The group meets Chimera Ants for the first time.

The group ran as if lives depended on them. Well, it was most likely the case given that they've already found the scene of one death. And it was also likely that there was a high chance the rulers of the underworld were also eradicated in the Chimera Ants' search for a food source to expand their army.

They might be able to nip the disaster in the bud if this is the first round of human-like Chimera Ants. If not, it's possible that there are towns that were already destroyed… places they never realised even existed.

Kite kept a hand pressed to his hat, the article flapping in the wind "It's safe to assume that the Chimera Ants have assumed control of NGL's interior." There was a pause, the man trying to think of the worst-case scenarios. Either way, human-chimeras are to be expected at this point "The question is if we reach their nest before the Queen births the King."

"Wait, you think she already has her army?"

Kite gave a nod, "If that scene was anything to go by, it's very likely she already does. Chimeras made entirely of animals wouldn't have the knowledge or know how to use a weapon. Unless, there's an intelligent magical beast involved. So, it's very likely that humans-chimeras were involved in the destruction of the underworld of NGL, now that I think about it…"

"Then, we need to reach the nest immediately?"

"Yes, preferably before the Queen starts making the Royal Guard, or preferably, before they're born." The group moved faster, disappearing into the forest.

"~"

They found a small town already ransacked, what remained of the place already in ruins. Raphael stopped at the border; eyes drawn towards the door swinging in the wind. His eyes drifted to another hut as the others searched the remaining buildings.

Blood stain marks trailed across the floor, leading out to the main square of the town. He bit his lips in frustration. Kite was right, the Underground leaders weren't the first to go. She's probably been going at it for weeks. He left the building, heading towards the others, "Is it the same for you? No remains?"

"Afraid so. It looks like the town had been ransacked days ago." Kite wiped his fingers across the edge of furniture, "It's not as dirty, so I would argue it's been no more than a week."

"Hmm…" Raphael groaned in agreement, his eyes shifting to a teddy bear on the floor. He picked it up, hoping that doing so would spark the attention of the owner. But all he was met with was eerie silence. They're taking kids as well? Nobody is safe…

"Something smells…"

The teen dropped the toy to leave the hut, now leaning on the frame to observe Gon "I don't smell anything, other than the stench of old bloodstains."

"This is fresh…" Gon pointed towards the forest line, "rancid. It's coming from over there."

"Are you sure? Cause nothing is wafting from that direction."

Killua frowned. He knows his friend wouldn't lie about anything like that. He's probably picking up a smell that they couldn't "Don't you remember. Gon has a sensitive sense of smell. We should probably check it out, just in case. There could be a roaming ant, or survivors if we're lucky."

The group followed Gon, stumbling across what looked like a ranch. Several posts were ripped from the ground, drag marks leading further into the forest "Horses?"

"Yeah, let's see where they lead."

"~"

They reached a clearing, horses impaled on a tree. Raphael covered his mouth from the site, the rancid smell of rotting horse meat assaulting his nose. He thought he'd gag from the smell alone, but unfortunately, he could stomach it.

The others however, were affected by the smell.

Mainly Gon. The boy was covering his nose. This was probably the cause of what he could smell earlier, which now made sense why he was covering his nose. Then the boy's eyes shifted to the tree, "Wait, isn't this a morning sacrifice?"

Raphael raised an eyebrow, "By what?"

Kite drew an eyebrow. It was a morning sacrifice, but by something much bigger than the species it originated from "I believe this is from a species called a Bull-headed Shirk. It's a ritual they normally practise, by impaling their prey on sharp objects, such as branches."

"Are you saying a bird did this?"

"Not, necessarily…"

"HEY!"

The boys' attention snapped towards the forest, seeing something waking out from the darkness of the forest. They got prepared for whatever was approaching them. But nothing prepared them for what greeted them.

"The fuck is that?" Killua called out, earning the ire of the creature.

Raphael raised an eyebrow "A bunny? I think…"

No, that wasn't right. They had a combination of features melded together into a single creature. Wings, probably from the Shirk, a body like a bunny, and a face that looked human-like.

So, this is what a Chimera Ant looked like…

Wait, why was it wearing a budgie smuggler? "Is that thing, wearing a budgie smuggler?"

Killua and Gon could only look at Raphael in confusion. They had no idea what a budgie smuggler was, but Killua could only guess, given the one article of clothing the ant was wearing… was a thong, "That's a THONG, not whatever you called it…"

The boy could only look at the other in confusion. It must be just a difference in language where they grew up "Not where I live. They-"

"SHUT UP…" The creature glared at them. It raised its finger, the tree shifting in preparation for an attack to come flying towards them. Instead, the monster held a finger out to point at the trees, "Trash." Its features shifted into a full-blown glare being levied at all of them, "Those are mine!"

"Uhh, we don't want your-"

The creature shifted, running towards them with zero warning. Raphael moved further from the creature, only for it to shift its attention to the others. It slammed its fist into Gon and Killua, knocking them both back.

This prompted Raphael to change gears, running towards the beast, slamming his fist against its chest. It didn't budge, the creature smiling as it swatted at the boy.

The need slid back, a small bruise against his cheek. What the fuck just happened? It managed to land a hit on him, yet suffered nothing in return. Chimera Ants were built much differently from other species… could it use a form of Nen, possibly Ten?

Wait, it also managed to sneak up on them. So Zetsu was a definite possibility.

"One of you made the right move…" Kite chastises the others, frowning after what transpired. All of them were hit, with none of them landing substantial damage on the beast. Kite moved towards one of the trees, holding his hand against it. This brought about rage, but when he let his aura seep out, showing a fraction of his Nen pressure, it backed off in response.

However, it didn't run away. "I trust that you three can deal with him yourselves." When that enraged the creature, Kite smirked in response, "What you're looking at is a Chimera Ant soldier. We will encounter many more like him. And if you can't deal with him…"

A small smile escaped the man's lips, "You should leave now. I won't be able to help you during combat."

"You'll be in my way…" Kite looked them in the eyes. They needed to learn the hard way that this won't be a casual stroll in the park. These were real threats, threats that managed to hurt them already "You'll just be in my way."

"In your way…" Killua threatens the man, now rubbing a finger to the underside of his nose. He grinned menacingly at the Chimera Ant, "You jest."

Gon could agree, rubbing a thumb to his bruised cheek, "We said we would help you. And we're not backing down."

Raphael agreed. Clearly the Chimera Ant has strengths surpassing normal human beings. They'd need to take the fight seriously, which means it'll just be a matter of simply overpowering the monster with their Nen "Payback is a bitch."

The ant found themselves pausing. They weren't that strong a second ago.

Killua and Raphael pulled up their sleeves, all three moving towards the Chimera Ant.

Both Killua and Gon failed to land a hit, each getting knocked back. But Raphael was more than prepared after his first bout with the beast.

He slammed his foot into their chest, merely knocking them back. He ran after it, bringing up his fist. But his hand came down hard on him. He felt the impact as he blocked the attack, the thrumming pain in his wrist.

With shaking hands, he clenched his fist, aura pulling around his right hand. He released one of his abilities, Mirage. A figure stepped out from the shadow to slam its fist into the surprised beast's face.

He came from the other side, kicking it in the shin. It got knocked down to his knee.

Raphael was forced to block their next attack. But in response he made his Mirage kick the beast across the back of the head.

Killua took the moment to prepare the next attack. Aura pooled into his fingertips, the light dispelling the Mirage.

He frowned. It seems his and Raphael's abilities were incompatible.

Seeing Killua preparing his attack, dismissing his Mirage, Raphael kicked off the creature's chest, stunning it briefly so he could get away.

Killua offered a sinister smile in response, releasing his aura right at the Chimera Ant, "Thunderbolt!"

A bolt of lightning struck the Chimera Ant, the creature letting out a cry of anguish.

Gon stepped in front of the beast while it was mobilised, aura pooling around his fist "First comes rock…" A surge of aura expanded around his fist, "Rock… Paper…" Gon slammed his fist into the creature's wide-open chest, launching it up into the sky.

Raphael ran towards the beast, "I'll finish it." He leapt into the air, prepared to spike it back into the ground.

But he was knocked aside by something that flew towards him. He barely had time to react, his arm being brought up to block the unknown attacker.

Landing on the ground he prepared himself for another attack, however, he merely caught a glance of another Chimera Ant carrying away their first target.

Raphael grits his teeth, "The bastard had an ally watching us…"

"YOU FUCKIN' BASTARDS!" The Chimera Ant screamed down at them, the three forced to cover their ears, "I'm going to make sure I eat you! You better remember this, I will make sure I kill you!"

Raphael frowned. Even with their combined attack, the Chimera Ant was able to move, even screaming at the top of his lungs about killing them himself, the next time they were to meet…

There's no way they did absolutely no damage. Just how strong are they with the most basic of Nen skills, if it even was Nen.

Kite could see the humiliation on their faces. They thought they'd have an easy time. But what this was, was experience.

Now they knew how strong a Chimera Ant was, they knew to not hold back an ounce of their strength. They were more than prepared for the next fight, "It seems that guy was smart enough to send his lackey out to test us…" Kite crossed his arms to smile at the boys, "He let him do the fighting so he could learn our abilities."

"All except yours, it would seem…"

"Correct." The man turned around, "So, are you coming?"

"Wait, really?" Killua was surprised. What did he mean by that? Did he not witness what they saw? The Chimera Ant tanked all of their hits like it was nothing.

"Why are you looking shocked and down? There's no need to feel like that. Your attacks weren't half bad. You just lack experience. If you wish to get stronger, this is your perfect opportunity."

"However…" Kite narrowed his eyes, "If you aren't prepared to endure what's to come, I'm afraid this is where we'll have to part ways."

"You're okay with us staying?"

"Certainly, but you need to remember, lose or win. Hell lies ahead of us. Understood?"

Gon gave a nod. He understood that even though it was going to be difficult, he was still giving them a chance, an opportunity to learn alongside the others, with Kite as their mentor "We're going."

Killua and Raphael were in agreement. This is the best time to get hands-on experience. While Bisky offered the best opportunities to learn and discover different aspects of Nen, Kite was giving them the best opportunities to test their maximum potential.

"~"

Gon was once again the first to discover the bodies, a blood-red pond surrounded by bodies. They haven't been devoured like the remains of the clothing and bloodstains they found earlier.

Whoever attacked this group must be a different set of Chimera Ants.

"This is ugly…" Kite covered his nose briefly, taking away his fingers to now look at the multiple bodies, "The stench alone would guide us to the corpses."

Raphael leaned to look at one of the bodies. The same bullet wounds, "This is weird. It's not like the last body or town we found. They're still here, left behind like a warning."

"You're right…" Kite could agree with the conclusion. But something didn't seem right. Why was the town empty, yet these bodies remained here. Wouldn't they have been taken to the queen, rather than being left out here to rot?

Each squad must follow their own set of rules. This was odd, given the true hierarchy of the Chimera Ants. Something is off about this.

"Check this out." Killua picked up an assault rifle, showing it to Kite, "They left the guns behind, odd."

"Hmm…" Kite observed the weapons. They look crudely made.

"Is this the hidden side of NGL you keep alluding to?"

"I suppose so…"

Killua dropped one weapon to look at the other. They were crudely made, small dents and grooves along the casing. When he grabbed the bolt to release one of the bullets, grabbing it as it came flying out. He observed the bullet, "Wait, this isn't like the guns. It's military grade, most likely imported in."

Raphael looked confused at his friend. How would he know if something was military grade? If Kite suggested it, he wouldn't bat an eye. But Killua, that's a different story. Did this also have to do with him being an ex-assassin "Does this have to do with you being an ex-assassin, because I don't see how else you would know?"

"Well, you're right…" Killua found himself frowning at his friend, "It was considered basic training for me. I had to know the differences between grades, mainly for taking out targets. Military grade implied that I may be dealing with a target with underground or high connections, which means hired goons, and a bit of discretion when it came to taking them out."

"Discretion…" Raphael scoffed at the implication, "Next you'll be telling me you were hired by some big wig Mafia family."

"Probably…" Killua ignored the question, "Either way, if they were taken out, that means the ants that took out these enemies were much stronger than the average platoon."

"Most likely…"

"Everyone, come check this out." Everyone looked up to see Gon pointing at something in the distance. When they joined him, they saw mountains, lights peering out from what looked to be windows in the mountains.

"Lights…?"

Kite's eyes narrow, "Let's check it out. It's too dead quiet to be a coincidence."

Gon tilted his head in confusion, "Is this the Chimera Ants' nest?"

"Unless the Ant Queen churned out an electrician during a round of spawning workers, I doubt it."

As Gon stuck out his tongue at his friend in response, Killua let out a small snicker. Kite however was blunter, "No, you'd tell because there would be carpenter ants building her castle. It's usually made to be more robust, out of mud and faeces. And very few openings for predators to exploit. There would be a few ways in and out, all controlled by them." The man's eyes narrowed, "I think you'll understand when we get inside."

"~"

Kite was right. They would come to understand once they entered. The dimly lit hallways had lightbulbs scattered across the walls.

Something that shouldn't exist in NGL, existed. The people at the border said there weren't any hi-tech facilities inside the country. So, either they were lying and didn't know, or they were in on this as well and lying to keep the truth from coming out.

Maybe those cameramen that were mentioned, were executed for this very reason…

Raphael flicked one of the globes, "Someone was lying…"

"As I predicted." Kite let out a sigh, "Considering the halls are empty, and we've yet to encounter any resistance, it's safe to say the underground was cleared out."

He adjusted his hat, eyes searching the windows, anything skulking in the dark, "Keep your eyes out. We might encounter Chimera Ants, and who knows where they'll come from."

"We got it…" Killua's eyes followed the shadows, looking for any anomalies, "About that other Chimera Ant, the one that completely concealed his presence…"

"Hmm, what do you want to know?"

"Could he become a potential threat?"

"Unlikely. No ants show signs of Nen, specifically, having a Hatsu. But it does trouble me that they can use Zetsu, possibly Ken… on instinct, alone."

"Then, it's plausible that they can use Nen." Raphael agreed with Killua's concern, which was something he didn't want to do. It's bad enough that ant took their hits like it was nothing. An ant using Gyo, let alone Ryu, would be next level hellish.

Kite didn't want to humour the concern, not because it's unwarranted. What they needed was experience. If they can kill an ant, the ants figuring out Nen wouldn't make them the superior fighter…

Both experience and skill are something he's seen all three kids show off. They just needed opportunities to refine their talents. Still, that idea was concerning. If an Officer or Squad Leader could use Nen, so could the Royal Guard… and the King.

"Focus on our current goal. We don't have to worry about that if we kill all ants. But if it comes to a situation like that, I would be more than adequate to deal with them."

Gon was captivated by Ging's student being level-headed in the situation. He aspired to be as cool-headed as him. Even with Killua and Raphael prodding him for information, he managed to quell their concerns, possibly fears of what's to come.

A/N: Leave a review, it helps inspire me.