"Hostage X Negotiations"
AN: So if you had not noticed from last chapter, I somewhat buffed and changed Nobunaga. For one, he never displayed a Hatsu in the manga or anime and two I changed his nen category. I feel like there was a lot of untapped potential with the spiders and that their powers kinda suck. Sure, a few of them are powerhouses but the rest are pretty weak in the HxH world. I can understand some like Kortopi as he is a support-focused Nen user but Franklin just has gun fingers… so I have reworked some things regarding the troupe.
P.S I know this is just the finished chapter you were supposed to get last week but this last week sucked for me :/ I got a pretty decent injury on top of getting sick again over the holidays hasn't been fun. Anyways expect chapters to be either spotty or not as quality as before as it's the last two weeks of the semester and I have to play catch up.
- - - - - End of Author Note - - - - -
*crumble* *crack* "Hmm?" Hearing an odd noise I turned around to investigate, to see a long scratch on the wall of the building we walking next to grow as the large tear came near us.
"Duck!" Tackling Gon to the ground, I looked above us to see a nearly invisible slash cut right through where our heads would be a moment prior. Noting that we were under attack I quickly got back up before grabbing Gon's hand as I bolted forward.
'This has to be his Hatsu though hasn't it?' releasing Gon's hand as we ran parallel to one another, I began to flood my eyes with aura as I used Gyo to get a grasp of the situation.
"Use Gyo, we are currently in a large field of En that is concealed… or it's likely a Hatsu that is reminiscent of En all things considered." with both of us on high alert we were able to see a small disturbance in the aura field, It was currently located just ahead of us on the sidewalk. Slightly slowing our pace we looked intently at it as the small distortion bubbled up with aura before expanding and taking the form of a pale purple flying slash attack.
*Crumble* *Crack* *BANG!* However what we couldn't predict was that this blade shot forward at an unmatched speed compared to the other as it took on a slightly red tinge as it nearly bisected me via a rip cut.
"Motherfucker! Gon, his target is probably me but still be careful okay?" Staggering and nearly tripping a couple of times over the sidewalk that was now rubble as I continued to run towards the building near the end of the block.
"Mn!" leaping off a mostly intact pad of the concrete sidewalk he moved into the mostly unscathed street.
All the while, the closer we got to our destination the volume, frequency, scale, and speed of the attacks skyrocketed. Making the speed of our advance plummet because we had to focus more on dodging than getting closer.
"Hey Gon, look at the blades real quick! I did not notice beforehand… but these 'blades' are not overly sharp for whatever reason. Instead, they use brute force and speed." narrowly dodging another 'slash' I continued to dodge and weave as I held a spotty conversation with Gon.
"Mm… I thought they had different effects with each color!" before he could finish his thought he was cut off as a series of three blades rained down on him, forcing him to focus on avoiding the attacks.
And as each second went by, our situation kept getting worse, the scale of the attacks meant that our surroundings were being reduced to rubble. Finding footing and manners to dodge was getting far more tricky, especially when we also had to dodge the large chunks of buildings that were also falling on top of us. At the very least, we were making some progress seeing as we were nearing the building we suspected he was in.
"Different attacks… Shit! You know, it is… haa!" continuing to leap between the series of attacks and falling shards of glass and the already falling apart buildings we were no longer afforded a moment to think or really speak. Every movement had to be made before you could react, a predicament for me who did not have a fighter's instinct to the degree of Fon who was managing relatively well. Meanwhile, I had to use my Hatsu quite frequently to weather the various injuries I would have otherwise sustained.
*CRASH!* Eventually we managed to bust down the boarded doorframe of our destination, though as we made it through the doorway a tide of rubble blocked the entrance we entered through. And as we advanced through the entryway, we continued to look out for any attacks or signs of Killua. Yet, the silence that pervaded the halls of the derelict building as we made our way to the end of the hallway.
"Which way should we go?" coming up on a T intersection Gon spoke up for the first time in a while. Taking a moment to peer around the corner, I poked my head out to see a bight small Nen attack shooting through the hallway towards me.
"!!!" ducking out of the way as fast as possible, I fell backward into the main hallway before being caught by Gon who propped me up. It took me a second to realize how close of a dodge that was, what really put things into perspective was the top half of my halt floating down to the floor.
"We need to get moving before we get ourselves killed, these halls are too narrow for us to go together." Quickly getting a hold of myself, I began moving down the hallway while taking a sharp left. Behind me, I heard the clattering of Gon's footsteps get quieter as we ran in opposite directions.
*Whiste* and just around the time I stopped hearing Gon another distortion began to appear in front of me. And similar to the last one it was much more small and more compressed compared to the larger strikes, only big enough to light graze the side of the walls. Additionally, it created a low breathy whistling as it hurtled toward me at rapid speeds.
*Crash* as I turned around the corner another blade that had been behind me smashed into the wall, creating a small hole in the wall that was around four feet in height. Not that I had any opportunity to take advantage of that as I had to dodge the continuous gauntlet of attacks. Focusing a bit of my aura on my good hand I used a Ren-enhanced strike to bust down the wall to my left to avoid a wall of slashes that came from both sides of the hallway.
Continuing to smash my way through various floors and walls I made, making a haphazard mental map of the whole building. Furthermore, there was one area in which the frequency of attacks skyrocketed and was impossible to get further in.
*Pant* *Pant* *Sigh* realizing what I had to do I began to ascend to the highest portion of the building above the chamber I presumed my opponent was inside of. Running through the various holes I had made and managing to fit myself through the smaller holes made by the blades or Gon I eventually ended up at my destination. Inside the larger room/clearing of what I assumed used to be an office, I stood still as I began to coat myself in my Hatsu to a degree that I have only done in training. Standing still, or rather now being unable to I grit my teeth as various attacks began to worm their way through my defense.
*Bang* with the first few attacks delivered, I expelled all the kinetic force in the original manner into the ground. Falling through the destroyed floor, my Statue-Esque self landed on the next floor.
*Bang* *Bang* As I kept descending through the floor the number of attacks increased as the wounds started collecting on my body. I wasn't exactly able to afford making the covering immune to damage as I need to save my aura for the fight coming soon. Funny enough, I think I saw Gon out of the corner of my eye when falling through a couple of floors…
- - - - - Hatsu Profile - - - - -
Name: ???
User: ???
Category: Emitter
Effect (incomplete): Is able to create the phenomenon of invisible projectiles that are similar to a sword slash. The means by which it creates these projectiles or its conditions are unknown. Its range seems to be about a radius of 450 feet, though this number could change or be incorrect. Additionally, variations of the attacks can be observed with different effects. Red attacks seem to be faster, Purple seems to deal more damage, and colorless strikes have the advantage of being nearly invisible even with Gyo. The general scale, speed, angle, and point of origin seem to be modifiable.