit where’s credit due, if you just stood by and done nothing, I wouldn’t have done anything either.”, Zoro said, smiling smugly at the sniper.  

“Yeah, same here.”, Luffy agreed from his starfish position in the middle of the slope.  

“Face it, you’re the real reason this village was saved.”, Lambo said quietly, but a noticeable smirk appeared on his features.  

“Who cares about any of that?”, Nami asked rhetorically, practically nuzzling the bag of treasure she took from the Black Cat Pirates, “I got my hands on this sweet sweet treasure and I couldn’t be happier.”  

Usopp laughed at the crew's indifferent responses to his gratitude.  

Lambo stared at the sniper out of the corner of his eye, noticing the stern expression he now wore as he stared off to the sea.  

His eyes trailed back to his lap ad he couldn’t help but to snort quietly to himself. Ten years living with Tsuna and the rest of the Vongola Famiglia, and Lambo never would have imagined becoming anything else but a mafioso. Now look at him, joining a pirate crew. One that held big dreams for themselves and the world.  

This group couldn’t be any more different than his famiglia back at Vongola, and yet, they couldn’t be any more similar too when Tsuna first started his training to become the Tenth Decimo of Vongola.  

A group of friends fighting for each other and what they believe in, whether it’s for what’s right or for their goals and ambitions.  

But that’s the main difference between the two.  

Ambition.  

And Lambo couldn’t help but feel that, in a way, the crew’s individual ambitions is what makes them stronger and closer than any other group he has ever seen.  

Is it enough of a difference that will drive this crew into big things?  

Honestly, who knows. Lambo doesn’t care. Just the prospect of going on an adventure with people that seem to believe in his strength fills Lambo’s entire being with a thrill that causes shivers to run down his spine.  

Yeah, this will be amazing.  

…........................................................................................................................................................  

Usopp and the pirate crew made their separate ways, the crew tended to their bumps and bruises, Lambo helped Zoro wrap the bandages around his chest since his wounds were already treated, as well as freshen themselves up. Lambo buttoned up his cow print shirt, left the suit jacket unbuttoned this time, keeping the sleeves pushed/rolled up to his elbows for more comfortable arm movement, but it allowed his left forearm to show the bandages covering his entire arm, that he wouldn’t need after a day or two.  

Once everyone was satisfied, they left their ships and headed towards the Meshi, the restaurant that Usopp first took them when they first met the other day, for a nice hearty meal after that hectic battle.  

God, meeting Usopp felt like years ago when it only happened yesterday.  

Lambo stretched out while Luffy chewed on a meatless fish bone. Only wincing slightly from bothering his wounds by the action, but it felt nice after finishing the well-deserved meal.  

“Now that we’ve eaten, we should probably get going.”, Zoro suggested.  

Luffy leaned forward, still languidly chewing on the fish bone, “Yeah you’re right.”  

Lambo heard the restaurant door open and heard the familiar high-pitched voice of none other than Kaya herself.  

“Here you are!”, Kaya exclaimed cheerfully at the site of the pirates.  

“Hello there miss!”, Luffy greeted back with just as much enthusiasm.  

“Are you alright out of bed?”, Nami asked worriedly.  

“Yes.”, Kaya replied, “I think now I can truly start recovering.”  

He’ll say! She’s no longer wearing her nightwear, now wearing matching shirt and skirt with a yellow striped suit jacket buttoned up on top, her skin isn’t so sickly pale anymore, she’s standing straight with perfectly posture, no longer hunched over as if something was slowly pulling her down, she wasn’t even short of breath, and brow was clean of any sweat.  

She looked fit as a fiddle, although still a little too skinny from the sickness, it’ll take a little more time before she regains some of that lost weight.  

It was nice seeing Kaya look so happy and unburdened by anything.  

“You see my sickness last year was caused by the shock of losing both my parents.”, Kaya explained calmly, “And Usopp’s friendship helped me start getting better.”  

“I can’t stay in bed forever you know.”, Kaya said with a sweet tilt of her head and small closed eyed smile.  

Lambo grinned, now that’s the spirit.  

“You’ve all done so much for me, I can’t thank you enough.”, Kaya said, voice filled with sincerity, “I’ve prepared a present for you from the bottom of my heart to show how grateful I am for everything you’ve done here. I’d be honored if you except it.”  

Call his curiosity peaked. Lambo is quite excited to see what present Kaya had in store for them. He wonders what it could be.  

He was going to find out soon enough.  

It didn’t take long for Kaya to lead down the very same slope they battled Kuro and his pirate crew. Down at the bottom of the beach were they’re two small boats were, was now replaced with a big weird and colorful ship. The most prominent eye-catching piece was the ram’s head at the front of the bow.  

It was a little silly looking, but it looked sturdy and strong despite its small size and silly demeanor.  

A perfectly weird ship for this perfectly weird crew, Lambo thought as he gazed in awe at the sight before him.  

This ship was exactly what they needed for the upcoming adventures that they’ll get into in the future.  

Lambo would have laughed at the face Luffy made upon the sight of their new ship if he wasn’t gasping and drinking in as much detail as he could as he took in the ship that would take them to the grand line. Nami and Zoro gasped in excitement and awe at their new ship as well.  

“It’s a real Caravel!”, Nami exclaimed excitedly.  

“You’re actually giving this to us!?!?”, Luffy shouted in pure joy and amazement.  

“Uh-huh, as a token of my appreciation.”, Kaya confirmed amicably.  

Lambo whistled, “Some appreciation.”  

No one has ever given him something, if anything, out of gratitude. It felt nice.  

No, it felt amazing.  

“It’s a slightly older model, but I personally designed it and she sails like a dream.”, Merry explained pridefully, “She’s a corbel made Caravel with lateen sails and central stern rudder. She’s a fine ship and her name... is the  Going Merry .”  

Lambo doesn’t even care if it’s named after the loyal butler, the ship is a beau. He should be proud of it and the name fits the ship as well as honors the designer that made her a reality.   

“Allow me to explain the rigging.”, Merry offered dutifully, “First about the …....... yard adjustment......”  

The rest of the things he said just floated in and out of Lambo’s understanding. Having no idea what most of the words Merry was even saying. He was never a sailor before becoming a pirate, nor was he a navigator. He was a mafioso, one that rarely left the island out to sea, and when he does, it’s by a crew hired or working under the Vongola.  

But Nami, bless her soul, jumped in before he could say anything more.  

“Hold on! You're better off explaining the technical stuff to me!”, Nami declared jumping in front of their idiot captain, who also had no idea what the heck Merry was saying.  

Luffy approached the ship, still drinking the sight of her with such enthusiasm.  

“What a cool ship...”, Luffy says in awe, “Do you guys see the front!! It’s totally awesome!”  

“We’ve loaded it with all the provisions you would need to go on voyage.”, Kaya informed him happily.  

“I hope you hid the food and alcohol.”, Lambo deadpanned.  

“Thanks.”, Luffy said sincerely, “Nothing to be tired.”  

“That’s nothing to be desired idiot.”, Zoro corrected him.  

Lambo sweat dropped, “Remind me again why I joined an idiot captain’s crew?”  

“Because we give you sweets.”, Zoro replied with no hesitation.  

Lambo immediately perked up at the word ‘sweets’.  

“That sounds about right.”, he replied cheerfully.  

Suddenly Lambo felt the ground beneath him rumbling and could hear screaming in the distance.  

Everyone turned to see a giant bag attached to a screaming Usopp roll wildly down the slope without any signs of stopping.  

“Oh no, Usopp!”, Kaya exclaims worriedly.  

“Hey what’s he doing?”, Luffy asked curiously, “Looks fun.”  

Lambo deadpanned, “Only you would say that looks fun.”  

“Well, we better stop him.”, Zoro said, “That weirdo is on a collision course with our boat.”  

Both Luffy and Zoro simultaneously raised their foot as Usopp’s rolling ball of disaster approached them.   

Their feet slammed against his face. Stopping him in his tracks.  

Lambo winced, that looked painful.  

“Oh, hey, thanks guys.”, Usopp said, voice muffled from their feet on his face, tears rolling down his cheeks from, most likely, the pain.  

“Anytime.”, Luffy replied, unbothered and unworried.  

The Captain and First-mate removed their feet, and Lambo decided to take pity on the older teen and help him from his backpack and leaving him to talk privately with Kaya.  

Boarding the  Going Merry  with everyone else as they waited for the liar to have his moment.