A/N: Hey guys I'm back. My dear Guest, thank you for taking the time to read and review. Sorry it took so long as I was stuck in writer's block for a long, long time. To everyone else, thank you for reading this far.
Disclaimer: I do not own Hunter x Hunter.
CHAPTER 21
It was bright and sunny that day, making it feel perfect. A good day where everything is well and everyone feels lucky.
Since the auctions were already up, a lot of people has gathered from all over the world to take a chance on some prized items.
Included is the Phantom Troupe.
"That diamond ring interests me." a young woman said timidly. Her bespectacled eyes were trained on a ring which was being used as a prize at a conditional auction.
"That's not what we came for, Shizuku." a red-head berated the woman.
"It's not like we're doing anything anyway." Shizuku insisted, running off to participate in the auction.
"Hey-!"
"Let her be, Godfrei. She won't change her mind." A large hand landed on the girl's shoulder but she just shrugged it off and sighed.
The three stood there, waiting patiently for Shizuku to come back. It didn't take long before she returned, but she was empty-handed.
"Where's the ring?" a man with dirty-blonde hair with a tint of green asked her.
"I lost in arm wrestling." she answered nonchalantly.
"Even with your left hand?"
The dark-haired girl blinked cluelessly. "I used my right hand. He raised his right hand so I just sort of followed I guess. He's pretty strong though, for a boy."
Renée rolled her eyes at the woman and couldn't hide the snappiness in her voice, "Are you done? We need to get a move on. Shalnark, contact Machi, tell her to make sure Hisoka is there on time." The girl turned around and left.
The dirty-blonde huffed irritably, "Since when did she give orders?"
"The boss likes her, that's why." the monster-esque man said.
"That's a twisted reason." Shalnark frowned, typing away at his phone.
"Does that mean the boss doesn't like us, Franklin?" Shizuku butted in.
"I didn't say that. I just meant-"
"What're you guys doing? Hurry up!" Renée barked at them.
The trio sighed but trudged along with her. They walked until they reached the far edge of the city and then some.
They got to an abandoned construction site and each of them let out a spark of their nen as a sign of who they were. Calmly, the four walked in and saw that almost all of the members were already present.
Hisoka was the one missing.
It was hours before the jester arrived, not even feeling sorry for his actions.
'Inconsiderate bastard.' the red head thought angrily.
"Now that we are finally complete, it's time to start our own auction fun. The mafia dons are hosting a large underground auction tonight with different treasures. I want them. Take all the treasures and if anyone gets in your way, you have my permission to kill them." Chrollo said with that same calm smile.
"I do not wish to participate in your murders." Renée spoke up.
All eyes turned to her and she can see that the expressions in them were unkind.
"You're pulling my leg far too often, Renée, but alright. You won't participate in the killing. Instead, you will find the treasures and bring them to me as the others prove to be distractions and bait for the mafia. The authorities do not know your face yet, and we will use that to our advantage."
"We are distractions?" a large and buff man spoke up, a beer in his hand.
"You will all be the main characters of the show, Uvogin. She will merely work behind the stage. Don't worry, you'll get all the fun." their leader explained.
At this, Uvogin grinned and chuckled slightly, "Perfect."
That night, Renée sat uncomfortably in the crowd.
She looked around and saw different kinds of businessmen and some women. They were all to participate in the underground auctions.
Including her.
The 13-year old shifted slightly in her black dress, brushing away imaginary creases.
"Aren't you too young to be here?"
The red-head turned towards the voice and she saw a woman with an unusual hairdo and is scantily dressed.
"I just came with my father. I actually don't know where he is now." Renée replied sheepishly.
The woman looked at her in pity and crouched down to her level, "Is that so? My name is Baise. You are?"
"Renée!"
"What a mature name for such a cute girl. Well, Renée, do you want to sit next to me just until you find your father?"
The girl blushed a little before nodding her assent. The two walked back to their seats and Baise's partners noticed the extra company.
"Who's this?" a monkey-looking man with orange hair asked.
"This little one is Renée. She lost her father, the poor thing! Say hi to her, Tocino and Ivlenkov!" the woman gushed.
"Hm. Just make sure she doesn't cause us trouble. Who did you say your father was, kid?" another male asked her.
"Uh..." the red-head stammered, racking her brain for one mafia don. 'Goddammit I can't think! This guy is pissing me off! How he looks like a fatter Phinks is also irritating.'
"It must be one of them big shots. I mean there're plenty down here, which is pretty unusual considering this isn't really the main event." Baise answered for her, suddenly turning serious.
Renée glanced at the woman then reverted her gaze on-stage. 'That's because we put them here.'
Before long, Feitan and Franklin walked calmly towards the centerstage dressed smartly as hosts. The former grabbed onto the microphone and cleared his throat, "Good evening everyone. I apologise for the delay. Now would you please prepare to die."
The audience murmured in confusion, some in outrage.
"What the hell?" Ivlenkov exclaimed.
Franklin raised both his arms and the tips of his fingers fell off. Feitan covered his ears just in time as his companion shot out Nen bullets.
Chaos ensued as everyone tried to run away.
Renée crouched down for cover and Tocino hovered over her as he summoned his Nen people. They were easily outmatched and the monkey-man was killed instantly.
Abandoning all hope, Baise and Ivlenkov ran out the door, forgetting about the lost little girl on the floor. They immediately ran into Shizuku and were killed by Blinky, her Nen vacuum.
Feitan walked over to the crouched Renée who was still pretending to be scared.
"You're a bad actress. Though I'm mildly curious as to what you'll look like if you were really scared."
The red-head stood up and wiped her face from all expression. "Shut up, Feitan."
The man clicked his tongue angrily, "Just go do your job."
She did not need to be told twice and walked off towards backstage. As if she'd been there before, she managed to quickly weave her way around the corridors towards the vault. Using her Nen ability, she broke down the door.
However, when the dust cleared, she was in for a surprise. Renée took out her phone and dialled a number she knew all too well. "Chrollo, the treasure isn't here. It's been taken before I got here."
"Hm. They've taken steps. No matter. Get out of there before someone sees you. If you can, try to locate where the treasure is."
"Got it."
Her grey eyes scanned the inside of the vault and she concluded that it must have been a Nen ability as it was swept clean too fast. Using gyo, she saw that there was a trail of Nen left, though quite faint.
'Huh. That actually worked. Didn't think anyone was this sloppy.'
Wasting no more time, she followed the trail outside. The leaked aura led to the outskirts of the town, near the canyons, and Renée huffed in irritation.
"It had to be THAT far? Why not just hide nearby to make it easier for me?" she muttered under her breath as she jogged towards it.
Little did she know, a certain blonde had seen her get out of the auction building, wearing a formal dress no less. Curious as to what she was up to, Kurapika followed her along with his colleagues.
'Crap I lost sight of her. Then again, that led me to the Spiders.' the Kurta cursed in his head.
He wondered how she managed to coincidentally lead him to the Phantom Troupe but his thoughts were interrupted by Senritsu.
"I can hear that you are agitated. You must calm down and not do anything rash."
"I know." he sighed heavily.
The girl looked at him in worry, "That girl we were following, do you know her?"
Kurapika seemed surprised by this and memories of the Hunter Exam flooded his mind, especially during the Fifth Phase. "Yeah. She's a friend." he answered simply, knowing he can't lie to her.
She knew that it wasn't a complete answer but didn't pry any further.
Their eyes scanned the massacre before them. Uvogin was at the center of all the mafia's guards, not including them. They were shooting various guns at him but none pierced him, not even grazed him. They all died in a matter of seconds.
"What IS that thing?" their head, Dalzollene, asked incredulously.
"Spiders. Class A bounty. That one in the center is the muscle. The others are waiting on the cliff." the blonde answered in a clipped manner.
Suddenly, the ground beneath Uvogin erupted and something punched him in the face.
"Ow! That actually hurt!" he yelled.
"That was from me, a Shadow Beast. I am Worm."
The Spider looked at the grotesque figure weirdly as more members of the Shadow Beasts arrived. Uvogin grinned, knowing that he might actually get worthy opponents.
He responded by punching Worm, which made the Beast suffer greatly. In order to escape from the Spider, he grabbed his arm and retreated underground, pulling the other with him.
"What the fuck!?" he cried as he stopped himself from being completely buried.
"Hey Uvo!" Shalnark called from above the cliff. "Rogue 0 knows where the treasure is! Wrap this up!"
The said man grinned, "Gladly. Time for the Big Bang." Uvogin then punched the ground, creating a blast powerful enough that it formed a crater.
"He just killed that Shadow Beast." Dalzollene muttered in disbelief.
Kurapika balled his hands into a fist.
'Rogue 0?'
Meanwhile, Renée had already caught the Shadow Beast Owl.
He was the sloppy one that took the treasure, though she doesn't know how yet. She got off the phone after calling Shalnark and was deciding to go back to their base so that the Spiders could "deal" with Owl.
The red-head turned to her prisoner and was surprised that the Nen rope binding him had been broken. "Shit." she cursed as she ran off.
'How did I not sense it!? He's more skilled than he let on.' Renée caught a glimpse of a shadow and she quickened her pace towards it.
She saw Owl jump towards the main road and the red-head leapt to tackle him. She was able to do so but not before he used his Nen ability to capture the car the Spiders were in.
Fortunately for the Troupe, they got out.
All except Nobunaga.
The samurai Spider grunted as Renée and Owl tumbled on the ground.
Once stable, the girl swung back her fist and punched the Shadow Beast square on the face, instantly knocking him out.
The remaining Shadow Beasts came out and charged at her after seeing what she did. However they didn't get too close as Feitan and Machi immobilised them.
Seeing her attackers fall helplessly in front off her made Renée sick to the stomach. The longer she stayed here, the more her hands became dirty.
'I need to find a way out.'
Gon and Killua woke up early and followed Leorio towards an arena which is the fruit of their conditional auction.
Here, supposedly, they were to fight to earn big bucks. However, it was explained that it would be a search and capture mission instead.
The targets were the Phantom Troupe.
Killua examined the pictures of the targets one by one and the last one made his blood freeze.
Unable to speak, and clearly stumped, he wasn't able to warn Gon before the latter snatched the paper from him.
"Let me see! Hmm..."
"No... Gon-!"
It was too late.
The islander had seen it.
Anger was in his eyes and his Nen was starting to rise dangerously with his temper. The piece of paper in his hand crumpled as his fists shook uncontrollably.
"Killua, we're going after them."
The former assassin nodded, worry evident on his face.
Curious as to why they were tense all of a sudden, Leorio took a peek at what was on the offensive piece of paper. What he saw surprised him as well.
It was a picture of Renée with the caption "Dead or Alive".
END OF 21.
A/N: I'm sorry it's so lame. I just couldn't focus and though the York Shin arc is one of the interesting ones, I also feel lazy just by thinking on how to go about it. I'll try to be better. Please review!