The X Sickness X Within (KilluGon)

Chapter 12

It was half an hour before midnight. The night air was chilled. No stars could be seen in the dark sky but the moon shone weakly. Three boys made their way slowly down the dimly lit sidewalk. It was twenty minutes till midnight and the hospital was just around the corner. They stopped to cloak themselves in Zetsu.

Each of them were silently hoping that the note wasn't a dead end. If the doctor had written that note even two days ago they would be too late. Kurapika nodded and they set off silently, like shadows.

They spread out so that they would be able to stop all escape routes. Kurapika took the left side, Gon the right, and Killua from behind. They each found a hiding spot and readied themselves for a wait.

Kurapika was crouching behind a large, dark green dumpster in the pitch black alley. He hid his nose with his sleeve to stifle the rancid smell of week old food. But, he did not lose focus of the task at hand. Every person who passed by the hospital alley was a suspect. He waited patiently for the spider to fall into his own web. He would avenge his brethren.

Gon was unable to find a spot that provided enough cover in the alleyway, so he waited in the parking lot behind some larger cars. If someone entered the alleyway he would move over and wait next to it. The doctor would pay for what he did to Killua.

Killua, like Gon, had been unable to find sufficient cover behind the white walled hospital. So, he sat atop the building behind it and waited in the cool breeze. Killua scanned the darkness and found no change. An eye for an eye. Harold Smith was on his hit list, and he would receive Killua's wrath.

A new presence alerted each of their senses as it entered the alley way. It was using Zetsu. It was doing a very bad job at it. The smell of drugs carried on the wind to Killua's nose. Of course he could smell the hospitals medicines and disinfectants right now, but this smell was different. This was the smell of the drugs that had coursed through his veins for over a week. Only this smell was less refined and stronger.

The figure was hooded by a dark jacket hoodie but his stature could not be concealed. He was much shorter than average, and incredibly scrawny. He was not the doctor, so he must be the person the doctor was meeting tonight.

Each of the hunters let a small breath of relief escape them. They had found the note just in time. Now all they had to do was wait for the doctor to show up and confront him.

Gon had originally planned to wait for the doctor to arrive before he moved but he thought better of it now. If the person who just entered the alley chickened out or got nervous and left, Gon would have to intercept him. He just hoped the doctor would come in a different way.

He waited for the figure to venture deeper into the alley before darting over silently to the corner. He used the shadows of the trees that lined the sidewalk. The weak light of the moon deepened the darkness, providing better cover. He would wait here, invisible to the untrained eye.

The figure reached the back of the alley and waited with his back to the hospital. He tried to make out the time on his watch but grunted in frustration when he found it too dark to read the hands on the face. But Killua could make out the dark lines easily with his precise vision. It was 11:55. The doctor still had five minutes to arrive. Five more minutes Killua would have to wait. It was a good thing he was patient when it came to hunting his prey.

Finally, a second figure approached. This one was not using Zetsu. Instead, to conceal himself he wore a long tan trench coat with the collar pulled up. To top it all off he wore a black fedora to hide his features. This man entered the alley (to Gon's relief) on the side that Kurapika resided. This had to be the doctor.

The hunters waited anxiously as their prey entered their trap. The doctor's footsteps echoed ominously about the alley. Mice and rats reluctantly scurried away to let him pass and then returned immediately back to their garbage. The doctor seemed disgusted by the animals as his aura began to show signs of discomfort and disdain. His emotions and thoughts were easily read as he began to subconsciously radiate his emotions.

Kurapika and Gon moved in further seeing that everyone had arrived, and waited, barely concealed by the long-cast shadows. They listened closely as a conversation began between the two figures.

"Here's the money for this shipment." The doctor's voice spoke out with a hint of fear.

"Good. This is the shipment." This voice was uttered like a snake hisses. And it was quiet, like every word was an important secret not to be over heard by anyone.

The exchange was made. The doctor gave the unknown figure the money, and the figure gave him a large bag of leaves.

"Listen. I have to go somewhere else. Their looking for me here. We'll have to find another-"

Kurapika, having heard enough, jumped from his hiding spot and attacked the unknown figure with his twin wooden swords. The figure blocked with a long knife that had seemed to come from nowhere. They were locked into combat, slashing and blocking and stabbing. But the fight was over quickly when Kurapika flipped the knife right from the man's hands.

In the time that Kurapika had engaged in battle the other two hunters had confronted the doctor, who had been attempting to escape the alley. Gon jumped into the doctor's path first. The doctor drew out his throwing knives and readied himself, but before he could even flick his wrist something was beside him. He turned and found his jaw in contact with a pale fist.

Killua punched him hard against the right side of his face. He even let a satisfactory smile seep into his features when he felt a few teeth give way to his curled fingers. A maniacal feeling spread through his body as his blood lust grew. But before it reached his mind he glimpsed Gon out of the corner of his eye. It was a glimpse of reason. It reminded him that he was not on an assignment from his parents, that's not what he was here for.

He looked to the doctor who was trying to stand and shouted out, "That, was for Gon!"

The doctor was suddenly confronted by another problem. An uppercut again to his jaw. At first there was another bout of blinding pain but he then lost his awareness and fell into unconsciousness. But the inflictor of his pain this time was not the assassin boy. No, this time it was the boy with spiky black hair.

"And that, was for Killua." He said, even spiting in his direction. (Which failed terribly because he didn't spit hard enough and most of it landed on his chin, earning a chuckle from Killua)

As he wiped his chin with his hand he called to Kurapika, who had his wooden sword at the other man's throat.

"This is not a Phantom brigade member." Kurapika called back, frustration clear in his tone.

It was a good thing he used his swords instead of his chains. Gon thought. Or he would be dead.

Well now we've got the doctor. What to do next? Killua pondered.