Phantom Troupe's Web

Chapter 34.

It had been a few days since the eldest Zoldyck had arrived in the bustling, major city of York New. After discussing the details of the group mission with her leader, the petite dichromatic-haired woman took to the streets in her large black trenchcoat that drowned her, strolling down the pavement with a small hum escaping her rosy lips as she played with the stolen items that jingled in her coat pockets. Earlier that evening, she had gone into different jewellery stores disguised as a blonde woman, swiping a few expensive pieces for herself before being called back to the Phantom Troupe's hideout. The woman glances over her shoulder, ensuring she isn't being followed before fastening her face with a wicked grin, bouncing her way to the outskirts of the city where an abandoned, deteriorating building stands ominously.

Her heels click against stone, feet carrying the female to the rural area where she masks her presence as she enters the fort through the entrance and begins maneuvering around the space until she reaches where the group leader sits in the shadows with a book; beneath the pair were their comrades who sit with agitation apparent on their faces. Turning to the ravenette, Illuki approaches and sits down on the rock beside the man, shrugging off her trenchcoat and searching the pockets to inspect the stolen jewels with a Cheshire grin.

"Hey, where's Iris? Shouldn't she be here by now?" Phinks, a man with slicked-back blonde hair and narrow black eyes; dressed in a matching green-red-accented tracksuit, asked the others while glancing around the debris-filled room in search of the woman who they deemed as their Web.

"Maybe she's running late? She's a busy lady," Shalnark suggested, defending the female who listened to their conversation. Above them and in the shadows, the Phantom Troupe leader and their Web sat in comfortable silence while one read and the other ravished in her newly acquired gems, waiting for the arrival of all the troupe members.

"He's not coming," Phinks grumbles, the moon shining down on the group of thieves through the large hole in the hideout's ceiling.

"The sun's about to rise," Feitan, a short yet deadly man with black, mid-length hair and grey eyes added. He wore dark, baggy clothes and a bandana with a skull on it covered his mouth.

"Damn Hisoka...Next time I see him, I'll tear him apart," Uvogin, a large, bulky man in a white tank top and bearskin shorts with grey unruly hair and green eyes, growls; the candle beside their leader blew out unexpectedly.

It was silent for a moment before a voice broke it. "Oh, dear...That sounds quite gruesome. How very scary," Hisoka announces his presence, leaning his back against a pillar before approaching the awaiting group with his usual smirk.

"Hisoka, you bastard!" Uvogin cursed the redhead.

"You're late," Shalnark simply states to the magician.

"Man, I thought you weren't going to come," the troupe's number 3, Machi, deadpans with her arms crossed.

Hisoka stood near her, smirking as he spoke with his arms. "You and Illuki asked me to come...Had I broken my promise, I would never get to see your Nen Stitches or Illuki's Nen again," he explained, ignoring the hard gazes he received.

With his usual smile, Shalnark turned his head to the direction of the cliff, calling up to the two people overlooking them. "Boss, Illu-chan! Everyone's here," he says.

Silence fills the empty room, their leader; a man with slicked-back black hair and grey eyes dressed in a dark purple coat with white fur trimming on the collar and wrists and black pants with bandages wrapped around the bottoms of the legs stands from his rock seat with Illuki.

"Boss, what are we stealing this time?" Uvogin asked, excitement pooling in his green orbs.

"We shall take the underground auction's treasures," Chrollo Lucifer informs the troupe, the female beside him grinning childishly down at her comrades; her hands intertwined behind her, both Illuki and the leader listening to the members exchange words of excitement but also questioning what treasures the boss referred to.

"Which one?" Shalnark asked first, Machi capturing his attention with a playful smirk.

"Ancient texts? Because the boss likes books."

Near them, Feitan interjected into their conversation, his hands tucked away in the pocket of his baggy coat. "No, I'm thinking games. There will be multiple copies of the most expensive game ever for sale," he nonchalantly told them.

"Wouldn't it be logical to take precious metals and gemstones? Iris does like those types of things," the swordsman of the troupe, Nobunaga, a man with long black hair that he tied up in a ponytail and black eyes, asks the group.

"Everything," their boss cuts off their guesses, stepping into the moonlight with Illuki by his side. "We're taking everything that's up for auction," his notion makes everyone but his and Illuki's eyes widen.

Uvogin approaches where his leader and Web stand overlooking them. "Are you serious, boss?" the caveman asked for confirmation. "The underground auction is run by gangs across the world. If we do that, we'll be making enemies of them all," he explained to the pair.

"Are you frightened, Uvogin?" Chrollo asks, borderline taunting the beast-man while his right-hand woman smirks at the exchange; her lips curling into a smile as she witnesses the wild-looking man shake in excitement, his teeth chattering against each other before exclaiming his enjoyment above the event. "I give you permission...To kill them all. Kill anyone who gets in our way," hearing this, the large man releases a roar of ecstasy.