Phantom Troupe's Web

Chapter 59.

Illuki exhales, leaning against the rock pile she sat on with her legs elegantly crossed over each other while waiting for Pakunoda to return with news about Chrollo. Her eyes direct themselves to the redhead magician, eyeing him with a knowing smile before transferring her gaze to the children sitting on the ground, their hands bound behind them in chains. The sound of heels clicking against pavement echoes, the troupe members' heads turning to see their missing comrade approaching them with her usual deadpanning expression; Pakunoda shares the information and conditions of the hostage exchange, a rift beginning to appear between them.

"Does he really expect us to accept those conditions?" Phinks asks, crossing his arms over his chest; behind him sits Hisoka and beside him stands Feitan. "Tell us where he is, Pakunoda. We'll kill the kids, then go deal with the chain user," he demands, tension rising between them.

"You're insisting?" Machi glares.

"I insist. If you don't tell us, I won't let you leave."

"I refuse to tell you where he is, and I am taking the kids alone. Don't interfere," Pakunoda refutes.

As the argument between the Spiders continues with each side growing furious by the second; Phinks, Feitan, Pakunoda, Machi and Kortopi unleash their aura – preparing for a fight when a certain spiky-haired kid speaks up with a hard glare directed at them. "Is it really so hard to understand? You don't understand why Pakunoda wants to leave without a word? You don't understand why Machi is stopping you? You honestly think they're being controlled?" his voice raises with each question, disbelief and rage audible in his tone. "It's because they want to rescue your boss! Is it so hard to understand the desire to save a friend?"

"Shut up, kid! Are you that desperate to be spared?" Phinks barks.

Gon pushes against the chains, bursting out of them and standing on his feet. "I'm not saying it to save myself. Take it back," his eyebrows furrow and begin shaking with rage. His best friend sighs, breaking his restrictions.

"I refuse. If you've got a problem, come here. The second you take a step, I'll rip your head off," the brute blonde cracks his knuckles, preparing himself for a fight against the twelve-year-old.

"Then I won't budge an inch! I'm not that dumb!" Gon childishly shouts. "Kurapika isn't like you. No matter how much he hates someone, he won't lose control and kill them without mercy. If he makes a promise, he will definitely keep—"

Gon's head flings back, pain shivering down his body as a loud groan escapes from him. The Spiders turn their heads in the direction the rock came from, spotting their Web standing from her rocky seat to loom over them with a scowl – the green hues of her eyes glow under the moonlight, holding zero emotions in them as she speaks with a dead tone.

"Shut up. You know nothing," she coldly mutters, jumping down to the ground floor. Her dichromatic hair sways behind her, eyes narrowing at the members and Gon; her patience runs thin in unison with her blood lust that hands by a thread, slowly seeping out of her body. Green eyes narrow at the tracksuit-wearing blonde and the torture master, silently demoting them from speaking as she makes the final decision as Chrollo's right-hand companion the Phantom Troupe's Web. "Paku will do the exchange."

"Iris is right. Let Pakunoda go," Franklin spoke up for the first time since her return; Phinks turned to the man, questioning him when the Emissioner reasoned out to the others. "Shal, right now, what would our worst-case scenario be?" he asked the happy-go-lucky genius.

The Manipulator hums while in thought before answering. "The boss is already dead, Pakunoda and the others are being controlled, we can't find the chain user and the two kids escape..."

"Then, you've got it wrong. The worst-case scenario would be that we all die and the spider perishes," Franklin informs the group, the Zoldyck family standing beside him with her arms crossed under her chest. "By comparison, your scenario would be quite pleasant. Am I wrong?"

"Yeah, you're right."

"I don't care about your reasons. You're being too reliant on the boss. If the Troupe falls apart as a result, that's the greatest betrayal you could make toward the boss. If we keep bickering that could well happen. Calm down. Let them have their way..," the Emmisoner reasons, offering advice and orders to his comrades. "Pakunoda can take the kids. If the boss doesn't return, we kill the members being controlled and start to rebuild the Spider. It's extremely simple."

"I'm fine with that. If that's what it takes to satisfy you. Well, I'm not being controlled and it won't be easy to kill me," Machi agrees, taunting Phinks who clicks his tongue at her remark.

The tension in the room cuts when a phone rings throughout the abandoned building, the chain user had called to ensure the exchange would be happening; once the conditions were agreed upon, Pakunoda left with Killua and Gon walking in front of her – the rain drenching them. With the blonde woman and their hostages gone, Illuki wanders away from her comrades and into a private area; she inhales softly and activates her aura – a green summoning circle appears beneath her heeled boots, her hair breezes away from her face as her eyes glowed a bright emerald. Transparent snakes slither along her limbs, her mind playing a vignette lens where she finds herself staring at Pakunoda, Killua, Gon and Hisoka.

   Kurapika holds his phone to his ear, instructing the white-haired assassin to press the phone against his heart before handing the device to Melody – the female assuring her friend that nothing had happened to the boys while in the hands of the Spiders.

   "Okay, let's begin the exchange!" Kurapika announces, eyes glowing red.

   The hostages – Chrollo, Killua and Gon – walk away from their respective captors, the troupe's leader waltzing past Pakunoda who appears unfazed by the interaction. The Hunters escaped on the aircraft leaving Hisoka, Chrollo and Pakunoda at the secret meeting location; the blonde retreated to the aircraft while the magician and leader dealt with their one-sided conflict.

   "I've waited a long time for this moment," Hisoka says with a pleased, sadistic grin. "C'mon...Let's fight."

author's note !

i realise that this arc needs major editing and refining but i'm lazy to edit it here, so i think i'm just going to finish the book as a first draft and then publish a rewritten version.
would you like that?