H x H Fraternal Twins- Chapter 29: Preparing for battle.
Inside the base of Vince Bodoudai, rooms full of soldiers stood in rows in front of the evil scientist himself. The blonde's hands stuffed in his pockets, medical mask covered his mouth and gleaming red orbs glued to the combatants. On his side, stood General Servine Allarie, as usual...his head was wrapped with that bandaging, not one strand of hair poking out. "Men, I have woke you up this early because the enemy is soon to come at our doorstep." Vince announce, before swatting his arm out to his side vertically. "Warn everyone else about the attack, we all need to prepare and wake up!" He finished, watching all the half asleep fighters before him. With his words, the soldiers nodded with groans of acknowledgment. They marched out of the room, chatting amongst themselves and complaining of how early it was.
Allarie turned toward his Leader, knelt on one knee and held his head down. "My Lord, tell me... When are we to expect them to attack?" He asked muscly, waiting for his Leader to respond. Silence met both of their ears, until the said blonde broke it.
"Obviously before dawn... If I know Netero correctly, he would pick the time where everyone is at their weakest, giving his side more of a chance to win. If he chose night, everyone would be too grumpy and still have energy left for the war...yearning to go to bed. Morning, everyone will be too tired to move right away, their brain cannot function properly after first waking up. Before dawn...everyone is half asleep, reducing their awareness and thinking process. Having them wake up at this hour before dawn, will give them a little bit to wake up more... Thus, Netero's plan will clearly fail, in trying to catch us off guard when we are at our most vulnerable." Vince replied easily, as if he had reviewed his methods over and over.
Allarie sat there, understanding his motives now. He stood, bowed then straightened back up. "As brilliant as ever, Lord Vince.~Shall we watch for them, at the peak of your base?" He asked, making Bodoudai avert his head toward the exit of the room.
"Yes, it would be wise. A keen eye on the lookout is preferred, seeing that it is Netero and his army we are watching for. Lend me on of your corn cockle flowers, so we may communicate...it will take away the time needed, when you need to find me and inform me." Twas all his Leader said in return. The General nodded, gradually paced over to Vince and popped out his purple flower. He handed it to Bodoudai, only to have him take it and place it in the pocket of his lab coat.
"I shall tell you when they arrive, Sir Vince Bodoudai.~" He said whilst bowing to his waist, then vanished from sight and leaving the blonde alone in the room.
Vince just remained in his spot, having hidden thoughts about Servine. "Hm-hm-hm-hm-hm... Dear Allarie, it's a shame...really...that you have forgotten who your family was. If you found out, you would be devastated... Your loyalty is important to me, Servine...so, I won't let you find out until you've become disposable." He mentally spoke, chuckling to himself; He too, left the room.
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Out near the ocean's edge, countless boats resided on top the water. Every one of them are filled with war combatants, some looked like mercenaries, rookies, rogues, everyday civilians and forest dwellers; While everyone else, appeared as if they got out of a war already... Big burly men with beards, muscles, scars and unkempt hair littered about the boat. Ruby, Hisoka, Rui, illumi, Sikiyona, Black Shifter, Neon and the rest of the Zoldyck family stood in the same area as each other; Not wanting to lose sight, in case they couldn't find one another.
Ruby looked so tired, Rui didn't look fazed by the sleepiness, Milluki looked like he was about to pass out and Hisoka...was out cold on Ruby's shoulder. Sikiyona stood close to Zeno, neither of them tow appeared effected by lack of sleep. Silva wasn't fazed at all, though Kikyo was. His wife's back was leaned against the railings, on the side of the ship...sleeping. Illumi acted like nothing was wrong, he just sat next to Rui who was playing with a couple of flies. Cheadle Yorkshire was sleeping on a bench, next to Neon and Black shifter.
Both partners, weren't effect by the lack of sleep. Neon kept staring at Milluki, blushing profusely and unaware that Shifter saw her. He shook his head at her, understanding that she liked the boy. Milluki and her both looked about the same age, thus he gave her a gentle shove on her back. Feeling a force push her forward, Neon looked behind her and seen her partner nod once, gesturing for her to go talk to the boy. "Thank you, Shifter!" She beamed with the most beautiful smile and flushed cheeks ever, bowing in appreciation.
"Take your time, it'll be a while before we get to the Island... I advise you tell him how you feel, I've noticed you would talk to him over your computer. Your face would be red, every time you were in some sort of chat room with him." Hearing his words, Neon began to panic, comically sweat, turn tomato red in the face and stutter in her voice.
"W-w-w-when did you s-see that?!" She thought she was being stealthy with talking to him, via internet. She rose her hands and frantically shook them in defense.
"It was when I passed your office one day, you were on your computer typing up a storm. When you left to go see what Sir Netero needed, after him calling for you over the com... I looked on your screen and Milluki was in the chat room with you." He explained, making Neon lower her head in shame. "Now, go on. Be best to tell him now, then to wait it out after the war. If he dies or you die, you would regret not ever telling him how you've felt, ever since you saw him. You love him, don't you?" He asked, seeing her nod shyly, he sighed and patted her head softly. "Then go, stop wasting time and go talk to the boy..." She nodded once more, turned around and dashed over to Milluki.
"Ever since I met Harris, he's acted like a father to me...when business wasn't between us. At times, I would accidentally call him father haha!~" Neon, aka Nomu Kohiri, mentioned in her head. Running up to Milluki, his back was to her and didn't notice her behind him. She took a head breath, face red and hands now clasped in front. She felt so nervous, she could feel her heart beating so fast that she feared it would burst out of her chest.
Milluki heard someone behind him, he turned his cold gaze over his shoulder and soon got smothered in the face by blushes. He seen Nomu, acting nervous and not realizing that he was looking at her. "S-SH'ES NERVOUS?!" He mentally gasped, not used to someone acting like that around him when it involves 'love'.
"M-M-Milluki... I-I..." Nomu kept stuttering, not looking him in the eyes. "HIS EYES ARE SO ATTRACTIVE, EEEEEE! I CAN'T I CAN'T LOOK AT HIM!" She voiced in her mind, she felt overwhelmed by his gaze.
It was Milluki's turn to get overwhelmed, he got ran over by her cuteness. He loved how shy she was around him and every time she would look in his eyes, she'd turn her head away with a innocent smile. "Hm...?" He questioned, knowing full well that she was trying to confess. He knew this, since he watched so many anime in his room about a girl having trouble confessing. "You like...me?" Is question made Nomu freeze in embarrassment.
"How did he...-?" She panicked in her head, hazel eyes as wide as ever. She decide not to ask about it, she simply nodded shyly and continued to keep her orbs off his. "I-I... I... L-Love...you!" She faced him now, clenching her fists and making Milluki's features go shocked. Seeing that she wasn't lying, he thought no one would 'like' him that way. Her sweet and soft voice rung through his ears, after hearing those words.
He was so much taller than her, he found it cute that she was so tiny but, never expected for her to like him back..."I-..." He was about to say, until he stopped and looked straight into her hopeful peers. He looked forward, kissed her forehead and finished. "Love you too, Nomu... When we first saw each other, I ran because...well, it's not cause that you asked me to...it's...because, I thought I had saw an anime girl in front of me... You look like one, at least..." His face was so dark red out of embarrassment, that he thought it would pop. Now Nomu's face was the same color as his, deep red.
"He kissed me! HE KISSED ME! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" She mentally squealed, animated hearts flown above her head and popped lightly as he got a ways above her. He had covered her features with her tiny palms, trying to hide her face.
From the distance, Shifter or...Harris as Nomu called him, kept shaking his head left and right. "Looks like he loved her back, after all that time of her being too scared to tell him... All she needed, was a little push. I swear, sometimes I think of her as my own kid... Me being thirty four years old, I should be a father by now anyway. Huuuuuh..." Shifter depressingly sighed in the end, after talking to himself in his mind. "I feels like just yesterday, that Netero introduced me to her."
Over to the twins, Ruby moved her irises over to see Hisoka. He was still asleep on her shoulder, though feeling his muscled arm against hers, made her face flush. She kept a stoic expression, not wanting to show how much she actually liked the feeling. Every time she'd feel his arms on her, she could feel his muscle too and it would always tend to get to her. She leaned her head on his, shut her lids and fell asleep on him too. From afar, Rui noticed it and started cooing dramatically over how cute they were.
"One-san is so adorable! Illumi-kun, look! Aren't they just the cutest couple?!" She screamed out, her eyes closed and hearts fluttered above her head. Illumi looked over and seen Hisoka sleeping on her, as well her sleeping on him. In mid of her antic, he got behind her and sat down. Looking up to her, he grabbed her waist and pulled her down into his lap, making her gasp in surprise. "Illumi-kun?!" She shouted, with her face as red as ever. He held on to her tightly, refusing to let her go. Getting close to her neck, she felt his breath on her and made her heart thump hard. "I-Ilumi-k-kun..." She mumbled, she was never expecting him to do this! Illumi, the one man that would NEVER express emotion...let alone feel them, shown affection to her.
"Perhaps Hisoka was right... He told me that doing this, is considered 'Romance'... The way she is acting, I can tell that it is to her liking... She tends to stiffen when I put my face in her neck...or my face close to her skin, it is quite odd..." He mentally stated. He wore a black vest that was buttoned up, with a long shirt underneath. His attire looked completely different, than the green one he always wore. His family not too far away, watched in astonish. Silva and Zeno both had widened eyes, they never seen him act in such a way.
Hisoka slowly opened his lids, hearing soft inhales and exhales on top his head. He smiled to himself, at knowing she fell asleep on him and used his hand to hold her head up. He moved his head out of the way, with his palm on the side of her scalp. Staring at her, he gazed upon her sleeping face then rolled his irises down to her lips. Inching closer and closer, tempted to kiss her dark red lips. Unfortunately, the said hawk twin groaned in her sleep, gradually opened her peers and came in face to face with her lover. Before she could even react, he stole that kiss he was so eager to take.
Her lids widened, pupils shrunk and reality came back to her instantly. She shut her gaze, accepting it. She was getting used to his contact, unlike before when she'd try and abuse the poor joker. He backed his head away, looked into her hawk irises after she opened them and smirked slightly. "You're getting used to it...~ It's about time, my sweet gem~" He mused, liking the fact that she's gotten more comfortable with him.
"I-It's...I... J-Just... Shut it..." She kept stumbling over her speech, with blood rushing to her head and making her look away. A frown and squinted lids evident on her features. Her reaction caused the joker to laugh, he loved that about her.
"now and always will be, my dearest Tsundere Ruby!~" He admitted with light laughter, amused by her embarrassment.
"I- I said shut it!" She barked, white comical angry eyes looking his way. He laughed more, louder in fact. "W-why...did you...n-never mind..." She said, trying to figure out why he had kissed her in public.
He stopped laughing and peered over at her, feeling accomplished once more. "I haven't kissed you in so long, Ruby...~ Better to cherish what time we have, before we head out into battle. The fight and plans will be on our minds too much and will leave hardly any room for affections..." He said in reply, making Ruby grow a distant look in her eyes.
"He's right... When it comes to war, things must be taken seriously... Relationship stuff can't be in there, until after it ends..." She muttered in her head, thinking about the lack of contact she'll have with him, being separate from Rui, having to fight literally to the death and seeing all kinds of people die in the war. "My sweet... If you over think things, you'll stress yourself out~ You're worried about your sister and losing us both, in the war. I know you way more than you realize.~" He heard him speak, her mouth still flat but her lids widened a bit. "I do have a surprise for you, afterwords. Illumi and I both conversed together, discussing something really important. He and I decided to surprise you and your sister with it, after the war ends...I know you'll love it~" He stated, making her flush faintly. "That's one thing you can look forward to, during the war...~"
She nodded, a slight smile on her lips as she looked down at the space before her. "Alright... I'm looking forward to it, thanks..." She said, having her orbs lock with his. Someone yelled from afar, both her and the joker...along with everyone on the boat, peered at who it was.
"ALRIGHT EVERYONE, WE'RE ABOUT TO TAKE OFF! GET READY, IT'LL TAKE AN HOUR BEFORE WE GET THERE! BE SURE THATYOU HAVE GIVEN YOUR FAMILIES AND FRIENDS YOUR FAREWELLS, THE PEOPLE ARE PROUD TO KNOW YOU ALL WILL FIGHT FOR MAN KIND! NOW, ENJOY WHAT TIME YOU'VE GOT LEFT FOLKS!" A tall man that stood close to seven feet, shouted. He was shirtless and covered in big muscles, had shoulder length blonde hair, tan skin and a beard that hardly extended past his neck. A tattoo was shown on his shoulder, a braid on one side of his head that dangled past his cheek and long baggy pants. He wore brown sandals and his trousers were black. "IF ANY OF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS, COME TO ME; I AM CHONZ IVAN!" He stated, the scene showing his fierce green eyes. Slight wrinkles adorned his face, giving his age away.
The sound of a horn went off and the boat started moving. Chonz walked out of the view, pacing towards Netero who stood close to a weapons crate. The boat was the size of a cruise ship, filled with weapon crates, food crates, cooks that would fry up anything for a soldier and healers that sat in the sidelines. The flooring was made of tan colored wood, which appeared polished and shined like marble. "The...hell...?" Ruby's voice echoed, scanning the many people that resided on the boat. She only passed out for a couple minutes and now...it had way more people in it! "Gang leaders, prisoners...punks?! Why are there so many bad people on the boat?!" She yelled out and stood up, only to be patted on her shoulder. On her side, stood Netero and Chonz.
"Of course! They may be bad people but, they'll fight to stay alive you know! Their own race is being threatened, so of course they're gonna join us Ruby, haha!" The elder chirped, shut his lids and smiled. Chonz, who neared seven feet tall, reached a hand out to her for an introduction.
"I'm Chonz Ivan, nice to me you Ruby! Netero told me about you and your twin, I was shocked to hear about what happened..." Ruby stared at his out stretched hand, hesitantly reaching for it. They both issued a hand shake, with Hisoka stepping closer to her from behind. "Ah- and you must be Hisoka Schwing!" He offered his hand over to the man, in hopes of another hand shake.
"Indeed...~ I heard from Netero, that your a championship wrestler and a previous war hero." He stated, Ruby looked at them both. "Strange, I sense caution in him...as if Chonz was an enemy. Though, we're talking about 'Hisoka' here... He could have many things running in his mind, to make him cautious like that. Hell for all I know, he could be cautious about how Chonz will act around me..." She mentally said, before Hisoka's sharp gaze met hers.
"Yeah I am, Netero and I go way back too... He seen my many victories as a wrestler, haha!" He laughed, soon Netero intervened and said- "We better head off!~ I have a lot of things I need to discuss with Chonz, enjoy your remaining time!~" He laughed and walked off, having Chonz follow behind with a friendly smile plastered.
Ruby quirked a brow at the guy, then looked back over to her lover. "Hey... What was up with your 'caution'?" She asked, only to get kissed out of the blue by him and get smirked at.
"Because, I wanted to show who you belonged to.~ Even if it is an old man, I'll keep my Ruby-gem unscathed...~" He said, making the bird twin blush deeply; He really did care about her.
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An hour had passed, all the boats docked at the oceans edge on the island. Everyone that attended in the fight, became awestruck by the massive size of Vince's base. It could be seen from miles away! The base was vast but, not as big as the island itself. The whole island was nothing but sand and cliffs, not even hiding the base! The sun was barely up, not enough to call it morning.
It was still dark out, too and the chill of the wind that billowed everyone made them shiver. The base looked like some big black factory, two long cylinder towers in the base reached out to the sky a long ways. Smoke could be seen wafting out from the top, making a volcanic looking fog above.
It was dark, yet the land could be seen easily. Light barely illuminated the surroundings but, just enough so the enemy could be spotted. "ALL SOLDIERS WHO FIGH ON THE FRONT LINES, FOLLOW ME! HISOKA, RUBY, BLACK SHIFTER, RUI, ILLUMI AND ZENO; YOU ALL GATHER OVER HERE CLOSE TO THE SOLDIERS AND PICK MEN TO JOIN YOUR INFILTRATION!" Chonz demanded, having the said people walk over to the ridiculously large amount of men. Ruby, Hisoka and Shifter were the first to pick.
Shifter, being the most trained in combat, stepped ahead of Hisoka and Ruby. He looked at them all, contemplating about who would be preferred to join. "Ruby, I believe we should have about ten soldiers with us, not counting ourselves." He said, making the said hawk twin nod and step up to his side. Her piercing orbs scanned the many fighters before her, sensing out their emotions.
She sensed about five men with confidence and the urge to fight. Raising a finger, she pointed to each of those five soldiers, gesturing for them to join. "Alright, the rest of you... I'll let either Hisoka or Shifter here to decide, rather you are good enough to fight. I'm not that good at tell who's strong and who's not, I'm only good at sensing your emotions..." She turned and faced the said two, now passing Harris.
Hisoka watched from behind Shifter, who remained in his spot. "Alright everyone, release your nen! Let me see how strong your auras are!" Harris shouted, making the men in front of him disperse their nen. Hisoka smiled at them, they had god auras but..some were stronger than the others. He walked up by Shifter, took out one hand from his pocket and pointed to the next five combatants. "You five are stronger, I would love for you to join us~" He mused, seeing them look at each other and back at the joker. They nodded and joined their side, having Hisoka look over at Ruby from the behind him.
She nodded, stoically gazing at his orbs. "NEXT, RUI, ILLUMI AND ZENO! YOU THREE PICK YOUR MEN!" The said people walked up to Ruby's group, Rui watched her twin pass her by and read her emotional aura. "She's scared...but confident too. Worry fills her also, probably over the selected men, Hisoka and I... No... Everyone... She's worried about everyone here, she's not the halfhearted type to only worry about certain people... Ne-san..." Rui mused in her head, knitting her brows together in concern. She only got one glance from her twin, they were full of thoughts and concern.
They stopped and stood in front of the same large group, Her twin and her lover once faced. Rui and Illumi both stood by each other, gazing at the many fighters that was left. "Rui, read their auras...I'll judge their strength." Illumi said, making her looked up at the blackette. She nodded, looked back over and viewed their colors. Zeno on the other hand, spotted quite a few strong combatants and walked up to the two. "He pointed to eight people, saying "You will join us, stand here please..."
The selected eight, walked past the old man and began conversing to one another. "Illumi-kun... I see about, six others who are strong willed and practically fearless!" She said and pointed out to the said six guys. Illumi looked at them, then paced himself over. "Show us your nen..." He demanded, with his emotionless gaze. As if on que, the said six did exactly that. Turns out they all had great nen, good enough to fight to say the least. He nodded and turned to walk back over to Rui, using his index finger to gesture them over. "I believe we have enough, Rui..." He said as he stood in front of his lover. She nodded, her face no longer that happy and care free feature.
NOW THEN, THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE RANGED FIGHTERS, GO TO SIKIYONA AND SILVA! THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE ENHANCERS, JOIN SIR NETERO AND I! THE INFILTRATION LEADERS, COEM TO ME, I HAVE EAR PIECES FOR YOU!" He announced, having them make their way over. The twins stood side by side, while Hisoka, Illumi and Zeno all stood behind them. "Here you are... Rui, your team will be communicating with Cheadle Yorkshire." Chonz handed Rui, Illumi and Zeno their communication ear pieces. He faced Ruby's team now and handed them theirs. "Ruby, your team will communicate with Milluki Zoldyck, the two coordinators will be in hiding, so they won't get harmed by the war..." He said, having them all nod.
"Now... Where do we go from here, since we picked out our soldiers?~" Hisoka asked Chonz, making the said man break contact with Ruby.
"Ah, forgive me! I failed to inform you that! Once the enemy is distracted by our ranged attackers, we'll need Ruby to take care of the flying combatants that threaten us. Rui, since you can fly too, why not help your twin out? It'll make things go faster. Once the sky soldiers are taken care of, Netero will let you know when to sneak around the battle field. You all must stay hidden until further notice, so that way the enemy side can't spot you and point you out! They'll also be just as distracted by our enhancers and ranged nen users, to even notice anything or anyone else out of the ordinary." He explained, a stern feature evident on him.
"Ok... Where do we wait then?" Zeno asked from behind Ruby, catching Chonz's attention.
"You will hide under the cliff sides, on the side of island. Milluki and Cheadle will both give word from Netero, when to sneak around the island and get into those routes! Make sure you blend in with your surroundings, within the bushes that on the cliff sides. Cover up any tracks left in the sand, mask your scent and hide your nen from being detected by others! Don't forget, the enemy side are nen users as well, not just your everyday soldiers. Now...dismissed!" He finished, making the Leaders vanish. All but Hisoka, Ruby, Illumi and Rui stood there. Zeno went ahead and scoped for a good hiding spot, or so Illumi figured. The men had followed Zeno, too.
Let's go, Ruby gem~" He said with a passive smirk. She nodded, faced Hisoka and flew into the air. "No! Don't fly yet... You must stay on foot, if you wanna remain hidden!" With Chonz's words, she fluttered down to land and nodded.
"Hisoka, for us to catch up to Zeno, you'll have to carry me. I'm not as fast as Rui or Illumi." Without any warning, Hisoka picked her up and made gasp. He vanished out of sight, leaving the other two behind. "Illumi-kun! Let's go!" She fluttered her wings at blinding speed, just an inch above the ground. He nodded then he too disappeared, followed along Rui.