Chapter 6: The Troupe Arrives

Content Warning: Language, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder

August 31st Late at night

I worked late into the night and preceding early morning rushing to fill the large catering order for the 180th Anniversary of Tiffany and Co. They had ordered a rather extravagant cake in celebration of opening their doors. They had ordered a 5 tiered cake done in burgundy icing with white lacework piping, white fondant bows and for it to be dripping with Swarovski crystals and blinged out to the max. Standing on a ladder I finished laying down the last ribbon coated in the sparkling crystals and attached the final fondant bow before piping on the 'Celebrating 180 Years' and the Tiffany logo onto the top of the cake. It was a work of art and sure to be a show stopping piece.

The only problem was the now raging thunderstorm that started late last night. I winced as Lightning sparked garishly across the sky, before being hidden behind the skyscrapers surrounding the store, casting odd shadows across the ground. My eyes land on the garbage bags that are piled up in a corner of the store. Ugh… why couldn't I have taken the garbage out yesterday when it was warm and sunny out? I think to myself. Trying to kill some time and hoping for the storm to let up some I wander over to the coffee maker and make a cup of fresh coffee dumping in a ton of sugar and cream for a pick me up after pulling an all-nighter. I can feel bags forming under my eyes and my vision starting to blur some. After finishing the cup and killing time for 10 more minutes I finally gave up after the storm showed no signs of slowing down. I guess I get a free shower before going home for a few hours of sleep.

September 1st, early morning 3:48 AM

It's pouring outside and the street lights only cast light 5 feet from the source. The surrounding buildings cast dark shadows into the night. I go out to the back to take out the garbage, cursing when my uniform gets soaked and the flour on my apron turns into goo. I liked watching the rain, just not being in it as much. As I walk closer to the garbage dumpster; lightning arcs across the sky illuminating what appear to be 7 shadows. Thinking it's those damn raccoons getting into the garbage again, I sneak around to catch the little bastards in the act. Using stealth, perfected through hard work and agony of stalking animals and the environment in which I grew up, I slip around the corner next to the posh jewelry store Tiffany and Co. Lighting splashes against the sky once more, temporarily blinding me and assaulting my nose with the smell of ozone. I realize the shadows are too big to be raccoons, more like people sized. Glaring through the rain over my fogged up glasses; I can see they are talking quietly. I creep closer to try make out their conversation from the pouring of the rain. Now what would a bunch of people be doing lurking, in an alley at 4 AM in the middle of a downpour for? I catch pieces of what a tall guy in a dark furred coat says in a smooth, deep voice to the rest of the group.

"Gr.b eve…ing… the j.. … ki.l … No..u..ga….M.c.i… s..th.… no s..vi...s"

I'm not able to make out more than what he is saying, but I think he has a very alluring voice. I try to imagine what he must look like. Trying to walk closer to get a look at the voice's face, the rain muffles my footsteps. I realize the people are planning on robbing the jewelry store. I look at the rest of the group; trying to see their faces so I can describe them to the police. There's a short guy in what appears to be all black standing next to the tall guy in the furred coat, but it's hard to tell because the rain has soaked everything and my fatigue has made my vision somewhat blurry. A girl with soggy, bright pink hair speaks up. However, it comes out unintelligible. All I can hear is the word "Danchō".

A tall muscled guy with blond hair and no eyebrows in a green tracksuit stands alongside a shorter blond male, who looks younger. The young blond has the glow of a cellphone he's holding reflect off of his green eyes. There's a tall, skinny man with a scruffy looking face scowling at the rest of the group. His dark hair is pulled into a high ponytail that is tied tightly with white bandages. The hairdo makes it look like he has a little palm-tree resting on top of his skull. He appears to be cosplaying as a Samurai. He is dressed in a soaking wet blueish-black Japanese robe. He has bandages wrapped around his calves and abdomen with a pair of shorts covering his legs, brown bamboo sandals are on his feet. There are 2 katana tied around his white obi sash on his left hip, with the handle wrapped in white bandages and kept in a dark colored sheath. Finally, I notice another girl with short, layered black hair wearing large, black framed glasses. She is wearing a black turtleneck sweater and a pair of denim skinny jeans. On her feet is a pair of green loafers. She has a gold necklace with an inverted cross pendant as the focal point around her neck. In her hand appears to be…

"A Vacuum…?" I whisper. I suddenly clamp my hands over my mouth realizing that I've spoken out loud.

Shit… shit, shit…

I slowly back away from the group, hoping the rain drowned out my voice. Looking away from them, I try to find a way to escape without drawing their attention. Glancing back like the idiot I am, I notice there are only 6 people instead of 7. Suddenly, I crash into a solid object with a loud Oomph! Then, I feel cold metal, biting into my neck and a deadly voice next to my right ear.

"Well, well, well… what do we have here? It seems there's a little birdy spying on us." Says the smooth, deep voice I heard earlier, belonging to the tall man in the black leather and white furred cloak. I look up into slate-grey eyes that appear slightly sunken into his skull. They shine with razor sharp intelligence and curiosity. He has a very handsome face and, if I wasn't in a life or death situation, my face would be blushing. His skin is a flawless ivory, as pale as mine. He has a small-boned, delicate nose. Raven black, layered hair is slicked off of his forehead using gel, revealing a strange plus-shaped tattoo in the middle of it. My eyes are drawn to blue orb earrings attached to each earlobe that catch the poor lighting. I realize that my life hangs on a very thin thread, depending on the mood he is in. It's best to cooperate.

He pushes me back to the rest of the group who look at me with various assessing eyes. The shorty in all black licks his lips and stares at me with sick, slightly psychotic eyes. I can tell he's not thinking anything pleasant. The tall blond is eyeing me like a piece of meat he wants, and I stiffen noticing the lust in his eyes. The pink haired girl is hard to read; her eyes are assessing but give nothing else away. The shorter blond glances in my direction and then proceeds to ignore me. Choosing to fiddle with his phone and a few robots, which he sends under the door of the jewelry store. The tall samurai guy scratches his arm irritated and complains about the rain. The girl with glasses stares at me confused, tilting her head to the side and speaks to the man behind myself.

"Danchō, where did you get that other girl? I thought it was only the 7 of us tonight?"

"Hey Danchō where did you get the girl from? Should we kill her now that she's discovered us?" The guy in all black looks excited at this prospect and I hear him muttering under his breath about fingernails and pliers.

"No." Replies the man everyone calls 'Danchō'. I breathe a sigh of relief but then stiffen at his next words.

"I think I will keep her, this pet bird of mine interests me. She was able to sneak up on us without anyone noticing." He turns towards the pink haired girl.

"Machi please tie up our guest so she stays out of trouble."

The pink haired girl called Machi does something weird with her hands. I can feel myself being tied up. My hands are pressed behind my back and arms pinned to the sides. Thankfully, I feel the cold knife being removed from my throat. However, the temporary relief is gone when the man shoves me roughly into the wet pavement, where Machi then ties my knees together so I can't run. She then sticks a rag in my mouth so I won't create noise that could draw attention. I think it's kind of pointless considering the rain and the thunder drowns out just about everything past 10 feet, and the alleyway is abandoned. The short haired blond with the phone speaks up.

"Hey Danchō, I disabled the security system like you asked, but maybe we should stop since we've been found out? Who knows who else saw, or who she told?" He says pointing at me accusingly. The rest of the group mutters agreeing with the techie.

"It's too risky." One of them mumbles.

The man I only know as 'Danchō' steps around me and into the group; speaking in a raised voice that immediately claims attention and respect from the others. Even I sit up straighter my attention becoming riveted to him, which doesn't go unnoticed by him.

"We will continue with the plan for tonight, nothing has changed. I will have Pakunoda look at her memories when we get back. Even if someone else saw, or she called the police there is nothing they can do to stop us. " The man says cockily.

Watching as they open the back door to Tiffany's I wonder how I got into this situation and what they are going to do with me. Oh hell… I left the oven on, that bread is going to be over-proofed. I shake my head in disbelief, my priorities totally fucked up. I should be worried about my impending death, not baked goods. Gosh Kai, don't you know curiosity killed the cat? Why can't I just leave things the fuck alone and keep my damn trap shut? I hope I won't end up in the hands of the guy in all black. Then again, avoiding death is a good idea as well.

The Phantom Troupe promptly invades the jewelry store. Phinks smashes all the glass display cases and Shizuku starts to suck up everything in her vacuum cleaner Blinky. Nobunaga stands guard using his En to make sure no one is able to slip past or approach. Feitan slashes at the guards' stomachs pulling their entrails out and coating the room in a shower of blood and their agonized screams, smiling gleefully. Chrollo slowly strolls among the chaos to admire the items on display around the store. The diamonds, sapphires and silver all sparkle under the dim lighting, while wonderful works of art hang on the mahogany paneled walls. He notices a particular brooch in the shape of a bird, encrusted in yellow and white diamonds set in gold, standing on top of a large yellow diamond. Chrollo's eyes light up at the sheer size of the diamond. It must be at least 100 carats. He thinks to himself. It also reminds me of a certain little birdy outside. Smiling he picks up the brooch and pockets it.

Walking up to Machi who is currently working on the safe, he asks if they found what he wanted. She nods her head and points to the back office where he finds the antique book he has been looking for on the shelf. It reads Famous Gems and Jewels of the World and their Owners, thumbing through the book before pocketing it. He turns back to Machi who has cracked the safe and has Shizuku vacuum the contents out which includes billions of jenny and records of previous clients and their purchases. Within minutes, the place has been stripped clean of all valuables; while blood mars the white carpet and the bodies that are littered here and there. A few of them are missing their fingernails. The phantom troupe retreats with their bounty. Chrollo picks up his 'pet', knocking me unconscious before he and his troupe walk calmly away from the crime scene.

An unspecified amount of time later

Ugh… I groan. I feel sick and my head's all dizzy. What the hell happened? I try to say, but it comes out totally muffled. Completely unaware of my surroundings I clutch at my head, but can't, and then I realize there's warmth on my stomach. I'm tossed over someone's shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

What the hell!? Who's carrying me, and why are my arms tied behind my back?! "Mmmh mhppmh mpp hmmp." I try to kick the person carrying me to escape.

"I suggest you stop doing that before I drop you." A deep voice says, coming from over my right shoulder. I try to eye the distance to the ground but my vision is swimming, nothing makes sense.

"I am surprised you woke up so fast. Normally, a person would be out for several days. You are an interesting pet like I thought." He continues.

Pet? What the hell is he talking about? I try to rub my head, I feel like I have a concussion. Considering the nausea, migraine, blurred vision and the molasses like speed my brain is moving at, I more than likely do. My memory finally engages but, it's painful to recall. I was at the bakery, taking out the garbage and … I saw some burglars? A knife. I try to rub my neck remembering the feeling of cold steel biting flesh, then freeze when I realize I've been kidnapped. I slowly turn my head to get a look at who was carrying me, slate grey eyes boring blankly into my own. I don't recognize the face.

"Mhmmp mhm mmmh?" I try to ask who he is questioningly.

"Hmm?" He raises an eyebrow in question at me.

I nod my head at him and try to ask my question again. "Hmm mmm hhm?"

"Ah… I see no harm in telling you who I am. Considering your chance of escape is zero. My name is Chrollo Lucilfer. You perhaps may know me better as the leader of the Phantom Troupe." He tugs the gag out of my mouth. I open and close my mouth trying to get the disgusting taste out of it. What he said not registering with my concussed head.

He looks at me. Surprise in his eyes that I haven't reacted the way he expected.

"What?" I look at him confused. "Is there something on my face?"

"You aren't terrified of me? You do know about the Phantom Troupe, right?"

"Phantom Troupe…?" I appear lost in thought before turning into a frozen icicle, staring into his emotionless eyes in terror. He smirks, finally satisfied that I have reacted the way he expected.

"Kill me now…!" I moan half-hysterically.

"That can be arranged. Feitan come here." Chrollo says amused. The shorty in all black, whose name is apparently Feitan, appears. His gloomy black hair is long enough to brush his shoulders, but it sticks out in random spikes framing his face. He has a white skull on a black bandanna tied around his face obscuring everything from view but his cold, cruel dark grey eyes, which light up in excitement when he sees me.

"Sorry, Sorry! I didn't mean that! Please don't kill me." I whimper and beg trying to curl into a small ball.

"Very well." Chrollo resumes. "Feitan, you are no longer needed. Go bring Pakunoda here. I wish for her to take a look at my guest.

"Che… no fun…" Feitan pouts before disappearing in a flash to do as Chrollo commanded. Chrollo then proceeds to unceremoniously dump me onto a pile of rubble.

"Ouch…" Finally no longer moving, I look around and realize that I'm not in downtown Yorknew anymore, but inside some abandoned building. The windows are smashed out, the mid-morning light seeping through. There are numerous piles of rubble, broken support pillars and what looks like graffiti painted on the crumbling walls. Lace-like cobwebs hang in corners adding class to the otherwise dismal ambiance. It's hard to make out any more detail my vision still blurred. What I can't see I can make up for in smell. The place reeks like garbage and death, with a touch of mildew and dust thrown in.

"Great… My uniform is soaked, this place is a mess and it reminds me too much of my ho…." I mumble to myself, temporarily forgetting that Chrollo is standing next to me.

Fuck, I almost blurted out my past. Lifting my nervous eyes up to Chrollo's face, I try to appear nonchalant. His face reveals nothing. I dart my eyes away quickly and whistle a random tune pretending to be lost in my thoughts. God I hope he doesn't realize what I almost said.

Trying to distract myself again, I look around more slowly and notice that there are more people than the group that originally kidnapped me. There are 13 people in all, including Chrollo. I spot a creepy red haired clown looking at me and licking his lips like he's a starving man spotting a MacDon's. He winks at me and I feel a shiver go down my spine and an overwhelming urge to puke. I get the feeling that a shark just spotted an injured prey.

I avert my eyes to the right and I can't miss the enormous male who has muscles on top of muscles wearing nothing but an animal skin vest on top and athletic shorts. He has wild, untamed muddy-grey colored hair that end in spikes with sideburns going down each side of his face. His skin is a dark tan and hair covers his broad chest and arms. He has an impressive looking six pack, and there isn't a scrap of excess fat anywhere on his body. He looks like he stepped out of a prehistoric exhibit, looking savage and uncivilized. A large wooden club would look at home in his hands. He screams masculinity and has a confident smirk that I like. God of all the times to get fucking horny. The samurai cosplayer from earlier is chatting with him animatedly while they both drink beer.

The girl with the glasses is by herself staring off into space. The no-eyebrows guy is talking to the techie over some beer while playing cards with one another. In another group the pink haired girl is talking with a busty blond, the short guy in all black approaches the group to talk with the blonde.

Rapidly turning my head away, I look at a group of 3 people sitting together each of them being more freakish than the next. I spot a small man wearing a faded teal long-sleeve smock with a pair of sea-foam colored slacks peeking out underneath. His head is completely covered in long blue-grey hair that completely hides his face only showing a single glowing blue eyeball. I try not to snicker but fail. The tiny person brings to mind a certain seaweed monster from a popular shonen anime about a bald superhero. Chrollo looks at me with a raised eyebrow silently demanding an explanation. I mutter about remembering something funny from a tv show. Next to the small person I stare at a living mummy?

Instead of being dead, this mummy likes to box…? He is covered head to toe in white papyrus bandages with only small hints of his eyes and nose being exposed. He has on a pair of brown shorts with a black belt holding them up. On his hands is a pair of bright red boxing gloves. He is wearing a pair of reddish-brown lace up knee-high boots on his feet. Finally, there is a large man who looks like he stepped out of Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein. He's not as large as the caveman but he is more grotesque looking. Multiple parallel scars mar his face, a few going across the bridge of his nose. There are just as many stitches on it as well as if the doctor forgot to pull them out. He is wearing a large pair of dark blue denim overalls with a large pocket in the front, keeping a white jacket over top. He has large beefy fists that look like they could pound me into a puddle of goo. For some strange reason or another, his earlobes are ridiculously stretched, extending past his clavicle and pierced at the end with solid gold hoop earrings.

"Okay… looks like the Phantom Troupe really is full of monsters." I chuckle nervously to myself, hiding behind my humor and sarcasm whenever I get scared. Right now I am absolutely fucking terrified. I look around hoping to see Dracula pop up somewhere. No such luck. Chrollo having caught where my eyes were and the comment I made, smirks silently, having figured out where my train of thought went.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but we lack a vampire at this time. Although, Hisoka does come close in terms of sheer bloodlust."

My eyes round slightly realizing that he must have read my mind. I turn away creeped out, hoping to block this whole place out and wake up from the horrible dream I am having. Chanting the mantra 'There's no place like home, there's no place like home.' in my head.

Instead of warping back to my bedroom, that Feitan guy is back with a rather busty, blond haired woman; her chest makes my DDD cup feel insignificant. She has a large nose that I can't stop from gawking rudely at; it's curved like a bird's beak. Averting my eyes, I look up at Chrollo for an explanation. He ignores me instead choosing to smile at the new woman.

"Pakunoda." Chrollo says to the woman. "I have something I would like to ask of you."

"Of course Danchō, but may I ask what's with the hostage?" She glares down at me like I am an insignificant bug. I feel like one considering I'm trapped in the Spider's lair. Being tied up and soaking wet from the rain only completes the picture. Sneezing, I hope that I'm not catching my death in this place, in more ways than one.

"She's actually why I asked for you. This little song bird, stumbled upon us while we were out doing our job. She managed to sneak up on us without anyone noticing. I want to know if she contacted anyone such as the police. She woke up rather quickly after I knocked her unconscious. I am rather curious as to why that is." He grabs my wet hair forcing me to meet his eyes.

"You will speak truthfully to Pakunoda right my little pet? We have other ways of making people… sing…" He smiles darkly and I know he is talking about Feitan. Pakunoda places her hand on my shoulder and I jerk as I feel someone trying to gain access to my brain.

"I can't read her boss. Something is putting a barrier up around her memories." Pakunoda says frustrated her face turning into a scowl.

Not wanting them to kill me because they can't get what they want through Pakunoda, and I'd rather not let Feitan have his hands on me I decide to tell them instead.

"My names Kailani, I don't have a last name. I'm 25 and don't belong anywhere. I have no family to speak of. I'm afraid that mind-reading won't work on me, it's a side effect of curse I'm under." There's no need to mention the tattoos on my wrists, or how I got them. I bite my lip hoping I didn't just sign my death certificate. Chrollo signals for Pakunoda to stop and for me to continue.

"In exchange for having some of my memories blocked, my nen is sealed. That's the reason you guys couldn't sense me. I'm stuck in a permanent state of Zetsu. I don't have much presence to begin with, I've learned how to make myself disappear, and the Zetsu just makes it worse. Only the person who cursed me can remove it. I didn't call the cops on you. It was just me. I work in a pastry shop nearby and was taking out the garbage. I thought you were a bunch of raccoons planning on robbing the dumpster, so I snuck up on you." I say embarrassed my cheeks a blazing red.

"Why I woke up so quickly after being knocked out…. uhmm… well… where I grew up from, being unaware of your surroundings meant death. Force of habit, I can't do much about that I am afraid. You'll just have to hit me harder next time, or drug me or something."

"I know you are holding back. I suggest you say it, otherwise Feitan will be the one to get what I need out of you." Chrollo states blandly.

I look at him pleadingly, but his face lacks compassion. Hanging my head in defeat I finally say the words I've been dreading.

"I'm originally from Meteor City." I shudder as another massive migraine hits and memories threaten to spill out from my subconscious.

Fighting with others over morsels of moldy food. Scavenging the mountains of garbage that make up Meteor City. Trying to find anything useful to survive. The hunger and fear gnawing away constantly at my consciousness. My aura being forcibly opened due to a cruel prank and then being left to die. How I struggled to keep my life from seeping through my hands like water through sand. Mastering ten to keep myself from dying and then zetsu to make sure I never got ambushed again. Using my newfound skills to hunt down food and learning how to cook it. Blood staining everything… red. So much blood…. My slow crawl out of the hell-hole that is Meteor City. Then, setting off down the road for a new path to life.

"I see." Chrollo remarks closing his eyes. "So, you are from Meteor City just like us, how surprising." He utters not impressed in the least.

"Pakunoda, get some dry clothes and feed her. Don't bother untying her, I don't want her escaping." With that, he leaves to go greet the other 11 Troupe members.

A/N:

So sorry for the long hiatus, it wasn't on purpose I swear!

Most of this chapter was actually among the first things I wrote when I originally started this story. It's been written for more than half a year, albeit, incomplete and in chunks. I kept being unsatisfied with this chapter and kept rewriting it, eventually giving up and shelving it to take a break, then my muses kinda died.

For those curious to the reference: Kortopi reminds me of the Seaweed monster that Saitama fights in One Punch Man. If you haven't seen the anime I suggest watching it. It's pretty funny.

I thought it was interesting that the Troupe when you think about it has some characters that are like they walked out of a horror novel or B rated sci-fi film. We have Frankenstein obviously but Bonolenov looks like a mummy and Kortopi is like the monster from the lagoon, or a seaweed monster. Hisoka kind of works since he is always craving to shed the blood of his enemies.