After escaping from the underground and the troupe, I climb up to the top of the building where the other guards are keeping watch. There's a short, stocky, balding woman with buck teeth and a scrawny boy with blonde hair and honey eyes. Melody and Kurapika.
"I can't hear clearly, but it sounds like some commotion's taken place," Melody, one of Nostrade's guards says while cupping her ear.
"Something bad must've happened," Kurapika responds looking through his binoculars.
"It did," I say 10 feet away. Startled by my presence they immediately fire up their nen.
"Who are you?" Kurapika demands.
"Your Plan B. My name's Oby. I've been hired by the Nostrade family. You can confirm with Dalzollene."
After they call in, I tell them what happened. The Phantom Troupe's ambush. The missing treasure.
Kurapika reaches the phone out to me. "He wants to talk to you."
I take it. "What's up?"
"Your new mission is to track down the troupe's hideout. See if we can cut them off at the pass," Dalzollene states.
"A little late for that, don't you think?" I say.
"Cut the sass. We've had spies out for weeks now in the mafia, the police force, streetwalkers, trying to find the troupe. No luck. Our sources just saw them get away in a hot air balloon so we don't have much time," he explains.
I sigh, wondering how I'm supposed to find an untraceable crew, especially with the police on their way about to damage any potential evidence. The troupe's getaway won't take more than an hour and that's if the mafia can find a way to delay them for that long. I'm curious what the second half of the troupe is doing. Likely protecting Chrollo. It makes sense that he'd always have guards around him. Handling the dirty work doesn't seem like his style.
Unfortunately I don't think Hisoka's gonna get his chance to fight the boss anytime soon. But maybe it's for the best. I would like to meet the man behind the legend. All the thievery and murder mixed in with philanthropy of all things has me curious....and of course my favorite magician. I wonder if he'll remember me. Either way I'll make sure not to disappoint. First, let's see how well connected Nostrade is. "Do you have the Chief of Police's number?" I ask Dalzollene.
*
Ten minutes later Kurapika, Melody, and I are down in the building where the auction was held. I asked that the police wait 20 minutes before coming in so we can look for clues.
"What exactly are we looking for?" Kurapika asks.
I expect to see the remnants of the bloodbath, but instead find a spotless floor. Shizuku conjured a vacuum earlier as her weapon, so she likely cleaned up behind the troupe. Shit. My plan was to look for footprints and examine their soil compositions, even a partial could work. However, Feitan, Shizuku, and I all fought in mid-air. That means we likely landed against the wall at some point to gain momentum for our jumps. There might be left over residue on the walls. And since they left fairly quickly, Shizuku probably focused on cleaning this level of the building since this is where most of the evidence was...so there might be a print downstairs by the vault. But we should check everywhere.
"We're looking for footprints. Keep an eye out for any dirt, debris, or odor if you find one. Melody, check downstairs by the vault. Kurapika look at the walls in the great room where the auction was held. I'll stick around the entrance and see if I find anything."
I look around and only see a golden map of Yorknew City splayed against a wall as a centerpiece. A few minutes later Melody comes up to get us. "I think I found one."
We head downstairs right by the door to examine it. Kurapika bends down to sniff the small indentations. "It smells like smoked pork and algae."
I touch the indent of the footprint. It has the exact mold of the Belgian block. How do I know that? It's been years since I went to that district, but I remember Ging, an ex of mine, took me there once for my birthday for dinner and a shopping spree. He told me about the stones on our way there. Suddenly the name of the district hits me. "Given the erosion of their shoes from the stones, they're likely somewhere in the Tenderloin District."
Melody's face frowns up. "Isn't that part of the city known for drugs and prostitution?"
Kurapika shrugs and purses his lips. "Seems befitting for criminals."
"Yes, but they're probably going to be hidden in plain sight. Some hole in the wall or abandoned building." I think about the golden map I saw and it outline of the streets and river. "Let's go look at the map upstairs."
We go back up and find the Tenderloin District on the map. "Kurapika said he smelled algae, which means the spiders' hideout is around the river."
"But it's bordered by the Judson and West rivers. How do we know which one they're near?" he asks.
I inhale remembering the smell of smoked sausage, chorizo, a Portuguese meat. Ging and I went to a Portuguese restaurant near the Chester Market. My finger moves along the map until I see where the market is located. "The sausage you smelled is sold in this market, which is," I look next to the strip of land, "on the south side of the Judson."
Melody nods. "Great, but there are a million brick buildings that all look the same in that area. We don't have time to look at all of them, so we should narrow down our search before leaving."
We're all quiet for a moment as we think. There's a wrap at the entrance door. I look up and see some cops signaling for us to wrap things up.
Kurapika exhales and runs a hand through his hair. "Is there some symbol or emblem you saw the troupe members wearing?"
I close my eyes, start pacing, and think about each of the spiders. I remember seeing a picture of the spiders a while ago and then seeing 3 of them in person tonight. Their weapons and clothes could be from anywhere in the world. The only symbol they have in common is a spider tattoo which is hidden under their clothes. They'd never put that on a building, it'd be as obvious as sending up the Bat Signal. I think of their faces, the background of the photo, their jewelry...Wait. Chrollo has an inverted cross tattooed on his forehead. When I was fighting Shizuku tonight, I noticed she had on a golden necklace with an inverted cross too. And the night that I fought Hisoka in Heaven's Arena, he had on a slender chain belt that had the cross at the end of it.
I turn around to face my team. "Several members of the troupe wear inverted crosses. It's just a hunch, but my guess is they're stationed in an abandoned church with that cross as its symbol."
Kurapika shakes his head. "An inverted cross symbolizes the anti-christ and occult. I don't know of any satanic churches that'd be out for the public to see."
I nod at him. "Yes, but an inverted cross is also the cross of St. Peter. The story goes that after his sentence to be crucified, Peter, one of Jesus's disciples, asked to be hung upside down on the cross because he felt unworthy of being in the same position as his Lord and Savior." I knew all that time in mission school when I was a child would pay off someday.
Melody's brows furrow. "So what does that mean?"
I tie my hair up and look at the map one final time. "It means we need to find St. Peter's Church."
*
We don't have time to wait for the ferry to take us across the river, so Dalzollene arranges for a helicopter to pick us up. I grab my bag from the back room while Kurapika calls for our flight, so I can change while we're in transit. I convince Melody to stay behind since I don't get the feeling she's a fighter, plus I want as few people as possible with us. That way we draw as little attention to ourselves as possible. Besides, enough of our team has died tonight, I don't need any other liabilities. This was the first time any of my charges died, and I can't help but feel some guilt at not being able to get there fast enough to save even one of them. But I can't focus on that...it's all just a part of the job.
The way Kurapika blushed as he looked away makes me think it's the first time he's seen a girl in just a bra and panties. How cute. He also changes into all black garb. I notice he has a wakizashi sword strewn across his back...I'll have to ask about that later. I change into a pair of leggings, long sleeve black shirt, and a pair of Ikes sneakers.
The rotor blades of the helicopter slap the air above, sending vibrations through all of us. A thousand colorful lights shine up at us from the skyscrapers, traffic lights, theaters below. It's so bright it blinds the stars, changes the sky to an ombre of white, gray, and black. For that reason, we decide to dive into the river when we near the harbor. So there'll be less chance of the troupe seeing us coming.
Kurapika looks up the church on his phone then confirms it on a map that our co-pilot gives him. He calls Dalzollene and tells him to send backup.
"No, we can do this ourselves," I yell at him as I put my shirt on.
"No we can't. There are two of us and we don't know how many of them. Who knows what tricks they have up their sleeves."
"Most people aren't strong enough to defeat the troupe-"
Kurapika hangs up the phone. "The Ten Dons are sending the Shadow Beasts to help us."
I sigh and as I start to put on my swim gear. Most nen users and hunters are not strong enough to fight the troupe, but I've heard about the Shadow Beasts. I hope Kurapika instincts are right. And if it's not, at least it's not on my head this time.
As we wait to get dropped off I can't help but start thinking about Hisoka. I have no idea what either of us will do or say when we see each other, given that we're playing on opposite teams. I see him waiting for something to happen, being ready for anything. Whatever happens I hope I'll get to play with him a bit. I need to rectify my epic fail at Heaven's Arena, show him that outside the ring and its bullshit politics, I can beat him.
Our 10 knockdowns deal will begin tonight no doubt. Hmmm. I wanna reward him almost as much as I want to punish him. Hope he feels the same. Will he wait for me to go through the other spiders before I get to him? Or try to fight me before I become a threat to Chrollo, his ultimate prize? What will he do to me to try to protect what's his?
"This is your stop!" our pilot yells back at us.
Kurapika jumps in the water first and I follow. We swim for about a mile before we get to land. My arm's a bit sore from where Feitan sliced me with his sword, but I'll manage for the time being. We quickly go up the docks and slip out of our gear.
"We need to go 3 streets up and 5 streets east," Kurapika says.
As we head up the street I start to think of how I'll fight the spiders. I could probably take 2 or 3 of the troupe's weakest members if I had to, but putting Kurapika in danger isn't an option. Hopefully Uvogin isn't one of the spiders hiding out or this could...complicated real fast. I don't even know what Kurapika nen ability is yet, though I get the feeling he can carry his own. If he's scared, he's hiding it incredibly well. I turn on my Zetsu, closing my nen off to avoid detection, and tell Kurapika to do the same. He looks skeptical of this, but listens.
When we arrive at the street corner of our destination, I see the faint tint of stained glass three buildings down and the faint shadow of a figure sitting behind a broken part of the windowpane. I only allow myself to look up for a moment to see two long clawed hands playing with a stack of cards. I duck quickly into an alleyway and nod for my partner to follow. Hopefully Hisoka didn't see us. My feet and breath are moving as quiet as dust.
Kurapika reaches inside his shirt to take out two ski masks and a pair of contact lenses.
I give him a confused look. "Why?"
"Anonymity matters. If any of the troupe members learn who we are, they could target us and anyone we're close to in the future. It'd be like putting bull's eyes on our backs.
"And you just happen to have contact lenses to go incognito?"
"I always carry an extra pair for," he looks up at my curious face, "Never mind. Just put them in."
I hold the contact case in front of me and see honey lenses floating in solution. It's sealed with plastic, but still, I have to ask. "Are these new?"
He rolls his eyes. "Yes. Now hurry up."
The way Kurapika avoids my eyes when he says this makes me wonder what he's hiding. His nen ability? Perhaps one of his conditions is specifically connected to the troupe. Since we just met, I don't push the matter, but at some point I do want to know. It could mean the difference between winning or losing a battle. But for now, I cut a hole in the top of the mask for my bun then put it on. He might have a point, the troupe would be the ones to never forget a face. Who knows where the night's headed so perhaps it' s best we take precautions.
"Also, we should have code names, so we don't risk exposing each other," he says.
What are we, eight? This make believe is getting comical, but whatever I'll play along. "Fine. I'll be Lioness and you'll be..." let's see, he's young but carries himself with a lot of sophistication for his age. What would fit that? "Prince."
He seems taken aback by my response at first, but quickly brushes it off. "Fine."
We move down the alley way looking for an entrance. "What's with the samurai sword? Why not just use your nen?" I ask.
His cold eyes pierce into me like I've offended him, but he still answers. "I prefer to use my ability one on one with the spiders. I'll only use it as a last resort otherwise. Hopefully we'll end this before it gets that far."
I look up at the building. "Guess we'll have to survive the night before I learn more about you."
He nods. "We should get up there."
We crawl up the building and jump from rooftop to rooftop til we're on top of the church. A little cylinder window allows us to peak inside, but I signal for Kurapika to stay away. I take out a mirror and use its reflection to see inside the glass window, doing everything I can to keep my shadow from being seen. As I scan as much of the building as I can, I only see rubble and the faint colors of stained glass below. Where are they? There's no way they could've been tipped off to our arrival.
Suddenly I hear a slow rumble beneath us and see the pebbles around us begin to shake. Kurapika looks at me as if I have the answer, but I don't. He takes out his sword just as a horde of people bust through the roof door. Though they move in a zombie like state with glazed over faces and slob coming out their mouths, they seem very much alive. There are antennas attached to their heads. Who are they being controlled by? I swing my leg around and kick a few of them off the building.
Kurapika sheaths his sword and uses hand to hand combat. "What are you doing? These are civilians!"
"These aren't civilians. They're the enemy and they're multiplying by the minute!" One of them grabs my neck and tries to choke me while others try to pile up on top of me. I slip my hand under his palm to knock it away and then jump up and feel myself come down with enough force to make the roof shake. A few more bodies fall off the building. "It's kill or be killed, kid. Unless you want to use your last resort."
"Dammit!" Kurapika growls, but he knows I'm right. He head butts a zombie on his back then takes his sword back out, moving it in a whirlwind motion. I hear and feel blood spatter. Whatever's controlling these people must cause them to go brain dead because they're attacking mindlessly, no thought to being killed. One hulk of a man tackles me and sends us both through the glass top of the roof.
"Lioness!" Kurapika shouts.
As I near the ground, I feel something sticky form underneath me, while the zombie tumbles to his death. I look around and notice a pink web has formed around me. I try to move my hands and feet, but that only causes my body to become more entrenched in the web. I look to my right and see Hisoka pulling in the web, burying my body further and further into the thread until I'm right in front of him. "I was beginning to think you wouldn't show."