AN: shoutout to Jetcka3 for coming up with the idea for Killua's weapon!
Gon, Pitou, Ryder, and Killua all stood readied in the neck of the ship. Through the gaping window, Killua could see the enormous landmass called Marathon, as well as countless others like neighboring mountains. Ikalgo brought the ship in close, and Killua couldn't help but tense every time they had a close pass with an insurgent ship.
Pariston had used a Demonic spell to shield their ship from detection. They would not be seen, allowing Pitou and the others to sneak into Marathon without detection.
As Pouf and Pitou had explained previously, Marathon's surface was uninhabitable. There was no vegetation whatsoever, just a mass of rock. The inside, however, was completely hollowed out. Much like Hallah had been.
During his time as a pilot for the King, Ikalgo had been tasked with learning the layout of every single landmass. Thanks to him, Pitou's group knew exactly where they needed to enter, and what path they needed to take.
Pitou planned for them to crawl through the ventilation system until they arrived in one of the communal meeting areas. The inside of Marathon was an enormous Chimera Ant hive, with various skinny tunnels and large pockets of open space. Komugi was being held deep within the rocks, in the prisoner block.
There would be a shit ton of Ants obscuring the path to the prisoner block, especially considering the fact that Komugi herself was being held there. However, if Pitou were to make their presence blatantly known, then everyone would flock to their location in an attempt to thwart the Royal Guard's obvious rescue attempt.
This would allow Killua to sneak past and rescue Komugi. But he needed to do this as quickly as possible, because the faster they secured Komugi the better. The gods only knew what Rammot and his lecherous squadron leaders were doing to her.
Komugi's safety was top priority.
Killua swished his tail across the ground behind him, mentally preparing for the upcoming battle. They had a lot of Chimera Ants to fight through, but with Pitou on their side things should be easy. However, that didn't change the fact that Pitou, Ryder, and Gon would be swamped way out of proportion the second Pitou showed themselves.
Which was why Ryder would be activating his ability and extending it as far as he could reach. He'd switch gravity off using his Magic, and that would make the battlefield chaotic as all hell. This was perfect, Gon and Ryder did their best work under total chaos.
"Is that your weapon Killua?" Gon asked curiously. He had his scythe gripped in his fists, and was glancing over at Killua's weapon.
"Yup," the Valkyrie responded.
"I've never seen something like that before," Gon mused, "What's it do?"
"It hurts people, or so I'd hope," Killua snorted. Gon gave him a look, and Killua snickered. "It's a meteor hammer," he explained, slackening the chain and holding the heavy iron ball at the end for Gon to see. "I like to fight in close range, but this lets me attack from far away. I've mastered most weapons, but this one is my favorite."
"Sexy," Ryder commented with a nod.
"Woah! That's really cool!" Gon declared, quickly covering up Ryder's compliment with one of his own.
Killua smirked to himself, those two are still so competitive. Hopefully Pitou doesn't lose their mind trying to keep those two in check during the mission.
The Valkyrie spun the chain around a couple of times, and then neatly gathered it together and clipped it back to the hook on the waist of his spacesuit. They were all wearing them, skintight and rubbery. Perfect for running along walls and helping with holding onto things while climbing. Save for Pitou, who was still wearing the crisp navy suit jacket. They didn't need any enhancing gear. There was no need for it.
"Do you know how to fight with a scythe?" Gon asked his mate-to-be. The ship flew in close to Marathon's surface, slowing to a stop near a grate leading to the ventilation system.
"Of course I do~" Killua smirked. "I am an assassin after all."
"Cut the chatter!" Ging snapped from the cockpit. "It's time to get serious. Children, be on your best behavior. You'd better listen to Pitou! Gon, if you kill Ryder I'll pummel you."
Gon pouted, and Ryder sassily flipped his hair.
"We're dropping you off now," Ikalgo announced. "I'll be back to pick you up the second I drop Pouf, Ging, and Pariston off. Killua, try to have Komugi at the agreed location within an hour! It'll take me that long to travel to Gorteau and back. We can't afford to waste any time, because once I drop Pariston off we'll be back on the insurgents' radars."
Killua nodded, "I got it."
"Activate your helmets," Pitou instructed. "The atmosphere between the landmasses is far too thin for non-Chimeras to breathe."
Ryder, Gon, and Killua all obeyed. They flipped the switches on the control panels on the inside wrist of each suit, and three helmets neatly scurried to life around their heads. Ging had told them that the suits were made out of a bunch of tiny robots. Killua hadn't been in the mood to listen to his bullshit and hadn't paid attention to the rest of his explanation. The suits were obviously run by Magic, that was the only reasonable explanation.
Microscopic robots Killua's ass. That was preposterous.
The moment all three males were safe to exit the ship, Ikalgo closed the door to the cockpit, and opened the hatch leading to the outside. Like a troop carrier, both walls of the neck of the ship slid open, and wind whistled through the now-open space. Pitou's hair whipped about in the thin air, and Killua's tail was pulled about by the restless fingers of Chimera's shattered atmosphere.
Pitou gave the signal, and together the four of them leapt from the ship and sailed through open space towards Marathon's rocky surface. Killua braced himself, and extended his claws to grip the surface.
Killua and Pitou dug their claws into the surface, hanging off the side of the enormous rock with ease, while Gon used his scythe and Ryder used his swords. Pitou held themselves up with one arm, and ripped the grate of the ventilation system clean off without any strain whatsoever. The three males followed Pitou into the tiny passage as Ikalgo's ship sped off in the direction of Gorteau.
Killua brought up the rear, and tugged the grate back into place a split second before the next patrol ship flew by.
The four of them sat huddled in the vent, watching as the patrol passed none the wiser.
"We're in the clear," Pitou murmured into their beetle.
"Good, in route to Gorteau now," Ging responded swiftly before cutting out.
Pitou nodded, tucking the beetle back into their pocket. "Alright, let's go." The feline Ant crawled down the vent, with Gon, Ryder, and Killua following after them respectively.
The Royal Guard led the way, and Killua pictured their map in his mind as they took turn after turn, jumped down drops, and climbed up vertical shafts. Every once in a while they'd have to go still and wait for a Chimera Ant or two to pass by, or they'd have to activate Zetsu to sneak past groups of them in the larger open areas.
They were coming up at the place where Killua would branch off from the others. The closer they drew to the prisoner's keep, the more likely their detection would become. It was easy to slip under the peons' and lower soldiers' noses, but the higher ups would just know. Chimera Ants had a certain instinct for sensing Royal Guards. Even with Zetsu, Rammot would be able to detect Pitou.
It would be bad if they all got cornered in the prisoner's block, or anywhere near Komugi for that matter. If she were to get caught up in the crossfire, then the insurgents would not hesitate to kill her. It didn't matter how inefficient and round-about their plan was, because Komugi's safety was top priority. If there was even the slightest chance that she was in danger, then that was unacceptable.
Killua's Godspeed was the only surefire way to keep Komugi completely safe.
Forty-five minutes had passed since they'd entered the ventilation system, and dawn would arrive in about an hour.
Pitou paused, and held up their fist.
Gon, Ryder, and Killua sat at attention. Through the grates of the ventilation system, a gaping cavern could be seen. The area was connected to several other tunnels, one of which Killua knew that he would have to take to get to Komugi. The others would fight down another, eventually arriving at a wall, where they would have to bust out for Ikalgo and Killua to pick them up.
Just as expected, from the tunnel leading to the prisoner's keep, came a patrol.
Pitou glanced back at the three males, their eyes glowing in the low lighting. Gon and Ryder's eyes glowed right back, with Killua's reflecting the light like a cat's. The four nodded.
Pitou, Gon, and Ryder would attack that patrol, taking out the obstacles standing before the passage to the prisoner's keep. Meanwhile, Killua would use Godspeed to sprint down the tunnel and save Komugi.
Pitou held up three fingers, and the patrol drew nearer. Killua cracked open a vial of his blood into his palm, as quietly as he could. Gon placed his hand on the hilt of his scythe, and Ryder drew a vial of Pitou's blood, the most powerful stuff they had.
Pitou lowered a finger, and they all braced.
Pitou lowered one more finger. Killua's hair floofed up as Godspeed activated, and Ryder's Ren bubbled up around him.
Pitou lowered their last finger, and all four of them exploded from the vent.
"Kill them!" Pitou screamed, loud enough for any and all Ants in the area to hear. The patrol froze in their tracks, startled by the sudden appearance of the enemy, as well as frozen for a moment by the combination of Pitou, Gon, and Ryder's combined hostile auras.
As the other three descended upon the unsuspecting group, Killua sped off down the tunnel from which they had come. He was too fast for them to notice, and the chaos the others were stirring up was behind him within seconds. Killua had a couple minutes of running to go, even while using Godspeed.
Marathon was designed to keep prisoners locked up, and locked up for good.
But that didn't matter. Interior design was no match for Killua.
He'd rescue Komugi shortly, however, he couldn't quite shake the feeling that something wasn't right…
…
Gon exploded from the vents, and descended upon the patrol. Pitou's battlecry echoed against the walls of the cavern, and with a swing up his scythe, all four Chimera's in the patrol were decapitated. Pitou and Ryder quickly stepped forward to crush their skulls, finishing the job.
"Perfect," Pitou said. One of their ears twitched, and a growl rose in Gon's throat when an ominous thundering echoed from every single tunnel, save for the one Killua had gone down. "They're coming," Pitou muttered.
"Damn, that's a shit ton of Ants," Ryder breathed.
"What did Pitou tell you?" Gon asked him, swinging his scythe up to rest it on his shoulder. "We already know we'd get swamped immediately. Don't act like you didn't expect this~"
Ryder rolled his eyes, "Please, I knew exactly what I was signing up for! You think a few Ants scare me? I'd fly my ship into the sun if it meant proving myself to Killua!"
Gon snorted. "Please, I don't see why you bother. Killua's mine–"
"-Boys," Pitou interrupted.
The two trouble makers snapped to attention.
"Act like we're descending the hallway towards the prisoner's keep, we can't let them know that Killua is already on the way," Pitou instructed.
"Right!" Gon and Ryder chirped in unison. The three of them slowly turned, and acted as if they were heading down the hallway towards Komugi.
But, just as planned, before they could take their first steps, several Squadron Leaders burst into the cavern.
"Stop right there!" One of them yelled.
Gon, Ryder, and Pitou whipped around, pretending to be caught off guard. One Ant, a cheetah patterned one with magenta hair, stood in front of the others.
"Neferpitou," he said with a wild grin. "I had a feeling I'd find you here. What's this you have with you? Two humanoids from Overworld? Is this the Zodiac and the Demon we were told about?"
"Cheetu," Pitou said dully, standing sideways and holding one arm up before them. Gon and Ryder flanked the Royal Guard, and readied their weapons.
"Are you stupid?" snorted another Chimera, this one with half the body of a horse and the tongue of a snake. He scented the air with his tongue. "There's no way these two shrimps are Zodiac material, and they're definitely not Demons. They reek of mixed blood. They're hybrids."
"What?" Cheetu gasped, quickly looking from the horse-snake-guy to Pitou's group and back again. "Seriously?!" He cracked up laughing. "Lord Neferpitou, you've lowered your standards since the last time we met! What, has being forced not to eat the Outling all this time given you a taste for hybrids?"
A growl rose up in Gon's throat, and he could sense Ryder's rising hostility. These Ants, Cheetu and the other guy, were looking down on Ryder and Gon for being hybrids. Gon was used to this type of crap, but that didn't mean it wouldn't stop pissing him off. Especially coming from Chimera Ants, who were literally born from the flesh of dozens of different species thrown together at random.
"Yunju," Pitou said, voice empty and emotionless. "It seems you're just as vulgar as I remember. Where are Mosquito and Centipede? Are you fighting your own battles this day?"
The snake-horse-guy snarled, baring his teeth. His aura flared, and a shiver ran up Gon's spine in response. "Shut the hell up, traitor," Yunju hissed.
Pitou's tail flicked, the only indication of their smugness. "Ah, I seem to remember what became of Mosquito and Centipede. They didn't make it out of Mohenjo-Daro, did they?"
Gon didn't know where Mohenjo-Daro was, but Pitou's words caused Yunju to bristle. The soldier Ants at his back reacted to his anger, and squirmed and growled in preparation for battle.
"You have no place acting so confident," Cheetu announced. Just then, the tunnels behind and around Pitou, Gon, and Ryder filled to the brim with Chimera Ants. They were entirely surrounded. "You never should have come here, didn't you know that it would be a trap?" Cheetu cracked a laugh.
"If I was able to defeat you countless times before, Yunju," Pitou taunted. "Then I'll do it again. You seem to forget one crucial factor. I fight on behalf of the King. And you no longer have your subordinates to hide behind."
"If anyone hides behind his subordinates," came a bemused female voice from behind Pitou's group, "It's the King himself."
Pitou's ear rotated backwards, and Gon glanced over his shoulder to find a female Chimera Ant with pale purple skin and a haughty smirk. A violent spark shuddered up his spine. It was similar to the spark when he'd first laid eyes on Pitou, but this time it was different. This Ant felt familiar for some reason, but Gon didn't know why.
"Be careful around that one," Pitou muttered under their breath. "She holds the blood of the Unseelie Queen. She was born of the body of an Unseelie Princess that our Queen consumed."
Gon narrowed his eyes. He didn't like this female Ant for some reason… and he didn't understand why. For some reason… she felt like a threat. A different type of threat than the one at hand, though. He flicked his eyes down to the floor behind her legs, for some reason feeling pleased when no tail lay behind her.
Wait, why do I care about that? What does a tail have to do with anything?
Gon shook his head, clearing these strange thoughts from his mind. He didn't have time to think of stuff like this,
He was on a mission right now, and he couldn't afford to be distracted.
"The lot of you must be fools," another Ant sneered, this one resembling an armadillo. "Do you really think you can defeat all of us? Today we will not only get the better of the King and his sweet blooded whore, but we will also defeat the great Neferpitou!"
Gon narrowed his eyes. He didn't like this guy talking about Komugi like that. "He's mine," the hybrid snarled. Ryder nodded, and Pitou flicked the tip of their tail.
"It's adorable that you think you have the upper hand," Ryder taunted. He pointed one of his swords at Cheetu, using the motion to distract the eye as he swiftly placed the vial of Pitou's blood between his teeth. "Tell me, have you ever taken the time to think about gravity? It's kinda like having a fat dick. You take it for granted until someone chops it off~"
Cheetu's eyes narrowed in confusion, "What the hell–"
Ryder's Ren flared, and he swiftly busted the vial of Pitou's blood open with his teeth. Before any of the Ants could notice or react to the vial of powerful blood in Ryder's mouth, a strong wave of Magical aura exploded out from him, and Cheetu's eyes widened in horror when he realized that it was too late. The Ant's braced for some sort of blast, familiar with the workings of Blood Magic thanks to Meruem and other high ranked Ants.
However, none of them could have been prepared for Ryder's strange ability. "Zero Hour!" the purple skinned male announced with a sneer, and just like that all gravity within a 150 foot radius of the guy vanished entirely.
…
"Good luck to the three of you."
Ging glanced into the cockpit to where Ikalgo was perched in his seat. The man grinned at the Ant, "Thanks anyways, but it's not like we're gonna need it."
Pariston sighed, and grinned that stupid sparkling grin. "I wouldn't be so smug, if I were you. It's saying things like that that gets you into so much trouble."
"Shut up, Demon," Ging drawled, adjusting the blocky gauntlets around his wrists.
"I have to agree with the Zodiac," Pouf said. "We have no such need for superstitions like luck and premonition. The King is counting on us. It doesn't matter if luck is not on our side, for we have a duty to uphold. Lord Meruem is depending on me, and I will not let him down again."
Ging rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Save the drooling for after the battle, 'kay?"
Pouf narrowed his eyes, and then tossed his head with a "hmph."
Ikalgo passed over the enormous hill bordering the Grand Palace of Gorteau. Ging glanced absentmindedly out the window. There were a shit ton of tents down there, but he could see that a great lot of them were empty. An intimidation tactic. There were a lot of tents, but not enough soldiers to fill them up.
The King was cutting things pretty damn close.
But hey, Ging can't complain. He's getting paid for this, isn't he?
"Ready?" the Zodiac asked the two blondes.
"Let us join the King," Pouf answered.
"Paris?" Ging prompted.
The Demon smiled, his mouth stretching just a little too wide for comfort. His red eyes flashed, and he lowered to a crouch in the floor of the neck of the ship. Ikalgo saluted the three males, and the door to the cockpit slid closed.
The glamor disguising Pariston shivered as he held his palm flat over the floor of the ship. The air around him shimmered like a heat haze, and an intricate pentagram glowed to life beneath his palm.
An uncomfortable feeling slicked its way up Ging's spine, but he was accustomed to Pariston's freaky ass Demon magic by now.
Just as Ikalgo's ship passed over Meruem's perch atop the hill, Pariston's magic opened a portal that passed through the floor of the ship, and opened up on the ground behind the King.
Ging and Pouf hopped wordlessly into the portal, and Pariston followed along with a sinister grin, the gateway closing up behind him with nothing more than glowing red sparks left in its wake.