Hunter X Hunter: Grounded

Division 79




Title: Mirror Image...




….
As Sub walks off the factory building, two bat-like wings come out of his shoulder blades. 


Fwosh!


He flies off, the wind hitting his face as he looks down on the high building and lights of Yorknew City. He smiles at this, as it is quite exciting flying like this.



…
It doesn't take long for him to reach the building in which Karla is, she is sitting on a chair with Neon while the birling is being rebuilt. 


She looks up and sees Sub, waving at him with a smile on her face. "Yo~"


"Are you hurt?" He asks her with a casual look on his face.


"No." She answers, the smile still on her face. 


"Good." 



Though Sub has an emotionless look on his face. Only the questions he inquires Karla about show even a hint that he is worried about her. 


Still, Karla did see his worry and felt a little tingle in her heart at this. But once she gets close to him, she can smell Machi on him… which sours her mood immediately. "Were you with that hussy again?"


Sub stops and suddenly smiles as he sees Karla's pouting face. So he pinches her cheek and smiles. "Sow what? You jealous?"


"Yes," Karla confirms immediately. "I am so jealous that I would like to kill her."


He smiles and subs her head, messing Karla's hair. "C'mon now, no need to be so aggressive. Only you will be in my heart as my lover. Machi is more like a sister to me."


Karla huffs. "Well, you should act more like siblings then."



"Hahahaha," Sub laughs at that. "What can we do? I and her have always been close."

Fwish!


He goes behind Karla in an instant and hugs her. "Don't worry, no need to be so jealous. Anyway, I found something interesting today. Did you develop your Specialist Ability?"


She nods at this excitedly. "Yes!" Her mind completely forgot things like jealousy. "Although it still is only half-finished as I haven't put any heavy conditions in it yet."



He thinks about something, but in the end, just nods. Not seeing the need to give her advice on this since abilities should be developed by the user for maximum efficiency due to the emotions behind them. He leaves her alone on this and waves at a dazed Neon who just sits on a chair by the side of the room.


"Greed!!" She yells out. "I just met a bad guy today! My heart will never falter except for you!"


She goes to hug him, but Sub sidesteps her and she falls face-first on the ground, seemingly slipping on nothing.



"Ow~ Greed~ are you mad at me?" Neon asks with tears in her eyes while looking at him.


'Ah, the heart of a teenage girl.' Sub smiles and pats her head. "No, I am not mad at you. It's just that you shouldn't be so trusting of strangers, thankfully Karla was there to protect you or else…"



Neon nods and looks at Karla. "Big sis Karla~ I love you too. Thank you for saving me."


She goes and hugs her savior. Karla reciprocated. 'I am usually jealous if a girl approaches Sub, but Neon is a whole other deal. She is just too dimwitted to even be able to get him hard.'


Karla knows Sub's preferences better than even he might know them himself… since he usually just doesn't care about sex or romantic love. 


"Karla, I am going to train my Nen. Also, keep an eye out for Chrollo, he should come soon, bearing some gifts for me." That is all he says before sitting down in a meditative position and having his Nen float around.


She sighs at this. "Tch, I have to greet that annoying guy?"


"You can kill him if you want." Sub immediately offers her. Since Chrollo's life isn't too significant, and if Karla wants it, then he will give it to her. 'She has been a blessing, even though in the beginning I doubted her a lot. We have been together for so long that her strength feels like it is mine. And I know I am not the easiest guy to follow around as I also mess around with Machi.'



Sub understands that Karla is important to him, and even though she will follow him anyway. He would like to at least make her experience enjoyable.


'It's like sex, I only care for my enjoyment, but it would be the cherry on top of the girl enjoyed it too… I am really having some strange thoughts today.' Sub's mind goes along places that normally he wouldn't even think about. Just like that, he enters a meditative state and pushes his Nen to its limits, not worrying about the repairs going on around him.



Some workers even stared at him in curiosity. "Ya think he is dead?"

"Were you dropped on your head as a child or something?" Asks another worker. "Can't ya see he is still breathing?"



"Also people usually piss and fart once they die." Another worker intervenes. "He looks clean, smells nice, and is annoyingly handsome. Plus look at those muscles, I don't wanna mess with him."



"Do you think he can hear us?"



...Sub could constantly hear these small banters between the workers during their lunch break. 


'When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.' Thinks Sub and he ends up using the distractions as a form of training while still being a lot of noise around him.


..
Karla also is training, though she can't keep with her partner. She too trained quite a lot and her training showed itself as she fought Chrollo. 'I should train my new Specialist Ability.'



As she thinks that, Nen bursts out of her body and it starts taking shape next to her. 'My Nen, my beautiful and lovely Nen, react to my desires and show me the deepest fears in my heart… take a manifest upon yourself.'


She was planning to use her emotions to strengthen her ability that is only half-formed.

Slowly a figure appears out of her Nen… signaling the creation of a Nen Beast.


Fwosh!


Instantly, a figure mirroring her own, with her appearance appears in front of Karla. Confusing her about this. "Is my deepest fear myself?"



She is… not so sure about this. Karla has never really been afraid of herself and thought that her deepest fears would be Sub dying or something along those lines.


'How lame.' She thinks, dismissing her Clone-like Nen Beast. But surprisingly, her ability doesn't cancel itself when she tries to defuse her Nen. "What?"




Her copy Nen Beast only smirks at her. "You thought you could just cancel life after creating it?"



Karla is even more confused at this. "Who… are you?"



The lookalike's smile widens even more. "I am you of course. Literally… are you even sure that you are the original?"


*sigh* Karla sighs at that. But the copy casually digs her bail into her arm and blood spews out, throwing it at her lips, making her creator accidentally taste the blood, confirming that she actually is alive.



"Karla, you didn't just create a Nen clone ability… you have created life." Says the clone as it looks at Karla with a certain look in her eyes.


"How?" Karla asks, having now calmed herself down.


"Your deepest fear and the 1st condition has manifested me." Explains the copy. "What you were afraid of was dying… or more correctly, dying and leaving your loved one behind. So I am actually quite powerless normally and can only be used after you die, I will take your place. Don't worry, I can still use your Hatsu Ability too and once I start training, I can develop it. Though I will have to start from scratch."




Karla is genuinely shocked at this. She never thought that her fear would be leaving Sub behind and all alone in this world. 




'I will name this ability… <Rose Phoenix>' 



…
A/N: Karla's Specialist Ability is strange, not a clone-like ability since the creation can think for herself and will really activate if Karla dies… which is a heavy condition, but it shows her deepest fear of leaving Sub alone in this world. Plus even the clone can use her control abilities as Karla, though not at the same level of efficiency and control.


P.S: In the fight against Chrollo it was only a shapeless female figure before, which at the time her ability could only boost Karla's Hatsu.