DISOBEDIENT ⇢ F. PORTOR

2 ⇢ TRAPPED

A sharp ringing sound floods your ears as you start to regain consciousness. Your eyelids flutter for a few seconds in a daze, allowing you to spot the feet of a few people around 30 feet away from you for a split second. Beads of sweat run down your forehead and back as you feel the sharp, dry splints of rope rub against your wrists and ankles. You can feel the damp floor where you rest on your side, hands bound behind your back and feet bound at the ankles. You force your eyes open and inhale sharply at the daunting sight in front of you. 12 shadowy figures are scattered across the huge cavern-like interior of what seems to be an abandoned warehouse.

"Fuck," you wince as you feel a sharp pain in the back of your head. You struggle to push yourself up against the closest wall, but finally succeed in resting the right side of your body and head against the rough surface. You gaze at the scene in front of you all while taking deep breaths to calm the pounding in your chest.

Uh oh. The first figure that catches your eye is a man with dark, slicked back hair who seems to be too focused on the book he's reading to notice that you're awake. He's wearing a fur-lined coat and has a cross on his forehead. The other 11 figures, however, are all staring back at you.

To the right of your field of vision, closest to the reading man, is a huge man with long earlobes and scars on his face, a mummy-looking man wrapped in bandages, a person with long gray hair with only one eye visible, a bright pink-haired woman, another woman with blonde hair and a pointy nose, and a golden-haired man wearing a tracksuit-looking outfit. You look a little to the left and see a boy whose baby face doesn't match his muscular body, a dark-haired woman with a large cross necklace, a man with a slick ponytail and katana, a man who looks like a clown, and lastly, a man with black hair whose face is half covered with scarf with a skull on it.

Shit, you think to yourself, I've really gotten into it now.

"Ahem," the guy with the katana clears his throat loudly. He looks annoyedly towards the man who's reading but receives no response. "AHEM," he coughs out louder. The man finally sighs and snaps his book shut, slowly looking up towards you.

"Welcome," the man says as he gives me a small smile. You stay slumped against the wall, cautiously awaiting his next words. "If my subordinates have done their job correctly you must be Y/N, correct? The one investigating the underground auction?"

Ah, that's why they kidnapped me. Sticking your nose where it doesn't belong runs its risks in this profession, but kidnapping a hunter is pretty bold.

"Who's asking?" you spit back. The man smirks and gets up from the ledge he was sitting on.

"My name is Chrollo and if you haven't guessed it by now, me and the rest of the people here make up the Phantom Troupe."

Huh, so the Phantom Troupe really is in town. Should I try to escape? Should I try to fight them? I narrow my eyes at Chrollo while I debate my options. What am I thinking? There's no way I could fight against 12 people, let alone the Phantom Troupe, and come out alive.

"Why am I here?"

"Your track record for solving crimes is impressive. What you lack in physical ability you make up for in intellect. Your talent would be quite a threat to our business here."

Lack in physical ability? You almost scoffed. Guess they must leave those parts out of the crime reports. He's pissing me off. You didn't want to have to resort to risky tricks at a time like this, but you wanted out of the ropes. You relax your hands behind your back and start to emit your aura out of each one.

"And what do you plan to do with me?" At this point, you're just trying to engage the conversation while your aura, which has taken the form of snakes, are slowly wrapping themselves between your wrists and the rope, creating more and more tension until they eventually snap.

"At the very least, we'll have to force you to stay here while we're in Yorknew. If you're feeling generous however," he says as he steps closer, "you could help us investigate some issues we've come across."

"Just kill her," the pink-haired woman sneers from the back of the room. I feel the rope snap and fall from my wrists behind me. I quickly return my nen snakes to my hands so as not to reveal my abilities to the troupe.

"Trying something?" the black-haired man with the scarf asks from behind me.