Hunter X Hunter: Grounded

Chapter 54



Title: Monster...



….
As strange thoughts of suicide were going through Sub's mind. On the outside, there was a dark centipede-like monster circling the giant ship. It had grasped the ship, and at the head of the centipede, five pale big human faces were screaming out different words. "Die, pain, misery, murder, suicide, r*pe, greed, die, die, die, death, death, death!!"








This brought a chill down Karla's spine. "Sub what should we d-"

Karla's words get stuck on her throat as she looks at Sub, her eyes widen in terror. He is just standing there, still, not moving a single muscle. At the same time, blood is coming out of his eyes, nose, and ears. 

"No, no, no, this can't be happening!!" Karla yells out in despair as Sub's body starts spasming, blood flowing out even more.



But her despair is replaced by unquenchable rage, her dark eyes turn bloodshot. Her gaze turns towards the giant centipede, the five pale ghost-like faces staring at her. 


"I will kill you!" Karla exclaims fearlessly, her sense of fear overwhelmed by the sense of despair. "I will kill you all!!"


Her bandages flow out like raging waters, her Nen explodes in a dark color. 


Boom!


She kicks off the ground as some of the bandages surround her body. This is an idea she got when watching Sub training. Using the bandages this way offers her an increase in strength and protects her from attack while healing her at the same time.


She arrives in front of the creature and more bandages imbued with powerful Nen grasps some of the giant centipede's countless legs.


Squelch!


They are ripped off, but the creature doesn't seem to react at all as it looks at Karla with its hollow eyes while yelling many dark words. 


While this was happening, the people on the deck of the ship also weren't affected and one of them summoned a normal-looking bow that condenses a holder arrow. The man then shoots it at the heads of the centipede. As soon as the arrow is ejected from the bow, it turns into a big beam of light.


<Heaven Piercing Arrow>


The powerful Nen beam is about to land on the centipede's heads, but one of the heads stops yelling and opens its mouth.


*Fwoom*


It swallows the beam of Nen like it was nothing and it starts muttering something again. The muttering is inaudible due to the yells of the other four heads.



Karla sees all of this, and one thought appears on her head. 'This creature… can use Nen…'




…
While at the same time, Sub was in a whole different situation.

...
-Sub POV-


I open my eyes as the sun hits my face. Hm? Sun?


I see a young teen girl opening the blinders. 


"Clark, wake up!" She yells in annoyance. Causing my eyes to open wide and look at her. Uncontrollably tears come out of my eyes, I get up and quickly go and hug her tightly.


"What the hell are you doing Clark?!" She says in annoyance. 


"Lily… I am so glad to see you…" I tell her, and I truly am.


"What? I just saw your annoying face yesterday brother, so why are you even acting like this? Weirdo…" Says Lily, clearly confused.


"Well because… because…" I am stuck. Why am I doing this? I just saw her yesterday evening, she was whining to me that I shouldn't go out with some b*tches and that I should spend more time with family. Heh, what an annoying little sister, I am in college, she can't understand how stressed out her cool brother is.


…
After getting up and putting on some clothes, I go and get some food made mom. I can see her with a happy smile and father seems to be reading some newspaper.


I just sit down, my heart seems to speed up for some reason and I feel like I am about to cry. That is weird as hell. I have been feeling weird all morning today, thankfully it's a Saturday. So I don't have to go to college or do any homework.


Lily sits next to me and tells our parents. "Clark stood up till the morning, that is why he acted weird this morning."


My mother lightly laughs at this. "I have told you so many times, you should sleep earlier."


"C'mon now, the kid is at that age." Dad intervenes. "Clark is at that age now, just be glad he isn't doing drugs."


"Well, that isn't a difficult bar to pass."


"No need to argue, I am just saying that it could be worse."


I smile at this, just like usual, they will argue about something useless. 


… 
I go back to my room, I am just gonna relax all day today. That is when I get a notification of the last One Piece chapter coming out. 


I click on it and open it… then I start reading the last manga chapter.


…
After reading it… it was just the usual, the treasure was the friendships that they made during the journey being the One Piece 
treasure.

This is just... so bland... One Piece couldn't be so boring.

And that is when it hits me like a lightning bolt.


WHAT THE FU*K?!!



Immediately I suddenly have a feeling of foreboding. I get it now… I know what is going on. The fog in my head disappears and my thoughts clear up, I remember what happened and what life I lived. All my family is already dead due to me, I am alone in this world… that is the reality...


The scenery around me starts graying out and I appear in a much more dreary apartment. This is the place I used to live before I died…


"I am in an illusion. You could only look through my memories to create something, and in the end, you couldn't create something that you didn't know about." I say out loud. I hate to admit it, but even if it was an illusion, I… I was happy to see my family.


"You can come out, you fu*ker." I call out calmly, no need to show any emotion in front of it. I am most likely under its ability by now. 


"Tch, you are annoying." Says a raspy voice, and I feel something start crawling around my body and engulf me. It's a big many-legged centipede… with the face of a bald woman wearing lipstick. The creature is three times my size. 








Seeing its creepy face in front of me made my heart jump a beat. 


"You know, you could live here happily." Says the monster. "I am just showing your deepest desire, is living in eternal happiness so bad? Even if it is all only inside your head, it doesn't matter if you can't tell."


"So you react to my deepest desire?" I ask it, not expecting an honest answer. But that doesn't matter now.  "I want to return." 


The face smiles creepily. "Is that truly your deepest desire?"


"Yes." That was my answer, but I knew that was a lie. 


But the monster doesn't have any reaction on its face. "Then we will see how long you will be able to last.... Clark"



….
-General POV-



On the outside, Karla and the others were fighting against the giant centipede, but none of the attacks were having any effect and even the injuries that Karla was able to inflict were healed. The giant centipede didn't seem to have fast regeneration, but due to its large body, Karla wasn't able to keep up and was breathing heavily. They have been fighting for hours, everyone has. She also can't stop worrying about Sub, who is now on the ground seemingly unconscious and bleeding, her <Healing Bandage> also seems to have no effect on him for some reason.


The creature had also stopped yelling out curse words, and the five ghostly heads were now looking at Sub with giant smiles on them.


Fwosh!


That is when suddenly Sub opens his eyes, and immediately bursts his Nen, creating a translucent sword out of his golden Aura. He cuts three of the legs in one swing when the translucent sword hits the centipede's shell.


Cling!


A sound wrings out, like two swords meeting each other. Sub frowns at this, he couldn't even make a scratch on it.


The centipede's heads look at him and simultaneously say. "You are interesting."


After saying that, the creature unwraps itself from the flying ship and drops down on the water below. 


Both Karla and Sub land on the deck of the ship and flop down on it. Neither of them says anything. Sub was extremely worried about this situation that they are in… and they haven't even reached the Dark Continent yet. 


'Damn, this is such a sh*t situation.' Sub contemplates disparagingly, and that is when, in that despairing moment, he gets an idea.





....
A/N: Now that is what I call a strong monster.