The Reason We Fight

Chapter 42. The Chase

Hado's phone rang. She turned his corpse over to get it from the front pocket of his jacket, and answered.

"So how are the negotiations going?", Arlan's voice spoke.

"Sorry, Arlan. Change of plan", Kakume answered, then cut the line. She banged on the wall separating them from the two front seats and shouted, "Hey driver! Captain's orders, we're adjusting our route. We're heading to that downtown underground parking lot, you know the one, near the sports stadium?"

"Got it", the faceless driver said. So, he doesn't know what's happening yet. Good. She called the police.

Once she got a hold of a police officer, she explained the situation. "Listen, I'm sure you are aware by now of the kidnapping of Lumiere Casucade, Kai Komorebi and Quillon Tempest, the three 8-year-olds from Hikari Academy. I got a hold of them, and will deliver them to you at the downtown parking lot. Have a squad ready for when we arrive, it's possible the abductors will give chase". She hung up and crushed the phone underfoot. I can't turn back now... I have to see it to the end.

We change at the speed of the choices that we make, Tam told her once. Kakume wondered idly why she kept thinking about things that Tam told her, and taking it for gospel every time she sat at a crossroads. She steadied her breath and looked down at the children. They were huddled together, clinging to each other, their frightened eyes reflecting the uncertainty that enveloped them. The stifling atmosphere rang with the palpable fear that gripped each of them. Lumiere looked up at her with eyes as big as saucers. "Shido-sensei?", she muttered uncertainly.

Kakume crouched and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, glancing at each of them. "Don't you worry, everything is going to be alright. Big sister is bringing you back home. I won't let them hurt you, pinky promise". She lifted her pinky finger and sealed the oath. Quillon and Lumiere smiled and nodded. Kai didn't appear so reassured, however. Arms crossed, he asked her, "So what's the plan exactly?"

They heard a few bullets ricochet through the walls of the truck's cargo container, and saw one pierce through. "Improvise", said Kakume, cocking Hado's gun she had picked up from the ground. She kicked the back door down. "Stay behind me!"

A hail of bullets rained down on them, but Kakume was quick to form a shield with her blood. A car was trailing them and a gunman in the passenger seat was firing a machine gun from the open window. Kakume attempted to shoot him through the windshield but it was no use, the glass wouldn't crack from the distance. "Useless things", she muttered, tossing the gun aside in frustration. She jumped to the hood of the tailing car and pressed both her hands on the windshield, right in front of the gunman, unleashing a sizeable blood spike that went through him and curved to incapacitate the driver too.

A bullet grazed her cheek from above. Snipers were positioned on top of the buildings surrounding them. I've truly angered Arlan now, haven't I? she mused. Turning her blood into her own Dragunov SVD sniper rifle, she swiftly eliminated the two marksmen. His favorite rifle too, as I recall.

On the left sidewalk, three more gunmen were approaching on foot. "Kakume!", she faintly heard a child's voice shout out from the right. In the distance, she noticed two boys run toward the moving vehicles. Gon? Killua? What are Kurapika's friends doing here?

"What can we do to help?", Gon called out. Kakume didn't have time to think it over. She pointed to the three advancing men. "These guys!" She shot another sniper, who fell from the building and onto the street, then jumped back to the truck where Lumiere, Kai and Quillon were huddled. Kakume was on high alert, sensing her environment for enemies. Enemies which were her friends and colleagues just a moment before...

Evidently, Gon and Killua were Nen users and could more than hold their own, she noticed. Gon was an Enhancer with a punch attack and Killua had an electricity power, possibly a Transmuter.

The truck labored to advance, hindered by a punctured tired. Kakume's frustration mounted. She turned to the children and attempted to sound reassuring. "We'll have to do the rest of the way on foot. Don't worry, I won't let them get you. Hold on tight", she said. Lumiere mounted on her back, clasping her hands tightly, and Quillon sat in the crook of her elbow. Kai objected, however.

"It's alright, I can follow", he told her, raising his hands in protest. Kakume remembered that he was quite the athletic child, though a child nevertheless. She sighed. "Can you use a gun?", she asked him.

"No", he admitted. "I am quite skilled at archery, however". Kakume nodded and produced a bow and arrows with her blood. Gon and Killua joined them shortly.

"We need to keep moving", Kakume said impatiently. "They'll come for us in numbers". She looked around, nervous. A drop of sweat was sliding the edge of the brow. "Killua, I need you on the vanguard. We're going to that underground parking lot, downtown. The entrance is on the Maple and Harborview intersection. Gon, you will take the rear and take out anyone following suit. I'll take care of ranged attacks and defense. Let's go". Kakume made a circle of daggers around them, all pointing outwards.

Killua interjected suddenly. "So... who's the enemy?"

Throw caution in the wind. "The Red Hands".

The two boys glanced at each other, puzzled. "Yeah. I've gone rogue", she explained. They advanced.

-

From what Kurapika could gather at first glance, the Crimson Syndicate was no warlock organization at all, but in fact an elaborate Ponzi scheme. The leader, a charismatic man named Dante promised high rewards and "blessings" in exchange for the recruitment of more members and the acquisition of special and rare artefacts. Kurapika donned the teal robes that identified him as a new recruit, effectively the base of the pyramid, and listened to the man's speech about "actualizing your full potential". Older members, wearing different colored robes to signify a higher status, gave testimonies about how Dante's blessings changed their lives around. Now the real questions was... were they purposefully lying for him or was the leader a Nen user? He questioned a few members and tried to use his dowsing chain without them realizing it. It would appear that they were not lying and in fact truly believed that Dante could shift their luck.

So is his Nen related to luck, then? How does it work? he wondered.

The way to advance ranks in the organization was to recruit two members and acquire one item in the leader's list. The higher you got in ranks, the higher the acquisition difficulty of the item. Similarly, the more potent the blessing you received from the leader. Fosco Galbanks was a black robe and therefore one of the older members. He must have been quite invested in the scheme... so why was his luck so poor that he got captured by Kurapika so easily?

As for the rare items in question... Those were kept in a vault of some sort and taken out in rotation during the ritual aspect of the meetings, when Dante used them to cast his spells on useful members. Galbanks told him that the Scarlet Eyes were used for prosperity spells, and other specific objects were used for health, love, popularity, career advancement, protection from harm, gambling luck... you name it.

How could he get his hands on the Scarlet Eyes, then? He cannot hope to bribe this man for them... what can you give a man who already has everything? Kurapika was starting to despair. He cannot get them by force either, that would be suicide. The only time they got out of the vault was during the meetings, and he can't fight off the hundreds of members present at any of them, Nen or not.

Unless... maybe if he could find a way to blackmail Dante, maybe he could ask to exchange the Eyes for some incriminating information? The pyramid scheme itself was incriminating enough, but the only thing it's likely to result in is him scampering off to a different location and start from scratch. If the police were to get involved, the man's collection is likely to be kept in police custody for his criminal case, too.

There is also no possible way he could get into the leader's inner circle in that little time. It would take years to gain his trust and raise in rank enough for him to be the one to take the items out of the vault and into his hands for the blessings. Abruptly Kurapika had an epiphany. But I know someone who could...