A/N- I am so so so so so so so so so(etc, etc. for 1,000 characters) sorry for the long wait. Thanks for all the reviews. I do see them but I have no clue at messaging back, so here's just a general, broad thanks for all the support! Seriously, it's almost ridiculous how many people have faved/followed this. I was kind of losing my grip on the plot of this story. I had it all nicely written out, but then I had to go and lose it. And OF COURSE this happened to be around the same time I was struggling with balancing my schoolwork and extracurricular activities, so I was so stressed out that I completely forgot about all my ideas. I'm bad, yadda yadda yadda, I fail at life, yadda yadda yadda, I'm reminding myself of Schnitzel from Chowder, radda radda. But enough with the excuses and the pity party! You came here for the writing below not up here! And I think you'll be happy to know, I've basically worked out the plot now! So, dear strange people of the interwebs, I now (not so)proudly present to you, the illustriously rushed and jumbled CHAPTER THREE!

Wow I'm going to be surprised if someone bothered to read all that… R&R! I made this one extra long just for you!

CH 3

Killua's brain took a second to register what exactly was happening. The middle schoolers he had been tailing went down that alleyway. The rough older kids who seemed to have serious issues with more privileged people had run the same way. And, despite their claims of being assassins and the undeniably dangerous aura surrounding a few key members of the group, he doubted that the former would win in a fight against the ladder. Killua was torn on whether to follow them(whether to observe their skills or to help he wasn't sure) or to keep walking on his merry way until he found other kids with the same uniform. Sighing, he silently and slowly approached the alleyway, using a technique he'd learned prior to nen in order to hide his presence. Just before reaching the mouth of the alley, Killua stopped dead in his tracks. Fear gripped him like a vice, and he couldn't move a muscle. It couldn't be. No. They were in a different world, and all of them (all the malicious ones at least) were dead.

His eyes frantically searched out the source of this all too familiar aura. It was completely impossible there would still be any of them powerful enough to send out such a dangerous, poisonous aura, let alone in a world completely devoid of Nen. Yet Killua was positive that it couldn't be anything else. Chimera Ants.

After being released from his initial paralyzing shock and fear, Killua worked his mind over frantically for any way that he, no they, could survive. He was the only one who had ever fought an ant before, so it wasn't only his life at stake but everyone in this world's as well. He musn't rush into things. This power he was sensing rivaled that of the King and all of the Royal Guard combined, and he was now bereft of his Godspeed power. He was barely able to stop a second-tier guard, with his Godspeed, so it was painstakingly clear that he was in way over his head. Could he somehow trick it? He knew that some of these ants were more human than others, that some had compassion and emotional attachments, so if this one did, he was sure he could find some way to kill it, or better, turn it to his side.

If not, though… if this was one of the mindless killers… this place would be razed to the ground in a matter of days. It's actually quite a wonder there aren't news broadcasts everywhere detailing an enormous body count, at least none that Killua had seen. The lack of alarm among the general public lent to the theory of a kinder one. But then again, it could just be smart, which was only about 100 times more terrifying. While Killua was trapped in his musings, the presence grew ever closer… but something was off…

Oh crap. The people in the alley. He couldn't sense them anymore. Closing the last 10 feet of distance between himself and the gap between buildings, he rounded the corner at a frantic, almost breakneck speed. A sigh of relief escaped him when he saw a majority of the middle schoolers unconscious on the floor, the highschoolers gone and with them, most likely, the missing female members of the party. Just a minor kidnapping. No ants. This was something Killua could deal with; average human crimes were well within his comfort zone.

He approached the redhead he noticed earlier, who was already beginning to come to. As the boy sat up, his eyes scanned the alley for potential threat, widening almost imperceptibly with a mixture of suspicion and bemusement when they landed on him. Killua stared at the boy, allowing him to sense his power if he had the perception. He wasn't disappointed.

"Who are you?" the redhead asked with a smirk. Killua stared, impassive, waiting. "I can tell from over here you could rip us all apart without breaking a sweat. You're an assassin, aren't you?"

Killua sighed. This guy's cockiness is going to test my patience. He extended an arm. "Killua."

"Akabane Karma," he replied, taking the offered hand and firmly shaking it before standing, "but I wasn't asking for a name. Are you here to kill us or our target?"

Definitely a pain, Killua thought. He scanned the rest of the group. Along with Karma, there was the blue haired kid, a black haired boy, and a girl with glasses and twin braids. No injuries, but the blue haired kid… Nagisa, he remembered… had an enourmously thick book under his arm. He reached down and picked it up. "Kunugigaoka Junior High School, Class 3-E - School Trip Guidebook" was scrawled across the red cover, according to his translator, along with a simple picture of one of the temples he'd seen while wandering around earlier.

"Neither. At least for the time being." he said in reply. Karma watched him examine the book with mild confusion before dropping back to the dirty concrete to rouse his classmates.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he mumbled.

"It means yes, I am…" Killua resisted the urge to say 'was', "an assassin. And not an amature like you either. I've killed more people than I can name. Granted, I don't know many people by name but… oh well, you understand. I don't have a target right now, and haven't for a while,so I'm not going to kill anyone... unless they really annoy me."

That last part was directed at Karma, But he didn't seem phased by the death threat. Instead, his grin grew wider as he replied with a menacing "I've fought pros before and won. Still, it's pretty cool to see a pro our age."

It was at this point Killua decided he should probably not leave any weapons out if he were to become associated with this guy. Waking up skinned was not a pleasant experience, definitely not one he wanted to re-live anyway. Seriously. He was broken out of his little memory when Nagisa started to wake up. The… boy?...girl?... oh well, in any case they sat up and rubbed their head, glancing over at Karma before starting to inquire what was happening. The question died on their lips when they made eye contact with Killua.

Blue met periwinkle and everything stopped. Nagisa and Killua both tensed as if they had been shocked. Killua knew there was something… off. This was impossible. From the other boy, for somehow Killua could tell now, he felt a bloodlust almost as familiar as his own, yet somehow completely foreign, as if he was looking at a clone with slight modifications. This indescribable killing intent, this talent, was buried beneath layers of apathy, joy, and anger, much like it was within himself. Nagisa stared back with the same emotion he was feeling mirrored on his face: utter, inexplicable shock.

"Nagisa. Nagisa! Hey, snap out of it!" Karma said, nudging his shoulder. The blue haired boy blinked and looked at his friend, then turned back to look at Killua with confusion.

"Ha-have I… met you somewhere before?" he asked.

"There is literally no way you could have…"Killua replied, but he himself was furiously trying to place where this random sense of familiarity came from. He was from a different dimension altogether. It was… actually, completely impossible. So why did he feel the urge to trust him? The ex-assassin was extremely careful with trust; in fact, he was probably the most wary person on the planet(either of them). He didn't trust anyone, with the exception of Alluka and Gon. Not his family, not any of his other "friends", save maybe Leorio(Kurapika had become very secretive lately). So why…? It felt like more mind control. The more he tried to fight the impulse, the stronger it became. Killua recalled Illumi's brainwashing, how he could do virtually nothing to override the urge to run away until he physically removed the offending block in his brain.

He briefly entertained the notion that this was Illumi's doing, that his brother programmed him to team up with the strongest like minded assassin he could find to assist him with his quest, but immediately scrapped the idea. For one, his brother's overprotectiveness was less the nature of helping him find assistance, and more that of a pet owner keeping their animals caged so they wouldn't come across anything that could potentially kill them. For two, Nagisa had the same reaction. There was no way he, too, could be controlled. But that still left the question of WHAT THE HELL WAS HAPPENING?

"Umm...right...uh...who are you?" Nagisa asked.

"I'm Killua. An assassin, but I'm sure you already know that."

"Ok, stop. Seriously, this sounds like the first meeting of the main characters of a cheesy romance movie. 'Have we met before?' 'Not that I know of' 'Who are you, dark and mysterious stranger?' 'I'm sure you already know that' 'Kyaaa, so mysterious! Kiss me, you fool!'"

"Karma shut up!" Nagisa rolled his eyes, then began to look around. "Huh? Where are Kayano and Kanzaki?"

"Oh, right! They were kidnapped by those high schoolers." Killua informed in a monotone voice.

"What?!" three voices called in unison

"Hey, look who's awake!" Karma called to the other two who were now very confused. After explaining yet again who Killua was (which never really happened all that well in the first place), they all crowded around the book. Luckily, there was an entire chapter written on What to do if a classmate is kidnapped. Lovely. Nagisa, who at this point Killua determined was definitely a guy("But I'm more concerned that they only took the girls","Ooh, but they left you~", "Stuff it, Karma, now's not the time.") read the chapter aloud for everyone else's benefit. Step 5 was call sensei.

Killua raised an eyebrow at the unfamiliar word and was in turn informed it meant 'teacher', which made all kinds of images pop into his head. A senior assassin? Someone like Wing or Bisky? A fat old guy chained to a wall screaming about calculous? Killua's idea of a 'sensei' was probably skewed a bit.

"Looks like we've got a rescue to execute!"

A/N- Soooooooo... It's clear to me that my time management sucks and I really should have written a few chapters ahead of what I'm going to post. I re-uploaded this chapter with some corrections and more details, so sorry- no new content yet. Good news, I will try to post a new chapter before Christmas. I'm a hellish author to follow, so sorry to all of you lovely people who did so regardless. It probably won't be forever before my next update... I hope. God, I'm flaky... R&R, and PLEASE don't hesitate to send me any ideas for things you want to see happening in this story- new plot points/scenes always welcome! Thanks, again.