"Okay, that would be everything," Ging groaned, lugging his and Pariston's bags to the front of the store. "Alright, children, it's time to–"

He froze in his tracks, Pariston perking up at his shoulder.

"Fuck."

"They're not here," the Demon observed.

"Yeah, no shit!" Ging snapped. He snatched a backpack off a nearby hook, shoved their shit inside, and chucked a pouch of coinage at the cashier. "Babysitting!" he yelled, stomping out of the store to try and find his idiot son and his two idiot friends. "I fucking hate it!"

Killua glared up at his captors, trying to see under that hood. He was being dragged along in ropes, Magic enforced ropes. He was also gagged with one of those ropes, and they were forcing him into Zetsu. Looked like no Bloodletting for him any time soon.

That wouldn't stop him from squirming out of the ropes, though.

They were fucking stupid if they thought something like this could keep him contained.

With a determined growl, Killua bit through the gag, freeing his mouth. He spat the rope out. "I didn't think you assholes had Sorcerers all the way out here~"

The two of them ripped their hoods off, stopping in the middle of the bridge to yank Killua's bonds. "Shut your dirty mouth, scum! You'll pay for what you did to our captain!"

Killua rolled his eyes.

Honestly.

He was gonna wring Gon's neck for jinxing them about this.

"Your captain was a complete dipshit," Killua snorted. His captors kicked him roughly in the stomach. Killua didn't even flinch, just grinned up at them as he spat a mouthful of blood. "Oo, scary."

The four of them glared down at him… or at least Killua thought they were glaring at him. They still had those dumb assed masks on. The Valkyrie gave them a lopsided smirk. The one who had kicked him braced for another blow–

"Ignore him," another grunted, shoving the aggressor off balance.

"But he disrespects our captain!"

"And? We were already aware of this. That's why we're here. Why we're doing all this."

The crewmates watched their impromptu leader, listening to him like the little hive minds they were.

"Don't let him get to you," the leader said, voice low and trembling with rage. "It's what he wants."

Killua rolled his eyes again, but he had to admit this was the perfect distraction. He wiggled his wrists about, carefully preparing himself to dislocate his joints. Once he did that, he could slip out of the ropes and paint the floors with blood.

"Come on, we don't want to be late," the leader grunted, dragging Killua along by the collar of his suit.

"I don't see why we're handing him over to them," one of the crewmates complained. "Why can't we tear him apart ourselves?"

"You heard Leol's announcement," the leader said. "If we turn him in, we will be rewarded generously. Besides, his fate in their hands will be far worse than any fate we could bestow upon him."

The crewmates hushed up, continuing to follow their leader. Killua blinked, curious. Where were they bringing him, he wondered? He didn't know who this Leol dude was, but Killua's guess was that he was some sort of alien army leader. Nothing he couldn't handle. He'd just wait until they got to wherever the hand off would be, and he'd escape and kill everybody. Just like that. Easy.

Gon and Ryder crept along the bridge above where Killua was being held.

"Damn, I can't believe you found him already!" Ryder whispered excitedly, hand already slipping to the hilt of one of his swords.

"I can always find Killua," Gon whispered back, face dead serious. It had taken an entire hour to locate Killua. He didn't like that. What the hell were the crewmates doing with him? They'd dragged him all the way across the sector!

"Why hasn't Killua escaped yet?" Gon grumbled, impatient as they waited for a good chance to drop in and raise hell.

"Well, they have him tied up in ropes," Ryder offered up.

"Yeah, I'm not blind," Gon shot back.

"Damn, grumpy," Ryder mumbled.

"...Sorry," Gon sighed. "It's just that Killua being in danger puts me on edge. We're not separated like this often… and whenever we are nothing good comes out of it."

"Understandable," Ryder nodded. "But he's got it. He's really strong! You've got nothing to worry about, pumpkin."

Gon groaned. "Please stop calling me that."

"But your eyes are like pumpkin spice! I couldn't help myself! I'd take a bite if you'd let me~"

Gon rolled his eyes, and then gasped.

"What?" Ryder asked, leaning in closer.

"Look at the ropes," Gon said.

Ryder's tail swished against the ground, brushing against Gon's ankle.

"They're made out of Blood Magic!" Gon breathed. "I didn't think the crewmates had any Sorcerers in their ranks."

"The horse used the elevator… I didn't know he knew how to do that," Ryder whispered.

"I guess that explains why Killua hasn't busted out yet," Gon mumbled. "He can't get out. We have to save him. We can't just sit here and wait for him to make the first move!"

"Agreed," Ryder nodded.

"Come on, we'll follow them to wherever they're going, and the second they relax they're dead," Gon snarled.

Killua waited patiently as he was dragged along the floor and into a disgusting alleyway. It reeked of garbage and piss, it was dark and untouched by the colorful lighting.

"On your guard, men," the leader whispered, tightening his grip on Killua's collar. "They're here."

Killua braced himself. It was time.

He was tossed roughly into the floor, splashing in a puddle of nasty looking crap.

Killua immediately snapped to action. He dislocated his wrists, fingers, and shoulders, and collarbones, wiggling out of the Magic enforced ropes in no time at all. Before the crewmates could even react, he was on his feet. Killua quickly snapped all of his joints back into place, and decapitated all four of them with one quick swipe of his tail.

The assassin then moved to engage whoever was in the back shadow of the ally, he leapt forward–

Only for an enormous, feline Chimera Ant to explode from the shadows and grab Killua's wrists in his huge paws. The Valkyrie gasped in a mixture of shock and horror. Shit. Shit!

He snarled, slipping into assassin mode in a flash. Glamour torn down, Killua bent his knees, thrusting his tail between his legs and directly for the Ant's gut.

Unfortunately for Killua, Chimera Ants always moved in packs.

And one of the Ants soldiers was there in a flash, latching onto Killua's tail before it could impale their leader.

The enormous feline chuckled low in his throat, a sickening aura oozing off of him.

An aura that was completely matched with Killua's.

He was a Squadron Leader.

Fuck.

In one last ditch attempt to escape, Killua activated his Ren, just in time for the Squadron Leader to punch him swiftly in the side of the head. Killua gagged as he was flung against the alley wall, only spared from unconsciousness because of his Ren.

Killua was on his feet in an instant.

His eyes ate up his surroundings. He was cornered against the alley wall. There was the Squadron Leader, and then either soldier Ants. Dammit. This was bad. If it was any other species, any other species, then Killua would have been able to make it out fine. But not Chimera Ants. Valkyries and Chimera Ants were on the same hierarchical level. They were evenly matched, and Killua stood no chance outnumbered like this.

Or maybe, before he'd mastered Sorcery.

Yes, all Killua had to do was activate Godspeed and he'd be out of this in a sinch.

Only…

With a snarl, Killua held his hands up in surrender.

The Squadron Leader barked a laugh, motioning his soldiers forward. Killua was kicked to his knees and forced to the ground where his arms were tied up using his tail as a rope.

Well shit.

They knew how to restrain tailed beings, didn't they?

"Good choice," the Squadron Leader chuckled, walking forward and aggressively ruffling Killua's hair.

The Valkyrie snarled. "Keep your filthy paws off!"

The Squadron Leader barked a laugh, and then grabbed Killua by the chin, hunching over to stare him dead in the eye. "You sure are an interesting specimen, now aren't you? I honestly didn't believe those grunts when they told me they had a Dragonite Valkyrie. Yes, an Overworldian if I ever saw one. I can see it in your eyes. You don't belong out here."

He released Killua, roughly shoving him forward.

"Come, little Valkyrie. You're mine now."

Killua was seething as he was marched along, boxed in by either Chimera soldiers, Squadron Leader marching out in front.

Killua hated playing weak, but he had to let himself be captured.

He knew for a fact that this wasn't the only Squadron Leader on Hallah… he knew how the Chimeras worked, they all worked to further themselves and themselves alone. So it was unlikely that any of the other Squadron Leaders knew of Killua's capture, or even his presence.

However, Chimeras were still a hive mind.

If Killua took this Squadron Leader out, then the others would know.

The others would know, and they would notice something off. They'd investigate, and they'd discover that the very Overworldians they were looking for were holed up right under their noses on Hallah.

The capture of Ging's group was crucial to the insurgents' victory over the King.

Hundreds, thousands of Ants would be called in if word got out.

That couldn't happen.

Killua needed to see just how many this Squadron Leader had under his control, and he needed to see if he was already in contact with the others. If Killua was going to take these assholes out, then he needed to do it right. He needed to allow himself to be captured, so he could get inside their base and eliminate all of them.

In order to avoid detection, Killua would need to kill every single Chimera Ant involved with this lion Squadron Leader.

That was the only way.

Getting captured sucked like hell, but Zoldycks did whatever necessary to complete a job.

Killua would take care of this, and he'd take care of it before dinnertime.

He found himself smirking.

I wonder how long it will take for Gon to bust in and tear these guys to shreds? I estimate… an hour tops?

"What are you laughing about?" one of the soldiers barked, shoving Killua between the shoulder blades.

"Oh, nothing. Just fantasizing about your gruesome deaths~"

Gon watched, unblinking and tight as a wire, as Killua dislocated all of his joints. The Valkyrie slipped out of the ropes, and killed the crewmates in the blink of an eye. Gon's lips twitched up in a smirk.

That was his Killua.

He bunched his muscles, already activating his biochemical. The second those jerks in the shadows showed themselves he was gonna–

A Chimera Ant.

A HUGE Chimera Ant with the mane of a lion and the stripes of a tiger. A Squadron Leader, with eight soldiers. All of them closing in on Killua.

Gon saw red.

It was like a bucket of ice water was dumped onto his head.

Killua was outnumbered.

Killua was in danger.

Killua needed him–

"Stay put!" came a hiss from behind Gon, and a strong arm on his shoulder, yanking him backwards. Gon thrashed against strong arms. Ging's arms. The older male had his hand pressed down over Gon's mouth, the other locked around his chest. Pariston was restraining Ryder in a similar fashion.

"Hold still, dammit!" Ging snarled directly into Gon's ear. "If they notice us we're fucking screwed!"

Gon bit Ging's hand, getting him to jerk it away from his mouth.

"Let me go!" Gon snarled, "Let me get to Killua!"

"No."

Gon froze.

Sensing a horrifying aura roiling off Pariston. Stronger than Killua's. Strong as an Unseelie. No. Stronger.

Gon bowed his head, submitting.

Pariston shut his aura off, leaving Gon and Ryder shaking in their boots.

Ging nodded in thanks to his Demon companion. "There, now that we're calmed down?" he snapped.

Gon nodded slowly, watching with dark eyes as Killua was tied up and dragged away once again. This time in the custody of a Chimera Ant Squadron Leader. What the hell, how had this all gone down hill so fast?!

Why the fuck had those idiots turned Killua into the Chimeras?! Didn't they hate Chimeras?! Did they really detest Killua so much that they'd go against their own morals?!

Gon shuddered a sigh once Killua was out of sight.

"What. The hell," he growled. Making even Ryder shudder in discomfort.

Ging didn't let him go. "Think before you act, dammit!" the older male hissed. "It sucks like all hell, but we've been discovered by the Chimeras. We can't just bust in on them. If we want to get out of this mess, we're going to have to kill every single Chimera Ant currently in contact with that Squadron Leader."

"So?!" Gon snarled. "Let's do that then! Let me go, dammit, I'm gonna fucking rip him in half!"

"And I don't doubt that," Ging retorted with a roll of his eyes. "But it's not that easy. Killua let himself be captured, don't you see that?"

Gon barked a snarl, whipping around to pin Ging in his raging amber gaze. "Yeah, I fucking know that! But why's it always have to be Killua?! Why's Killua always have to be the one to suffer the most?! He shouldn't have to do this! Let me get him out of there!"

"I know, and we will," Ging growled. "Ryder! Tell him!"

The purple skinned male slid over to Gon's side, locking his hand against the back of Gon's neck. "Gon, we're gonna get Killua out, but we need a plan first."

Gon turned on Ryder, two shades of glowing eyes warring with each other in the dim lighting. "Shouldn't you of all people want to get Killua out?!"

The Alien-Cryptid sighed. "Yeah. I really do. You think you're the only one who's pissed right now? Look around you! Stop being so self absorbed! We're all worried about Killua!"

Gon's glare slackened, but only slightly. He followed Ryder's order, looking at the others. Ging looked pissed. Ryder's eyes were blazing with fury. Pariston's face was nothing more than shadow and the reflection of his red eyes.

The horned male took a deep and shuddering breath. "Okay. I'm calm now."

Ging rolled his eyes again. "Gods, you're a pain in the ass. Now come on. We're going back to the clothing store, unless you want to get captured too?"

Gon's eyes burned with determination.

Ging pinched the bridge of his eyes. "You know what? Don't answer that."

Killua behaved like a good little prisoner. He didn't resist, didn't put up any more fights. He didn't even offer up dirty looks. He was trained for this. He knew how to gain the tentative trust of his captors.

It also helped that this Squadron Leader was an egotistical prick.

By the time they'd made it to the Chimera's base of operations - an nondescript building nestled in the very bottom corner of the fourth sector - Killua was walking side by side with the guy. It was like they were on a casual walk down the beach rather than a prison march.

"And that's why, I, Leol, will make the greatest King of the Ants!" the Squadron Leader boomed, gesturing wildly with his hands. "Cheetu and Rammot will bow before my glorious power! It only takes one shot, little Valkyrie. One shot and the right amount of patience. Once the target slips between your crosshairs, you release the bow, and like an arrow you will pierce the heart of your goals. Direct and true."

"Quite the gallant tale," Killua mused. "The greater the battle, the more emboldened your name will be in the history books."

Leol barked a laugh, ruffling Killua's hair again.

Killua hated it when he did that.

Only Gon was permitted to ruffle Killua's hair.

"This one gets it!" Leol boomed to his soldiers. "You've got a good head on your shoulders, little Valkyrie. Perhaps I can pull a few strings, get you a slot in my ranks."

Leol rapped on the metal door, slimey puddles of dirty water dotting the front step. With the grinding and clicking of several locks, a soldier Ant flung the door open. Leol led Killua inside, holding the door for him and beckoning the assassin within.

Killua made a show of gawking at the insides of the structure.

In reality it wasn't much, but any and all points he could score with this Leol guy were more valuable than gold in a situation such as this one. The easier Killua could make the dirty work, the better. Killua liked to call it reverse Stockholm syndrome. His personal favorite method of executing flashy infiltration jobs like this.

There was a reason Killua was the best in his craft.

He wasn't the Crown Prince just for his inheriting the silver hair.

The inside of the building was plain, just black metal walls and floors. Broadway lights lining the crease of the ceiling. There was a wraparound balcony bordering the entire boxy area, and the main space sunk down into the ground, boasting a vast common area with several hallways branching off of it. By the looks of things, this had once been some sort of fight club.

Leol led Killua down a flight of stairs, and into the common area in the center of the building. There was a fuzzy white fur rug, as well as an array of mismatched couches and chairs. Leol guided Killua to one of the couches, and sat across the coffee table from him. The eight soldiers lined up at the back of Leol's chair, standing guard and being all-around intimidating.

For his first experience with true Chimera Ants (meaning Chimera Ants born and raised on their motherland), Leol did not disappoint. If Killua hadn't had Godspeed up his sleeve, then he'd have been pretty damn terrified right about now.

Bisky's training really had been necessary for them to successfully find and deal with Ging…

"Now, as much as I enjoy your company, little Valkyrie… you have been brought here for a reason. I'll be entirely straight with you. We know why you're here on Hallah."

Leol paused, letting the words sink in.

An intimidation tactic.

Unfortunately, such methods did not work on Killua. Illumi and his mother were so much worse about it… they were the only ones who could truly make him scramble.

"You've come all the way out here from Overworld," Leol continued, leaning forward with his elbows braced on his knees. "Just to aid our treasonous King."

Leol paused again, searching Killua's eyes for something. Anything.

Killua's blue orbs remained an impassive mask. A vast and empty sea. Not a single wave, not even a mere ripple across the surface.

"Myself and my colleagues have been posted out here to intercept you, you know that?" Leol asked slowly.

His colleagues. So he is in contact with other Squadron Leaders.

If I had to guess, the alligator and the koala from earlier. Possibly a couple more. But based on the fractured nature of Chimera politics, it's highly likely that he is only in contact with the alligator and koala, and in competition with the others.

All I have to do is bide my time, and find out for sure.

The second all of them are in one place… I make my move.

Gon, hurry up.

You'll miss out on all the fun~

"We've received word," Leol murmured, "that the King has hired a Zodiac to assist him. Disgraceful, isn't it?"

Killua forced his eyes to waver.

Leol's lips curled up at the edges.

Perfect.

Killua could play him like a fiddle.

"Just think of it," Leol continued, a new fire in his eyes. Believing that he was beginning to force Killua to crack and bend. "The Chimera Ant King, the strongest being in all existence, buying a job off the Zodiacs? An utterly ridiculous notion. I'd understand if the Zodiac were you, little Valkyrie. You are truly one of a kind. A warrior at soul, just like the best of the Chimeras."

Killua twitched his ear, but just barely. Pretending to suppress an instinctual acknowledgement of praise. Leol's tail began to swish behind him. Once again, Killua was pulling him deeper and deeper into his web.

"But I don't think you're the Zodiac, little Valkyrie," Leol murmured, the hint of a growl in his voice. A lesser being would have been shaking in their boots. But Killua had literally played Leol's exact role multiple times over, and knew exactly what he was doing, and what he was trying to accomplish.

"How many are there?" Leol asked, leaning across the coffee table.

Killua swallowed his spit, making a spectacular show of false nervousness.

"Or rather, who's your leader?" Leol asked again, scooting closer.

Killua darted his gaze back and forth between Leol's eyes, pretending that he was unsure of where to look.

"If you tell me, then all of your problems can go away. Just like that," Leol offered. "I can help you, little Valkyrie. Just say the word."

Show time.

"I can't tell you that," Killua choked out.

Damn, that was an Emmy worthy performance!

Leol chuckled, leaning back against the cushions. "I don't believe you understand just what you're up against. As we speak my allies are making their way over here. They're not as kind as I am. I'd give in, if I were you."

"I told you," Killua breathed. "I'm not talking."

Leol cracked a laugh. "Suit yourself, little Valkyrie. I do love your spunk. Let's not see it crumble to dust, hm?"

Killua broke eye contact with Leol, gazing down at the coffee table. Eyes angled downwards, a clear sign of submission. Leol relaxed even more, even going so far as to offer Killua a drink.

With his face hidden by the enormous mug, Killua was finally able to release the smirk that had been tickling at the edges of his lips. Damn, this was just too easy.