Phantom Troupe's Web

Chapter 60.

"I've waited a long time for this moment," Hisoka says with a pleased, sadistic grin. "C'mon...Let's fight."

The magician removes his jester-like crop top, discarding it on the ground and pulling off his false spider tattoo. "So now this won't be considered infighting, so you can fight without holding back...right?" he taunts, white flames encapsulating his toned body.

Chrollo chuckles, closing his head and his head hanging slightly. "I see. You aren't a Troupe member so we can talk. I can't fight you. Rather, I'm not worth fighting," the raventte opens his eyes to look at the magician with a knowing smile. "He stabbed his Judgement Chain into my heart. I can't use Nen anymore."

The colour in Hisoka's face drains, staring into the abyss. He grabs his shirt and returns to the aircraft where Pakunoda waits.

Alone, the Phantom Troupe leader exhales. He pulls a hand out of his coat pocket, examining the snake ring around his middle finger – its emerald eyes glowing; he smiles and turns to his head.

•••

Back at the Phantom Troupe's hideout, Illuki returns to reality, blinking tears away as her eyes shift to their natural colour; she hums lightly, pivoting on her heels and skipping back to the main loft where the others are waiting for Pakunoda and Chrollo. She grins when approaching the group, ignoring their curious eyes as she settles between Shizuku and Franklin, her fingers interlacing behind her; the ends of her lips fall when Pakunoda returns without the boss, noticing she had drawn her gun.

"Where's the boss?" Phinks ask the blonde woman.

"He can't come here," she vaguely answers.

The tracksuit-wearing man stands from his seat, hands parked at his hips as he glares at his comrade. "Don't joke around. You better explain! If we don't like what we hear..," he cracks his knuckles, raising them.

"Don't worry," Pakunoda activates her Nen ability, a glowing capsule of purple warping around her as she raises her gun. "In return..," she hesitates for a second, calling out to Feitan, Phinks, Nobunaga, Machi, Franklin and Shalnark and pointing her firearm. "Will you trust me and accept this?"

"Hey, are you being controlled by..?"

Nobunaga cuts into the argument, assuring the blonde to trust their comrade and her intentions. With one final glance, her finger presses tightly against the cold trigger, firing six Nen-infused bullets at the called-out members; the bullet flies fast, piercing their foreheads as her body staggers – feeling the Judgemental Chain tightening around her heart. She falls to the ground, eyes fluttering shut as she begs the world to be the last Spider to die while memories of her final hours rewind in their heads. Shizuku and Illuki walk over to Pakunoda's body, kneeling beside her with care and sad eyes.

"She's dead," the short-haired ravenette claims, brushing the stray hairs away from the woman's face. She turns to other members, making eye content with the swordsman standing behind the Zoldyck heiress. "What's going on?" she asks.

"Let me explain," Phinks says, thunder rumbling in the background as everyone turns to him. "We know everything now...Pakunoda did this because..."

•••

A new day dawns on the city. While their leader was M.I.A. and another Spider dead, the remaining troupe members decided to lay low until they could figure out a plan to help Chrollo with his Nen restriction. Their Web had wanted to destress the others about the issue and suggested going to the final day of the Mafia Auction, wanting to see what valuables were left to be auctioned off; everyone but Phinks and Feitan had disagreed with her idea which prompted the trio to leave the hideout – searching for appropriate clothing for the auction.

Illuki stands in front of a body-length mirror, staring at her reflection. A tight black dress that reaches above her knees hugs her figure perfectly, her dichromatic hair cascades down her back in soft waves and her blue eyes gaze at herself emptyily. Her fists clenches at her sides, replaying the scene of her friend's body stumbling and falling back on the ground – dead. She snaps out of her thoughts when she hears Phinks calling her name, turning swiftly to see him and Feitan standing behind her with worried eyes.

"You okay?" the blonde asks, approaching her with his hands tucked away in his pant pockets.

"Yeah. Just thinking about Paku," she sighs, offering a weak smile as she pushes past him. "C'mon, the auction is going to start soon~!"

The three Phantom Troupe members silently make their way to the venue, entering the lobby of the building with the female between Feitan and Phinks like they were her bodyguards; she holds a bejewelled hand fan to cover the lower half of her face, eyes darting around to assess the attendees for any familiar faces. Feitan leads them into the balcony area of the hall, walking down the stairs and turning into a row before settling down; Illuki trails after him with Phinks beside her, the man gesturing for the female to sit first before him. She smiles softly at him, crossing her leg elegantly while lightly fanning herself with the hand fan.

"I wonder if there's any daggers," she mutters, eyeing the stage. She snaps the fan close, holding it in her lap.

Illuki turned her head to the left after hearing a noise coming from Phinks and her eyes met with Killua's and Gon's; their eyes were wide, surprised to see Spiders attending the event before bolting out of the hall at the speed of light. She exchanged glances with both men, rolling their eyes as they went after the children – trapping them in the hallway with Phinks in front of them while Feitan and Illuki blocked behind the two.

"Hey, that was cold," Phinks scolds. "There's no need to run away."

"Don't worry. We're not going to kill you," Feitan assures in his usual toneless voice.

"Because we can't kill the chain user now," Illuki finished with her arms crossed under her chest.

Confused, Gon straightens his back, looking between the trio and asking for clarification. "Huh? What do you mean?" Phinks responds with a vague response which further had the Freecss boy asking questions. "Why not? Isn't there another way around?"

"Nen doesn't necessarily disappear after you die," the two kids turn their heads to the soft-spoken woman, noticing her sad gaze. "Nen that's driven by hatred and regret can persist for a long time after death; that Nen will direct itself toward the target of those emotions," she explains.

"Since the boss can no longer use Nen, he could be overwhelmed by that assault." Phinks finishes, grabbing the kids' attention. "Residual Nen can be quite fearsome...That's why we can't kill the chain user," he looks over at his comrades, spotting the stares they gave him that shut him up. He exhales, hanging his head before picking it up and looking down at the duo. "So, we're done with you kids. We just came to enjoy the auction. The other members wanted to go home."

Gon, being a curious child, asks about their fallen member and her condition however at the mention of her friend, Illuki swiftly turns away from their gaze, tears brimming her eyes as she takes in shallow breaths. Feitan stands before her while Phinks covers her from Killua's and Gon's concerned stares, informing them about Pakunoda's death and thinking back to one of the Specialist's memories.

"Paku wanted to thank you."