Phantom Troupe's Web

Chapter 58.

"Listen carefully. You are forbidden from communicating with your comrades. No talking, gesturing, writing messages, signalling or making eye contact. None of that is allowed. You must come alone to the place I designate. If your heart rate changes, even in the slightest, I will kill the hostage. Understood?" the Hunter instructs the blonde Spider. "Now give the phone to someone besides the previous man who answered or your Web."

Pakunoda turns her head in the direction of the others, calling out to Nobunaga and gesturing him to come near her; she hands him the phone, holding her injured arm with worry written all over her face. "Hello..," the samurai greets the chain user.

"I'm going to meet with Pakunoda alone. The rest of you must return to your hideout. All ten Troupe members must be there. Web included. If a single one is missing, I will kill the hostage. Understood?"

After Kurapika makes his demands to Pakunoda and Nobunaga, he hangs up on the call; the woman in a mauve suit begins to make her way down the stairs, walking past her comrades with her uninjured arms cradling the broken one. Illuki stands beside Feitan, her hands resting on her hips as she watches the older woman leave the hotel without saying a word, turning her head towards the swordsman when he approaches them again.

"Let Paku go by herself," he tells the other troupe members. "We're returning to the hideout. Orders from the chain user."

"What's your point?"  Phinks asks the samurai with a blank expression.

"If we disobey, he'll kill the boss!" Nobunaga argues.

"Are you an idiot? If that happens, we kill the chain user. And that will be the end," the brute blonde says to the long-haired man.

"It's what the boss would tell us to do," Feitan adds to Phinks' opinion. "Nobunaga, your way of thinking is an insult to the Spiders," he narrows his eyes at the swordsman.

The slick-back blonde persists in following Pakunoda but the argument causes a rift between the group, though each side has reasonable arguments, Shizuku and Illuki refuse to entertain the fight with their disagreement – bringing up the coin rule to the others; though Phinks dismisses their thoughts and takes a step to follow their comrade, Nobunaga is fast to stop him and threatens to attack his friend and comrade. Illuki groans, rubbing her temple at the commotion the pair are creating, she nudges the woman beside her; Shizuku hands Gon over to Shalnark and knocks the swordsman out, lifting Blinky and looking at Phinks.

"Troupe members aren't allowed to fight," she reminds them.

"Aren't you on Nobunaga's side?" Phinks questions the woman.

"That's what my heart says. But the rules are absolute. If we break the rules, we reject the spider. And we also reject the boss. I don't want to do that," Shizuku tells the male.

Another phone rings and its sound echoes throughout the establishment; Illuki knows the ringing phone belongs to her. She feels the device vibrating in the back pocket of her jeans; she pulls the device out, glaring at the unknown caller ID and answers it – pressing the device to her piercing-covered ear. "You have some nerve. Calling me while threatening the boss," she grits out, attempting to sound joyful but failing.

"Put one of the hostages on the phone," Kurapika demands the female.

Illuki scoffs, directing her eyes to her younger brother and his best friend. "I don't take orders from someone like you. They're fine – we're all together, Paku already left," she tells the blonde, maintaining eye contact with Killua; her blood lust slowly revealing itself to the child.

"You have thirty minutes to return to your hideout. You can try all the tricks you want, but your leader will die. I'll call again shortly," he informs the Web who clicks her tongue, ending the call and pocketing the device.

"Let's head back. I don't want anything happening to Paku or the boss," the dichromatic-haired woman orders the Spiders with a dead tone, her eyes going blank as she turns on her heel – leading the way back to their hideout. 'You're playing a dangerous game Kurapika. I hope you're prepared for the consequences,' she thought, entering the abandoned building with the others behind her; she waltzed past Franklin and settled on the rock pile, crossing her legs elegantly and resting her chin in the palm of her hand as she thought to herself.

"The boss will die if the ten of us aren't together?" Franklin asks the group, who informed the remaining three members about the leader's capture. "He's pretty smart to use the hostages as messengers."

•••

At the meeting place, Pakunoda stands in an air blimp across from the chain user, one of his accomplices and a chained-up Chrollo Lucifer. Kurapika double-checks the identity of the woman, utilising Melody's hearing ability to confirm using their heartbeats; he then goes on to explain the situation to the blonde, making his intentions and demands clear.

"I will present each of you with two conditions. If you abide by them, I will release your leader," he drops a chain that has a mini dagger attached to the end of it. "I'll begin with the conditions for the leader. First, I forbid all use of Nen. Second..," the grey hues of his eyes begin to shift colours and overthinks his decisions – hesitating to announce the second condition for Chrollo. "Second, I forbid all contact with other Troupe members from now on. Those are the two conditions and to make certain that you adhere to them, I will stab your leader with my Judgement Chain: Arbiter Little Finger. You decide if this is acceptable, Pakunoda."

Pakunoda stands, thinking for a moment; she thinks back to the chain user's words before accepting the conditions for the Phantom Troupe's ringleader. Kurapika doesn't wait for another second, he swings his arm and pierces the Judgement Chain into Chrollo's chest – the chains wrapping itself around the man's beating heart.

"You're next, Pakunoda," he drops another Judgement Chain, sternly gazing at the woman. "First, release Gon and Killua unharmed, before midnight, without any tricks. Second, you will not reveal anything about me. If you have no objections, I will stab you with the chain as well," again, the blonde woman agrees; Pakunoda stumbles back, the impact of the chain piercing her chest and wrapping itself around her heart burns. "I have something to say before the exchange," he continues to make his demands to the woman in a mauve suit.