"We're surrounded" stated Kite as we got nearer and nearer to the nest. "Their numbers are great"
We stood in silence, it was only a matter of time before they came. A huge object fell in front of us. Dust covered the whole area and out came a big frog.
"Now then...Let's decide order and methodology" said the Ant. "As for our targets, you have three choices. One, decide the order in which you fight. Two, attempt to escape. Three, give up and let us capture you. If you chose option one, then you will fight one-on-one battles with us for a chance to survive. I don't recommend the second option. You'll anger us. Resulting in a brutal capture and prolonged suffering for you. Option three is out of the question. That would anger us even more than option two. So, what will you do?"
"We couldn't have asked for a better deal..." said Kite. "One-on-one fights with their Captains. We'll start with whoever is prepared to fight"
"I'll go" said Killua.
"No I will" said Gon.
"No I should go" I said.
We all glared at each other and shouted "First comes rock! Rock paper scissors! " and we kept getting the same thing until me and Killua pulled out Scissors and Gon did Rock.
"Tch. He always gets the action" I clicked my tongue, smirking. Gon walked to the front and announced that he was going first.
"Well we need to decide on who to send" said one of the ants. The other one shook a can? Or whatever it is and a number came up.
"#6" he said. "#6! Who are you?!" he shouted and one of the ants that looked like them rolly disgusting insects that roll to protect themselves came out.
"Lucky me" he laughed.
"Baro?"
"How will the victor be decided?" asked Gon.
"Eh? That should be obvious. Whoever dies first is the loser" said Baro.
"We can't just surrender?" asked Gon.
"What?" said Baro. Everyone at the back was saying "what's" to Gon's question. "Are you crazy?! If you lose, we'll feed you to the Queen. If you lose you're going to die"
"Yeah. I'm fine with that. But you? There is no reason for you to die. If I beat you, I wont be able to eat you. If you surrender you live. But if you lose, you must promise to never eat a human again" said Gon.
"That guy isn't taking us seriously" laughed one of the ants.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" screamed Baro and turned into a wheel and drove right at Gon. Gon dodged him and Baro knocked down a tree. Baro got up again and did the same attack, to which Gon dodged, however, Baro used his tail to push him to the side and he hit Gon square in the stomach.
"I'm fine" said Gon, standing up after crashing into a tree. Baro laughed and asked Gon how he was this tough.
"Whatever, you just need it a few more times. No one can escape my homing roll!" laughed Baro. "Kid! I have something to tell you before I kill you. The main reason we kill humans isn't to eat them or to provide food for the queen"
"Then, why?"
"Because it's fun" he said, a creepy smile on his disgusting face. "I love the sound when humans vomit their organs with a plop! It's hilarious because it looks like barf!" he smirked.
"What a creep" I shuddered.
"That isn't funny" said Gon, walking to Baro.
"I'll make you vomit your organs with a plop too" said Baro and turned into a wheel again.
Gon opened his arms and waited for the impact. Baro smashed himself into Gon's arms and kept turning. Gon picked up Baro and held him in the air as he kept twisting.
"Compared to Razor's spike, this is nothing!" shouted Gon, crushing Baro with his bare arms. He threw Baro under the tree and relaxed his aura.
"Well, we're in a hurry. Who's my opponent?" asked Killua, hands in his pockets and walking out.
"Oi! That's not fair!" I shouted back at him.
"Wait for your turn" he smirked and walked away.
"Tch" I clicked my tongue in annoyance and kicked a rock that was near me. "What happened to lady's first?" I muttered, and sat down. The guy from earlier shook the thing and out came #3.
"#3! #3's up" he shouted.
"You won't be smiling for long" said one of the Ants. "I am nothing like that trash over there" said the ant, pointing at Baro.
"Trash?" repeated Gon.
"Huh? I said trash because he's trash" Gon glared at him. "I'm ten times stronger than that guy!"
"Oh, that's nothing to brag about" said Killua.
"What did you say?" shouted the Ant that looked like a rhino.
And so the battle began. It was pretty much one sided. The rhino kept trying to hit Killua and Killua pretty much dodged everything. Killua tried stabbing him with his hand but it didn't go through; the rhino's skin was too hard.
"My entire body is covered in hardened skin" said the rhino, laughing. Killua then struck him with the lightening, but that didn't work either.
"I can take as many of those attacks as you can throw" said the rhino.
"Oh, yeah?" said Killua, and started surrounding the rhino and attacking him with lightening from every direction until his skin was about to break. The rhino tried to punch Killua but he disappeared and reappeared again. He used his long nails to stab him in the same spot that he was attacking before. The huge rhino fell down to his death.
"Is there anyone else who is ten times stronger than this guy?" asked Killua.
"Stop it right there!" I shouted. "You've had your go, it's my turn" I smirked and walked into the clearance.
"Bring it on, Ants" I said and the guy shook the can and #15 came out.
"Out of all of them, I got the woman?" said a voice. I looked for the sound of the voice and screamed when it came out. It was a cockroach. Yes. Those nasty, ugly, disgusting, dirty, creepy, horrific, shameless, scandalous, vile, gross, nauseating, hideous, straight up revolting animals.
"What is this, scared already?" it asked. My whole face turned green and I nearly fainted.
"J-Just wait a moment" I said and took off the waist band I made earlier from the sleeves. I covered my hands with it and tied it around my mouth and nose like a mask.
"Let's go" came out my muffled voice.
"You bitch! Don't think I'm weak like those other guys! I'm 50 times stronger! I'm about to show you hell!" he shouted, obviously being offended from my behaviour.
"I've been there, it wasn't nice" I replied and summoned my necklace.
The creature REALLY had the audacity to come AFTER me. The cheek of this low life!
It made its way towards me and tried punching me, to which I dodged, however, one of its antenna thingies slid down my neck slowly.
"UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!" I screamed and ripped out the white petals, using my Bubble B and punching the shit out of that vile creature. I punched and punched until I crushed it to bits. I stood over it and panted.
"Don't ever lay your filthy disgusting hands on me again" I said darkly, my eyes wide with anger. The rest of the ants watched in shock as I squatted down and sighed.
"That was shocking" I said and felt a hand on my shoulder. I held the arm tightly and turned around, laying a kick on the thing that touched me. My eyes widened when I realised it was only Killua.
"Sorry about that" I laughed awkwardly. He got up and rolled his eyes at me.
"What was that all about? You randomly got an awful amount of power and you punched that thing to death" asked Gon.
"It's called talent" I smirked and walked back to where Kite was.
"No it's called being scared of insects" cackled Killua.
"Shut up!" I replied, blushing in embarrassment. I took of the handmade gloves I made and threw them away since they were drenched in blue blood from the ant. I then took off the mask and put it on my waist again.
"Well done you three" said Kite, summoning the clown and walking out to the arena. The Ant rolled the can again but was interrupted by a raged cry.
"That's enough! Its my turn!" shouted the frog.
"Drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr TWO!" shouted the clown on Kite's shoulder. The whole place was covered in smoke and we all watched Kite.
A humongous Scythe appeared in Kite's hands.
"Two, huh? Damn. Bad spin" he said.
"When is it ever a good spin" I muttered.
"Killua, Y/N..." called Gon.
"Yeah. That Scythe is nasty" nodded Killua.
"Gon, Killua, Y/N. In three seconds, jump up" ordered Kite. We nodded and sweat dropped.
In that amount of time, Kite twisted the Scythe and slashed it around us, an enormous tornado was generated and it disappeared, cutting down everything around it. From trees to Ants to everything. Me, Killua and Gon landed on our feet, looking around.
"Get lost" said Kite and the clown disappeared. "This Scythe can only be used with this technique. And it wont disappear until I've used it. It's such a pain" he said and shook his head.
Why did he chose this power then? I don't understand men.
"Be cautious as we advance. As I mentioned earlier, that wont be enough to kill them immediately" said Kite as we walked through the pile of corpses. "Are you okay?" he asked.
"What?"
"It's only gonna get worse from here. If you start to sympathise with the enemy, you wont be able to handle what's coming"
"I'm fine. I have no sympathy for bugs that call each other trash" said Gon, angrily.
And with that, we kept advancing closer and closer to the Nest. I wonder what it looks like. And what is waiting for us there.
"We're being followed" said Kite. We stopped walking and started looking back, trying to find who is looking for us. "Not from there" he looked up. "There's quiet a number of them"
Kite motioned for us to run and we started running, being wary of the fact that the Ants are coming.
"They're coming from the left and the right. Keep up your guard" he warned.
A huge bee flew towards us and Killua tried to kill it, but it dodged. They attacked Gon and me as well, however, they dodged whenever we tried to land an attack.
"Damn it!" I said as I tried to attack on of them but the tree got hit instead.
"The trees are getting in the way" said Gon. "Should we get out of the forest?"
"This is a trap" said Kite, running behind us. He summoned his clown and and the roulette spun around, revealing the number 2. Kite used his Scythe once more and killed all of the ants.
We emerged from the smoke into a clearance. Three Chimera Ants walked away from us, surprisingly,
"He was able to understand that he was outclassed, and he calmly backed down at once. Most likely, he is a Squadron leader" said Kite. "We're following them! Their nest must be nearby. If we follow them, we will find the Queen"
"They're continuing to go straight. That means the Queen's nest must be up ahead" said Kite.
"Amazing. He's been picking them up this entire time, never losing them for an instant" I said.
"He said he can use En within a 45 metre radius" said Gon.
"I've heard that those called Nen Masters can go up to 50. Kite is nearly there. Actually, given that he's kept it up for a whole night, he's probably stronger" said Killua.
"Stronger than a Nen Master...that means Kite's the real deal" said Gon.
"I wanna see him go all out and fight" I said. "Do you think that would be possible?"
"I don't know. Maybe he'll show us something when we get out of here" said Gon, smiling.
"Yeah. He's the first real Pro hunter we've met" said Killua. "Tsezgerra was also a Pro hunter, but we really only knew him as a player in game. Bisky was an incredible hunter, but to us..."
"Yeah, she was our Nen mentor" nodded Gon.
"And the first to teach us about Nen..." I said, thinking about Wing-san.
"Wing-san was our mentor and saviour" completed Gon.
"Looking back, we always meet the right people right when we need them the most" said Killua.
"And those people have all made us stronger" I smiled.
"Razor too " said Gon.
"Yeah, it's clear that Ging really did create Greed Island to train you" answered Killua.
"And once you beat the game, he sent you straight to Kite" I finished.
"Yeah" smiled Gon, his eyes determined.
"I'm not sure if Ging predicted what would happen after we met Kite. But he certainly knew, that you would like the man that had earned his respect. And he knew without a doubt that you'd travel with him" said Killua.
"He wants us to get stronger by travelling with Kite" said Gon.
"This is a pretty brutal place for training, though. I'm not sure if I have recovered from that ugly creature yet" I said, shuddering at the thought.
"That's why I keep asking you if your resolve is firm" came the voice of Kite as he came to a stop. "As you mentioned, Ging-san probably had certain expectations when he had sent you to me. But I do not intend to train you during this journey. We don't have that kind of time. I brought you along because I thought you might be of use. From here, it all comes down to your resolve. If its strong, you'll develop your Nen and grow strong via combat. If it's weak, the Ants will eat you. But we can't die...We are pro hunters. Those who call themselves Hunters always get their prey. For Hunters, that is the first commandment. A hunt involves both the hunter and the prey. It is a battle of resolve. Emerging victorious from a battle of resolve is what makes a successful hunt. The loser has to follow the winner's rules and customs. Usually this means the loser's death. If you don't want that result, then win. Improving your Nen is important of course, but to be a successful hunter, you must understand your enemy and yourself. And you Y/N, being scared of insects, what brought here?" he asked.
I sweat dropped and gave him a nervous laugh.
"D-Don't worry, even though I'm scared of them, I will still kill them" I said.
"Ah! That's why you hit me back then!" came the voice of Gon suddenly. "That was the forest's rules and customs. You taught me the rules in Ging's place" grinned Gon.
"That's right. I just remembered" said Kite and he sat on a rock. Rummaging through his pocket, he took out a golden hunters license.
"A Hunter's license?" asked Gon.
"This is Ging-san's" said Kite.
"Huh? It's Ging's?" asked Gon.
"Do you remember what my final test was?" asked Kite.
"Yeah, to find Ging" said Gon.
"Before the test began, Ging-san gave me this. He said I should use this to find him. I planned to return it to him when I met him" smiled Kite. Gon took the card into his hands.
"Huh? He wouldn't take it back?" said Gon.
"No...I completely forgot about it" he shrugged. Me Killua and Gon sweat dropped. I chuckled a bit, even he has faults.
"Gon, you said that you're going to find Ging-san on your own right?"
"Yeah"
"Then you have to do it. And would you return that for me?" said Kite, smiling.
"Yeah! But first, I have to finish this job with you and get a lot stronger. After that, I'll find Ging and give this back to him. I promise!" announced Gon.
"I'm counting on you" replied Kite, giving Gon a warm smile. "Well, let's get a move on before we lose trail" he said, getting up.
We finally reached a place where we can see the nest. Kite started sweating and he squatted down.
"What's wrong, Kite?" I asked, walking up to him with the two boys.
"Gon, Killua, Y/N. Run" he stated.
"Huh?" we replied, confusion written on our faces.
"Hurry!" he raised his voice. "Get out of here!"
"GET AWAY FROM HERE!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. He jumped in front of us and used his arm to shoo us away.
Everything turned into black and white as I blinked and found his arm next to me, severed completely. Blood splashed from his arm as me and the two boys watched in horror.
The ant responsible for this looked like a cat. She was wearing blue and orange and had white hair. The cat landed on all fours and turned its head towards us. A crushing pressure radiated from her. We stood there, speechless, motionless, breathless. No one dared to move.
I gulped in shock and turned my eyes towards Gon, who was suffering from the same thing. His eyes filled with rage and fierceness.
There was no doubt that he was going to do something. He let out an outraged cry and his aura exploded out from his body. His cry was cut short when Killua punched him in the head, knocking him out.
"Good decision, Killua" said Kite, holding his shoulder. "Take Gon and run!" Killua put Gon on his shoulder and started running.
"Go! Y/N!" he shouted my name as I couldn't let my eyes off of him.
"I-I c-cant" I shook my head, tears welling in my eyes.
"Don't be coward and run!" he shouted at me.
"K-Ki-"
"GO!" he shouted once again, smirking at me and my legs moved by themselves.
Frantically, I ran as fast as I could. My head was swarming with scenarios and questions. My vision was blurry with the liquid in my eyes. I caught up to Killua and ran behind him.
The rain slowly started up, getting stronger.
I had finally calmed down, and started thinking straight.
Beat who? Did I really think I can beat those monsters? We were overconfident. Very. I was helpless, I couldn't even breathe or move from fear. Pathetic. If Kite was there by himself, then he wouldn't have lost his arm. He sacrificed his arm to protect us.
Kite...
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Next chapter:
A Mysterious Woman