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bipabrena · 3 years

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Change x and x Request (HisoIllu fic)

A fic where Hisoka is left comatose after battling the Phantom Troupe in the Black Whale. He’s beyond saving and there’s no Nen contract to save him a second time, all that’s keeping him alive is a constant aura supply from Illumi. Thinking of ways to save him, Illumi’s mind goes to her. For the first time, he sees Nanika as someone, not something. But he knows she and Killua have no reason to want to help him. He can only hope they will.

Read the whole thing here.

Illumi’s needlemen had set up a small but solid hospital room in the building. Not too many people lived in it, and it was in a strategic location. Several doctors from the most prestigious hospitals in the city came and went.

But, regardless of how many came or how hard they worked, they all arrived to the same conclusion: Hisoka was beyond saving.

Every day that passed, the comatose Hisoka withered away further.

It was then Illumi accessed the Hunters’ Tavern and found several doctors with Nen-based abilities. He brought them all forth within the course of a week, but all they could do was prolong the inevitable.

He was meticulous and careful to hide his tracks and hire them under names and details that’d make his true identity untraceable.

Illumi was not worried about his concurrent actions having consequences.

The talented doctors had given up, insisted they couldn’t save Hisoka, but Illumi wouldn’t have that. He’d stuck his needles in them and forced them to continue working, until they died of overexertion, just like all his needlemen did.

In the end, all he accomplished was the raking of bodies.

He disposed of them all, until his only choice was to share his Nen with Hisoka’s comatose body.

It was the one way to prolong the inevitable.

The only solution didn’t come to him until all alternatives had been explored.

It took him five days to gather enough Intel, with the limited tools he had, to find Killua’s phone number.

Naturally so, Killua had changed it along with all his details to completely sever ties with his family. It’s what made him hard to find, but Illumi didn’t give up, not even with his limited tools.

From all the Zoldycks, he’d always been the best at tailing and figuring out the way people clicked—how they worked, how they thought. Ironically so, considering his total lack of social skills outside of assassination.

He would’ve had better success if he’d just gone home, but he couldn’t afford it.

If he left this room, if he relocated or stopped sharing his aura with Hisoka, he’d die within minutes.

He impassively stared at his unconscious, withering frame. He approached him.

He sighed so quietly it was nearly imperceptible, and stopped by his bedside. He nonchalantly looked at Hisoka.

The burns, the cuts, the wounds.

While the Troupe split up to find him, what Hisoka truly wanted was to have them all in one room.

His resurrection had succeeded, but it’d left him wounded. His hand, his nose, his foot. They were superficial. He’d received an aura boost, but he was still handicapped. The replacements were solid enough, at least. For a while.

He was sure he wouldn’t be able to take on all the Spiders, and even if he did, he’d die soon after.

It was either receiving medical attention at once, healing, then wait for his chance to find them all again in the uncertain future, or fight them at once by not missing the chance of them being together in the Black Whale.

Hisoka prioritised his wounded pride.

And so, with his own strength and boosted Nen, his mental state heightened to its utmost limits, and unknowingly created a condition.

Even though he was slowly dying, he was adamant about surviving long enough to kill the Phantom Troupe, and to leave Chrollo for last. His senses, his physical abilities and speed stretched beyond their peak.

His resolve is what made his Nen exceedingly strong. But it also created a limitation: his full potential and beyond would be unleashed only with the Troupe. And he could only do it once.

And, if he overdid it, he may not come back from it.

He was lucky he’d hired Illumi.

However, the pretence of joining the Troupe to kill him was only that: a pretence. The real reason he’d hired him was so he could take Kalluto away so he wouldn’t get caught in the fight.

What Hisoka hadn’t counted on was Illumi risking his life to fight alongside him.

It’d stunned and worried Hisoka. Despite being a terrifying monster, it was still instinctive for him to worry about Illumi’s safety. But the look on Chrollo’s face when Illumi unexpectedly appeared, and sent Shizuku’s and Bonolenov’s heads flying, had turned him on so much he popped a boner on the spot.

It had been done so cleanly not a drop of blood was on Illumi’s three inch claws, and the other Troupe members could only stare in shock.

Seeing Illumi fight at full power was something Hisoka never thought he would witness, but he did—and he creamed his pants once, perhaps twice, from the sight alone.

Illumi had gotten injured, but it was nothing he couldn’t heal with his needles until he received real medical assistance.

The fight had been strenuous. It destroyed a large part of the Black Whale, but not enough to completely sink it. It was still functional, but there was damage, and amongst it collateral.

With Bonolenov and Shizuku down, the match-ups had been the following:

Hisoka vs Machi, Feitan and Chrollo.

Illumi vs Franklin, Nobunaga and Phinks.

In theory, it wasn’t good that Illumi had been stuck with two Enhancers, but considering his usual fighting style, it required distance to be created, and so it gave the Enhancers, Nobunaga and Phinks, few chances to land hits on him.

Illumi was more of a hit-and-run when fighting Enhancers. An appropriate style.

Because Franklin was an Emitter and his ability was more gravitated towards crowd control, such as the auction, he couldn’t freely use his ability. Illumi was too fast, and he could risk injuring some of the Troupe members. And so, he was forced to instead rely on direct hand-to-hand combat, which Illumi was far more proficient at.

At one point, Chrollo was forced to abandon Hisoka to aid those three with Illumi. He’d proven to be stronger than they’d anticipated.

Because he was an assassin, they’d greatly underestimated his duel abilities.

Illumi had a spectacular dominion of Ko, Ken, Gyo and Ryu. These abilities were usually perfected by Enhancers, since they did not require Hatsus, but it still stood that other Nen categories could perfect these techniques as well—the matter was that they often preferred to rely on their powers.

Illumi didn’t.

Not even Hisoka knew that.

Illumi was capable of using his category to the fullest, but he was also a level six at Enhancement, which put him on par with Franklin, the Emitter, and Phinks and Nobunaga, the Enhancers.

Nobunaga was very skilled in battle, but was not as physically strong as expected of an Enhancer. He was relatively weak, as even Machi exceeded him in physical strength. And so, Illumi far outshined him in this field. Phinks, on the other hand, was physically stronger than Illumi by a large margin, but he wasn’t a proficient hand-to-hand combatant. Though tremendously strong, he was above all a brawler, while Illumi had solid techniques.

This realisation made Hisoka moan mid-battle in sheer delight. Illumi truly was full of surprises.

When Chrollo joined, however, the problems started.

The range of abilities he had was insane.

But that was completely okay. Because Illumi had counted on this. Expertly, he and Hisoka switched places multiple times, and had alternated targets, so Illumi faced Machi and Feitan, too.

Their teamwork was splendid, natural. It flowed beautifully.

Hisoka had never had more fun in his life.

He completely forgot about his pride and revenge, and instead allowed himself to just feel, to revel on the moment of fighting such monsters alongside a more lethal monster. Illumi, the one person he’d always dreamed of fighting, and had been eager to see fight with his full strength.

At one point, Illumi managed to sever Machi’s left arm. As soon as he aimed for her heart, Feitan thought fast and Illumi barely avoided his Ko powered sword.

When Illumi lured them into the position he wanted, he screamed it.

“Do it now, Kallu!”

It’d brought all of their attentions for a split second.

Two rooms away, it’s when Kalluto had opened the gate, and three hundred needlemen filled the room in the blink of an eye.

In that split second of confusion, Illumi bolted to Hisoka and grabbed him.

Thinking fast, Hisoka stuck Bungee Gum to the ceiling to repel both himself and Illumi into the second floor.

“It’s fitting, don’t you think?” is what Illumi had told Hisoka when the stunned redhead stared down at the needlemen swarm the Troupe members.

At that moment, never had Hisoka wanted to fuck Illumi so savagely in his life.

For him to bring hundreds of needlemen to swarm Chrollo and his Spiders, the same way Chrollo’s puppets had done Hisoka, was so poetic and fitting that Hisoka could only laugh.

He’d made a joke here and there on just how many needles Illumi had brought.

And that’s when things changed.

When a light slowly rose to the ceiling, Hisoka and Illumi could only watch in confusion. They were only brought back by Kalluto, who screamed through the Zoldyck transmitter.

He’d been that day on the Meteor City raid. He knew of Feitan’s Pain Packer.

He’d desperately screamed at Illumi to get out of there as he hastily explained what that powerful light was, what it would turn into once it expanded.

Illumi had a final trick up his sleeve with his needlemen, but before he could verbalise it to Hisoka to ease him, he’d been wrapped in Bungee Gum and thrown out of the room. Before he could stand up to rush in again, the gate had been shut, with what he could only assume was Bungee Gum.

That’s when the explosion happened.

The needlemen served as cushions for the immense heat, and so Feitan took advantage of this. One of Chrollo’s ability’s also shielded them, but what they didn’t count on was the imbued explosives on two hundred of the three hundred needlemen that were swarming them and cutting their oxygen supply.

By the time Rising Sun deactivated, the only survivors had been Chrollo, Machi and Phinks. And they were mortally wounded.

When Illumi managed to tear down the door, he was worried.

He did it with ease, unlike his previous attempts. That meant it wasn’t being held together by Bungee Gum anymore.

Illumi could only hope for the worst.

He’d gone to—

A strong rumble in his stomach distracted him from his reminiscing. Illumi’s mind went blank as he momentarily forgot about the events in the Black Whale, and he recalled he hadn’t eaten in five days.

Not like he could anyway. Leaving this room meant Hisoka would die.

He sighed softly.

It was a strange feeling. Expending so much of his aura, transferring it to someone else was an uncomfortable, somewhat burning feeling. It felt much like when a doctor drew blood from their patient—that little burning feeling, except that multiplied manifold times, and he felt it all over his body.

He grabbed his phone.

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#hisoillu #hisoka x illumi #hisoka morow #illumi zoldyck #Hunter X Hunter #hxh #Hisoka #illumi

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zachsgamejournal · 3 years

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PLAYING: Breath of Fire 3

I'm not sure this game is as great as I remember. But while recently researching top PS1 RPGs, BoF3 was near the top. Ah-well, I think I'm nearing the end...

Last we left off, Nina just arrested the criminal Mayor while Rei was hunting for revenge.

Realizing the Mayor's connection to Syn City, we headed over there to arrest the boss only to find everyone dead or dying. We're told a giant Tiger (Rei) attacked and the boss has fled. Tracking the boss, we find Rei confronting the man, demanding revenge for Teepo's death. Ryu and Nina just want to arrest him. Rei, dissatisfied, attempts a killing blow. But the boss, wounded, turns into a monster (because this is a JRPG).

After we succeed, Rei seems a little down on how weak his tiger power is compared to Ryu and others. But he finds kinship in Ryu's dragon abilities and wants to join the crew to meet God and ask "what's up?"

Nina says there's a problem, her father the King doesn't like Ryu--thinking Ryu was responsible for the big messes that happened when they were children. Nina suggests we do a good deed to clear his name. There's trouble at the old plant.

We find Momo as she tries to keep the plant producing super-crops, but there's issues. Palet, the mad scientist that betrayed us before, is missing. In the game's "Resident Evil Mission" we wander the plant to find Palet is trying to use Chrysm and mad-science to bring his wife back to life. Momo's father invented the tech, trying to do much the same. But we tell Palet this is bad. We defeat him and unhook his wife from life support.

Damn.

We return to the king, but Nina asks Ryu to sit it out. Asking Rei in instead. She presents Rei to the king and queen as her savior and a bad-ass dude. But then they recognize him. The Jig is up and Rei and Nina flee.

Back to Angel Tower--but God does not appear. Garr is sad. We talk to the Urkan chief and are guided to another surviving Guardian who has recanted their oath.

Finding this guy, he insists on testing Ryu. Turns out he lost faith in the cause against the Brood before the war was over. We also learn that Deis--a powerful snake-lady--is being held captive at Angel tower. This guardian's death frees her, and he willingly allows his defeat.

We return to Deis and she punches Garr in the stomach for being a dragon slaying asshat, then asks us to meet her later. We do and get a flashback with her fussing at Guardians.

I can't remember the details, but the God that ordered Guardians to kill The Brood (dragons) is her sister. She says our answers lie across the sea.

Return to Rhapala to find our ship-friends, but the boat is missing again. We needed that! We travel to Junk town to find the ship needs repairs. Momo offers to do it, but needs parts. We go to Steel Beach to collect parts that continuously wash up on shore here.

No one knows where these parts come from, or how to make them. But they've been able to build some half-ass machines from them. There's an annoying mini-game here where you have to help someone haul in something big by following flag raising. Turns out to be a monster fish.

I struggled finding the parts. Firstly, they're pretty well hidden, and secondly, some were on the beach. Oh, and thirdly, you can't know whether you found the right ones without returning to Junk town...time consuming.

Parts collected, ship repaired, we sail back to Rhapala and are nearly rammed by "The Black Ship". The Black Ship was one of my favorite sequences as a kid, so I was excited to play it. But that's in the future...

Zig, who was once an antagonist, now wants to be a helpful ship captain and offers to sail use across the sea. But no one has ever left the bay. We try. We fail. There's rumor of a Legendary Mariner that sailed from across the sea. Supposedly, the mayor of some town knows about him. When we get there, it's a fishing town and he hates fish...

This is where I gave up a few years ago. It's one of those annoying JRPG fetch quests where you've gotta do a bunch of innocuous quests to scavenge a few items, and it's like--I just want to learn the secrets of the universe--THIS ISN'T FUN!

Goofing around with cheats, I gave myself every item in the game. So I didn't have to do this quest: HAH! But I still had to cook. Luckily they give you clear instructions. He likes the food and gives us a chart. I'm not sure the chart does anything but unlock an island. I still had to look up a guide to find it...

...

So the game, in the second half...or middle third...starts to lose some steam. You end up retreading a lot of ground. While it does tie up a few loose ends, it's a lot of busy work.

I think the problem is that the game gets to the "BIG" question too early. I mean, you start the game as a dragon. Dragons are supposed to be extinct. No one understands your power. So of course, the BIG question of "What's this dragon business about" is there. But it doesn't truly become a primary concern until Garr joins the party. At that point he says, "Lets head east to learn more about you". But heading east has a ton of road bumps. And instead of answers, you get a: "It's my life's goal to kill dragons: die!"

Nice twist, for sure, but when Garr and Ryu reunite, the primary question is set: "Why did God tell Guardians to kill the dragons?" And then it's just a bunch of bullshit!

Take Fellowship of the Ring. There's a lot of bullshit: dark riders, hobbit eating trees, mid-night attacks, horse chases through the woods, perilous mountain peaks, dangerous mines, a fire demon, dubious wood elves, corrupted allies, and orcs. But, even though the adventurers are constantly running into obstacles, they are always moving the ring closer to Mt. Doom one yard at a time.

Breath of Fire 3, on the other hand, is rarely gaining yardage, and very often losing yardage. It's a oppressively unrewarding experience. I mean, as a child you help train a weak guy to fight a strong guy over several "nights", wander a monster infested lighthouse, and then battle a trash talking dolphin all in hopes of getting a ship and they're just like: Nahhh.

It's much different than something like Elder Scrolls where you have a sort of "home base" and must travel around the world for tasks and clues.

Been trying to think of a better way to approach this...

Maybe Garr doesn't find adult Ryu cause he wants to confront God. Maybe he wants to apologize. As they leave, they learn about the Tiger (Rei). This leads them to McNeil--get Nina, and all that. Now it's time for Ryu to prove to the king he's worthy of a pardon. Missions include: Resolving the Plant Crisis, Fixing the boat, Stopping/Docking the black ship, and a few other tasks. All in the name of clearing Ryu and Rei's criminal record.

All the while, they're learning more clues about the Brood and the past. Garr admits that he's never spoken to God and doesn't know how. He's only goal is to make amends to Ryu as a servant/companion.

One of their quests leads them to the old guardian, which leads them to Deis, and that's when they first hear that God lives across the sea. Now, instead of a million distractions, we have a clear goal to hop on the black ship and sail across the ocean--which we do.

Now, all those mundane quests that prevented progress become a part of progress--because it's helping clear Ryu's name. AND, we don't set the final goal (meet God) until we're truly cleared to chase it.

#Zach's Game Journal #ZGJ #PLAYING #Breath of Fire 3 #DuckStation #PlayStation 1 #PS1 #Emulators are the best

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