The Ninth || Chrollo x Reader

XII. The Massacre

The flames flicker wildly, bits of the building crumble around us, and the smell of burnt flesh and smoke courses through the air. Two men slump down at Shalnark's feet, the two that were once the operators of the Headquarter's entrance, are now charred and burned. On the back of their necks, two red needles with plastic wings have been placed into their skin. In Shalnark's right hand, he holds a phone with a matching red case, through which is Nen abilities as a Manipulator are able to be used. In order to protect himself from the damage of the grenades, he'd controlled them to cover him, even to the extent of sacrificing their own lives.

I release my Hatsu, my ability to harden my skin as though they were the scales of a snake. My Nen fades around me, the aura slowly becoming nothing more than an echo.

    Shalnark and I walk through the rubble that remains on the floor. Blood has stained the walls and floor, and mangled corpses lie about. My eyes are drawn to them, but I draw my attention away, and keep myself focused on finding Kurapika.

    To end this heist, Kurapika and I spoke before the mission had begun. Through a few hushed whispers into my phone, we communicated, and the basic outline of our plan had been created. We'd agreed that placing guards outside the building would be naive, because if the Troupe realized that they were dominated, they would retreated, and came back another day, perhaps with reinforcements. If that was the case, more civilian lives would have been in danger. Therefore, we decided to wait until the entirety of the Troupe was inside the Headquarters and had gone to any floor other than the first, in order to cut their escape routes and allow more chances on our behalf to capture them.

    However, as I recall my purpose, I cannot help but realize how many lives have been taken. It was foolish for the Zodiacs not to have warned the Hunters and civilians in the lobby to evacuate ahead of time. I clench my jaw and continue to stride through the building.

    Beside me, Shalnark says, "That was much easier than I had expected. Great job (y/n)!" He grins, holding up a thumb. A hollow pride rises within me, and I smile in return, however realize that I was just praised for stealing the lives of innocents.

    Feitan and Phinks' footsteps are heard behind me, and I turn around with Shalnark to meet them. Both of them walk through the glass doors, their hands in their pockets, as they nod behind them.

    The other Spiders have approached in other directions, securing the building and searching for different entrances. A dagger suddenly is thrown into the air, and it barely grazes my skin. My eyes widen, and I turn around, to see where Feitan, who had thrown the dagger, had aimed.

    Behind me, around the elevator, was a group of Hunters. It was no particular organization, rather a few who had met up and decided to exterminate the threat to the Headquarters. In front of the Phantom Troupe, I had no choice but to follow along, and spill the blood of those who cross my path.

    The group of about ten men charge towards us, ten to four, hoping to end the heist here. Shalnark throws a needle into the closest Hunter, who is manipulated into killing the others; Feitan ends two of them with a mere swipe of his sword; Phinks punches twice into two blurs in the air, and cleanly separated heads land onto the ground.

    The last of the eight scramble towards me, and I don't hesitate. My hands find the hilts of the daggers in my coat, and with both of my arms, I slash their necks, ending their lives in clean cuts. Blood stains my blade and hands, and I wipe a bit off my face.

    After the Hunters are disposed of, Shalnark, Feitan, Phinks, and I make our way to the elevator, where we plan to go up to separate floors. According to plan, only two Spiders, the last of the ones who arrive, will be the ones to obtain the treasures in the underground vaults. The rest would go off individually onto separate floors in order to delay further conflicts and to end any potential ones.

    We step into the large elevator, which moves rather slowly. The door closes, and the sound of faint elevator music occupies my thoughts as I feel my position elevating. On the second floor, Phinks walks out; on the third, Shalnark; and on the fourth, Feitan. The automated voice on the elevator calls,

    "Approaching fifth floor," as the double doors slide shut. The fifth floor is the floor of meetings, consisting of many hallways of doors that lead to private rooms. One of the rooms are used for Zodiac meetings, and the others are generally used for other purposes whether they be regarding finances or politics.

    The familiar push of the elevator ends, and the metal doors slide open, revealing the dark hallway that awaits. Many of the Hunters have most likely taken escape routes, leaving only those who wished to defend it, and further reinforcements such as police officers or government officials who may be coming.

    My eyes are drawn around the exit, from the floor to ceiling windows, to the ominous hallways that lurk around the corners. Outside, the sky is clear, and filled with bright stars. Inside, however, is nothing but empty rooms of corpses and blood. My nose wrinkles barely at the stench that wafts up the floors from down below.

    I sigh, turning to the hallways, as I open the doors one by one, in order to find anyone who may be there. Though I may be a member of the Phantom Troupe, most Hunter are unaware of their identities, therefore I have a chance at protecting people in the crossfire. However, there was also the chance that-

    My eyes widen, and I tilt my head to the side, as a bullet shoots through where I once was. Turning to look over my shoulder, I see the wielded of the gun, as I quickly envelop myself inside a layer of Ken.

    The figure is merely a grey persona, due to my lack of visibility, I'm unable to make out who it is. I grit my teeth and turn to them, flipping a Ben's blade into my hand.

    They step near the window, where the moonlight pools onto them. I inhale sharply as I realize who it is.

    Standing beneath the light, his eyes wide in scarlet fury, is Kurapika.

Author's note: Hey! Please remember to vote for the story if you liked it, and see you next time ;)
~Amorevolous